F1 News

Can McLaren strike back in Hungary?

McLaren confident heading into Hungarian Grand Prix

16 July at 12:00
  • Jeroen Immink

In recent races, Mercedes have been catching up with McLaren considerably. Thanks to wins by George Russell (Austria) and Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain), the gap between the two teams is still 74 points. But despite this, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will travel to Hungary in good spirits.

Hungary will be a crucial weekend, especially for Norris. After a DNF at the Red Bull Ring and third behind Max Verstappen at Silverstone, the Briton is a whopping 84 points behind the Dutchman in the standings. But the MCL60 has looked fast in recent races and Norris expects it to be so at the Hungaroring.

McLaren drivers confident ahead of Hungarian Grand Prix

"I'm looking forward to returning to Hungary," Norris revealed. "Qualifying is important here, as it isn’t an easy track to overtake at, but we’ll be competitive. It’s incredible to be in a position to lead a Grand Prix, but there is some more work to do. We are ready," said the Briton.

Piastri also expects to compete for the top spots in Budapest. "I’m heading to Hungary off the back of two strong weekends in Austria and Great Britain where I’ve been happy with my driving. We had some missed opportunities at Silverstone but it was clear that there was good pace in the car and that is encouraging," said the Australian.

"The Hungaroring is a track that I had success at in the junior series, so I’m looking forward to returning. The whole team is going into this race with a lot of confidence and motivation," Piastri added.

This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy