Lewis Hamilton Makes Podium As Oscar Piastri Wins Hungarian Grand Prix

 

It was yet again another weekend with Lewis Hamilton making the podium as Oscar Piastri led from the start and won the Hungarian Grand Prix for his career's first race victory. Behind he was his teammate by Lando Norris for McLaren's one-two podium finish. 

Coming out to the grid, Lando Norris was the pole-sitter for the third time in his career. The McLaren driver gave it a fight against challenges Piastri and Verstappen on the first Lap. In their battle for dominance, Verstappen went wide off track on four wheels as Piastri raced ahead to lead the race. Piastri continued to lead and in the last race whilst Norris was ahead, he moved ahead to finish quickest. 

As recent performance from Hamilton continues to be impressive, it is apparent that the Mercedes team have not only improved but competitive. Just last weekend, Hamilton won his first race of the season at Silverstone and continued with that performance to make podium in third in Hungary. 

For his teammates, George Russell, it was not a different experience in Hungary. The Briton was out to a poor start at the qualifying session, dropping out in Q1 as other drivers like Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas posted quicker times to progressed to Q2. 

Mercedes' game plan on pit stops appeared to work out for the team, but for McLaren, they caught up with that to dictate the race. The dramatic moments were between Hamilton and Verstappen as they battle for podium position. Initially, the Red Bull driver pitted late, but in the latter stages, he was quicker to catch up with Hamilton. Unfortunately, he collided with Hamilton while overtaking running his rear tyres over Hamilton's front tyres. Verstappen's car took a leap and went wide off the track.

Earlier this season, Mercedes has tried to improve on the car performance which has not been forthcoming neither was Hamilton pleased. However, they appeared to have been even more intentional on the performance, pit stops, and leaving the cockpit. Though, pace wise, Verstappen' still has an edge but experience is on Hamilton's side. 

Verstappen finished in fifth behind Charles Leclerc and did not believe he was to blame for the collision with Hamilton. Rather, he believed much space should have been allowed him to move past since he was already on lock.