Lando Norris could have won the last FIVE grands prix but for nagging mistakes, writes JONATHAN McEVOY… so, are the wheels falling off at Red Bull?
Madness in Budapest. Mess, even when McLaren were succeeding. Crazy radio exchanges. And the big question, would Lando Norris bow to team orders to sacrifice a win that should have fueled his world championship ambitions?
He eventually gave in, but admitted afterwards that he considered fighting back before slowing down with three laps to go to let garage mate Oscar Piastri take his first win. What a joy for him.
Norris admitted, perhaps rightly, that it was the 23-year-old Australian, not he, who deserved the triumph. That much is clear from the evidence of the start, when pole-setter Norris dropped to fourth and Piastri took the lead – but enough about that early part of the race for now.
Just like the story of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s meeting, the three-time world champion’s Red Bull that was partially sent flying will have to wait. The Dutchman was angry all afternoon and finished fifth, his championship lead down to 76 points.
But the big talking point is this extraordinary race that takes place on asphalt so hot you could fry eggs on it.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on Sunday afternoon
Piastri celebrates his victory by waving to the crowd at the Hungaroring circuit
The drama went up a notch when Norris was called up on lap 45 of 70. He was in second place with Piastri ahead. He was given the undercut to cover Lewis Hamilton, who was close enough to worry about. Piastri was sidelined for two more laps. This gave Norris a lead of around three seconds.
He was soon told to ‘restore order’. Now the needle began.
Coded messages were being passed. And overt ones. It was a test of the 24-year-old’s ruthlessness and sense of sportsmanship. Should he give in? Should he give in, even? He was now the fastest of the papaya cars, and somehow. He had a lead of more than five seconds.
He also had a world championship to think about – when will McLaren ever get it? He was the one who started the day 84 points behind Verstappen; not 131 like Piastri. If he had been allowed to win, Verstappen’s lead would have been reduced to 69 points with 11 rounds to go. Game on.
As it looked like Norris wasn’t going to give in, his race engineer Will Joseph told him to be even stricter. ‘You can’t win a world championship on your own,’ he was warned. ‘The only way is to win it as a team.’
“You’ve made your point,” he was told as he continued his running attack.
But eventually he gave in. He slowed down on the pit straight. “You don’t have to say anything,” he said ironically.
What a strange day for McLaren. This was their first one-two in three years, they had enormous pace, they saw the Red Bull ship tip over – and still these public displays of confusion.
Lando Norris finished second after being ordered to let his teammate pass in the closing stages
Australian Piastri took the checkered flag after a dramatic and controversial race
Andre Stella, Norris’ team principal and responsible for much of the team’s recent improvements, is a fantastic engineer and a decent human being. He said he never thought Norris would ignore instructions.
Later, sitting on the press conference bench, Norris was more conciliatory than he had been in the cockpit, saying: ‘I didn’t give up the race win. I lost it at the start, so I didn’t deserve it.
“There’s always going to be things going through your head because you have to be selfish in this sport. You have to see yourself as the number one priority.
“But I’m also a team player, so my head was going quite wild. I don’t think the team should have put me in that position.”
That seems fair to me. Why didn’t they bring Piastri, the leader after all, in a lap before Norris? Problems averted. And why did they leave him out for two more laps instead of just the one?
But Norris, who could have won the last five Grands Prix had he and the team not made nasty mistakes at crucial moments, must see a glimmer of hope in the championship battle.
“The gap between me and Max is quite big. But if he and Red Bull make mistakes like they did today and we keep improving as a team, we can turn it around.
‘Yeah, it’s a big goal to say I can score 70 points in half a season, and then you think about the seven points I gave away today – that definitely goes through your mind.’
Max Verstappen (left) and Lewis Hamilton (right) collided towards the end of Sunday’s race
The collision caused three of Verstappen’s four wheels to temporarily leave the track
Despite the collision, Hamilton (fifth from right) finished on the podium after finishing third
Piastri (right) and Hamilton (left) pictured spraying each other with champagne on stage
Drama had been there all afternoon before the race started, when Norris complained about a faulty throttle pedal when he drove to the grid. That led to frantic repairs. And then the crash between Hamilton and Verstappen on lap 63. That was referred to the stewards: no action. It seemed to me more like Verstappen had thrown the car recklessly from the inside. He accused Hamilton of steering under braking.
There was also the case of Verstappen, who complained in a rising rage about his failed strategy. He was right, although his temper was hotter than his tyres. His mood had become darker from the moment he went off track three abreast in the opening corner.
“Okay, then you can just run people off the track,” he raged. “You can tell the FIA that this is how we’re going to race from now on. Just run people off the road.”
Latest: Verstappen had never failed to win three races in a row in two and a half years. He complained that he couldn’t turn his car. Are the wheels falling off at Red Bull? If so, McLaren needs to keep their wits about them.