Martin Brundle heard Lando Norris getting a ‘telling off’ from McLaren on his way to Hungarian Grand Prix win

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McLaren driver Lando Norris secured his fifth victory of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but he didn’t make it easy.

At the end of the first lap, Lando Norris had slipped down two positions after starting third on the grid and initially getting a better launch than McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Norris made light work of Fernando Alonso, but got stuck behind George Russell’s Mercedes, which once again forced him into a change of strategy.

At the race before the Hungarian Grand Prix at Spa, Norris switched onto the hard tyres instead of the mediums to try and deny Piastri victory, but ultimately he came up short.

However, on this occasion, while Piastri and Charles Leclerc matched each other to try and take victory, Norris decided to once again gamble, and this time, it paid off.

Norris remarked that his battle with Piastri was ‘tough’, but track position once again proved to be key at the Hungaroring, with a late, desperate lunge from the Australian nearly ending both of their races.

Piastri admitted missing his best chance to overtake Norris, but Martin Brundle noticed that McLaren were once again keeping Norris on his toes during the race.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

McLaren tell Lando Norris to not ‘make those mistakes’ during the Hungarian Grand Prix

As the race progressed, it became clear that Norris had been put on the quicker strategy compared to Piastri, Leclerc and Russell.

Leclerc was facing issues of his own with his car, while Russell was too far back to challenge the McLaren driver.

Before his late battle with the Australian, Norris was driving on his own on track, putting in the best laps he could while also trying to look after his tyres.

Norris made several mistakes at the Belgian Grand Prix that cost him the opportunity to challenge Piastri, and after spotting one error on Sunday, his race engineer said on the team radio: “Lando, just keep the focus. Don’t make those mistakes.”

Reflecting on that message during commentary for Sky Sports F1 (3/8, 2:56 pm), Martin Brundle said: “Well, that’s a bit of a telling off, isn’t it?”

A few laps later, Brundle continued, and it sounded like the warning sent to Norris worked, as he said: “Norris’s pace is stunning! Absolutely stunning.

“And he’s now well within the pit window of Leclerc.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri fourth consecutive one-two finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen’s two victories this season and George Russell’s win in Canada mean McLaren can’t complete the same level of dominance as Red Bull in 2023.

However, Red Bull’s points tally from their famous campaign two years ago was 860 points, and it looks like McLaren are going to smash that.

Verstappen didn’t have the support of Sergio Perez for much of that year, whereas Norris and Piastri are both on an extremely similar level.

Piastri thinks the title battle is a two-horse race now, especially after Verstappen’s ninth-place finish on Sunday.

Norris knows that a nine-point deficit can be overturned in a single race, but both drivers have been extremely consistent, and neither has had to deal with a reliability issue yet.

It would be a huge shame if that’s what decided the championship, but it wouldn’t be the first time something out of the driver’s hands settled the title.