Lando Norris admitted he was "not comfortable" despite being fastest in the Belgian Grand Prix second practice.

McLaren finished first and second on Friday, with Norris finishing just 0.215 seconds ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Max Verstappen finished third, but despite an impressive performance, his 10-place grid penalty will affect his result.

Norris finished second in the Hungarian Grand Prix last week, behind Piastri, in a race overshadowed by a radio spat between the Brit and the pit wall.

Having put that behind him, even after a confident practice session on Friday, Norris is not willing to rest on his laurels with Red Bull showing their threat.

"Red Bull are very quick at the minute," Norris said. "So, tricky, but I've just not felt very comfortable today with the car.

"So hopefully I just wake up [on Saturday] and feel a bit more comfortable with it. But we'll try and improve a few things and see again.

"I know it looked good on the timesheets, but I've not felt super comfortable in just going out and doing it. So, hopefully, I can just get in a bit more of a rhythm and feel a bit better out there."

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished in 10th after struggling to match the pace set in the second session.

Mercedes have been credited for their improvement in recent weeks, with Hamilton winning at Silverstone before finishing third at Hungaroring last Sunday.

However, he was also left disappointed on Friday and said he was hoping for the forecast rain over the rest of the weekend to give the team more of an edge.

"It was a pretty bad day," Hamilton said.

"I don't really know what to say! Obviously, it's been feeling great in the past couple of races, but it just felt completely different today.

"We worked on it. The first session was not great, but then in the second session we made some changes, and it started off great, and then when I got to the soft tyre I just couldn't improve and there were a bunch of balance issues we had through the lap.

"It was better through this session, but everyone else went even better. So, to be 1.2s behind is not great.

"If it rains, then that opens it up a little bit and, hopefully, we can do a better job. I think the car should be better in the wet than it is in the dry."

Sergio Perez is confident he will still be at Red Bull after this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix regardless of the result.

There has been a lot of speculation over the Mexican's future in recent weeks following a series of poor results at recent races, despite him signing a two-year extension with the team just last month.

Since coming fourth at the Miami Grand Prix in May, Perez's best finish has been seventh, both in Austria and Hungary, and he failed to advance beyond Q1 in four of the last six races.

His drop in form has allowed McLaren to close the gap to Red Bull in the constructors' championship to just 51 points.

With the four-week break soon approaching, both RB driver Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's reserve driver Liam Lawson have been linked with Perez's seat.

However, the 34-year-old is certain he will still be competing alongside Max Verstappen when the season resumes.

"I am 100% sure," Perez said.

"Because I know basically what's in my contract and I know what the team trusts in me. And I know where is the main focus, which is on delivering on the track.

"It's no different to what it was in Hungary or [at the first race] in Bahrain or how it will be in Zandvoort or the rest of the year," Perez said.

"Every single weekend we've got to deliver the maximum, especially now that, with McLaren catching up in the constructors, it's really important to put everything together if we can achieve it.

"I'm not worried about it. Like I said, I know where I stand. That's not my concern. My only concern I have is to get my season back on track. The rest, I'm pretty chilled about."

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has said meetings will take place to discuss whether to prioritise Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri for the remainder of the season. 

The issue arose following last week's Hungarian Grand Prix, which saw Piastri's maiden win in Formula One overshadowed by Norris' radio spat with the pit wall. 

Piastri had led much of the race before a bizarre pit-stop call by McLaren allowed Norris to take the lead, but was ordered to give the lead back to his team-mate. 

Norris initially refused to do so, but with three laps remaining, handed the place back to the Australian as McLaren secured a first one-two since Monza in 2021. 

Piastri's win at the Hungaroring made him the seventh different winner in 2024. It is the 16th different year with at least seven winners, the first since 2012 (eight).

But one of Norris' protestations before giving the position back was his battle with Max Verstappen in the Driver's Championship. 

Despite scoring his eighth podium of the season in Hungary, the Brit remains 76 points behind the three-time world champion. 

Brown, who wasn't on the pit wall in Hungary but is back for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, said the decision would ultimately fall to team principal Andrea Stella.

He told Sky Sports F1: "That's ultimately going to be Andrea's call. We want to get through the first half of the season, see where we end up this weekend.

"I think the Constructors' Championship, while it's definitely not going to be easy, is well within reach.

"I think the challenge on the drivers' front is Max's bad days are second and third places, so (it's difficult) to make those claw backs that we're making on the constructors' that we can do because (Sergio) Perez is struggling at the moment, we also know he's capable of turning it on at any moment.

"That will be something I think we discuss over the summer break."

McLaren's recent pace and form has seen them have a driver on the podium in the last nine races, cutting the gap to Red Bull in the Constructor's Championship. 

The British team have another excellent opportunity to cut the gap in Spa, with Norris' championship rival Verstappen receiving a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's race by exceeding his engine allowance for the season.

But the Dutchman topped the first practice on Friday, with Piastri finishing 0.531 seconds behind with Norris down in ninth, 0.512secs off his McLaren team-mate.

And Verstappen's showing has left Brown refusing to rule out the possibility of the three-time world champion claiming an eighth win of the season. 

"It's a tricky track with how much downforce you want versus speed," Brown said.

"You have to assume Max is on for pole, which is P11.

"It would be a big mistake to think he can't go from P11 to P1 but we have to take every advantage you can."

Max Verstappen's 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix was confirmed as he took a new power unit in practice at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday.

Under Formula One's regulations, drivers are permitted to use a maximum of four internal combustion engines (ICEs) throughout the 2024 campaign.

Verstappen took his fifth new ICE of the year for Friday's first practice session, triggering the automatic penalty for Sunday's race. 

He proceeded to set the pace in first practice with a fastest lap of 1:43.372, going half a second faster than Oscar Piastri, who won the Hungarian Grand Prix last week.

The three-time world champion will also drop five places if he takes a new ICE at any other race this year. 

RB's Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, will start at the back of the grid in Belgium after taking a fifth ICE as well as additional engine parts.

With his penalty confirmed, Verstappen will now be desperate to perform in qualifying, having only taken pole at one of the last six races. 

He did, however, win the recent Spanish and Canadian Grands Prix when not starting at the front. His 29 race victories when not starting on pole are the fourth-most by any driver in F1 history.

The penalty does represent an almighty blow to Verstappen's hopes of avoiding a third straight race without winning, though. 

He last went more consecutive races without a victory in 2020, failing to win in 11 outings from Spain to Sakhir.   

Lewis Hamilton was left surprised by the stewards' interpretation of his clash with Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix last week. 

Hamilton, who finished in third at the Hungaroring to claim a 200th podium finish, was involved in an incident with the reigning world champion on lap 63 in Budapest. 

The pair made contact heading into Turn One, with the Dutchman attempting to go up the inside but in doing so locked up his front tyres, briefly sending him into the air. 

Although neither driver was penalised for the incident, the stewards suggested that the seven-time world champion could have done more to avoid the collision. 

"I was really, really surprised by it," said the Mercedes driver of the full stewards' judgement, which was issued several hours after the end of the race.

"I think already I was very relaxed about the situation and just saying 'look, it's just a racing incident, let's just move on'.

"But considering one car was in control and one car was not in control at the time - obviously when all the wheels are locked, you're not in control - and if you look at the replay at the end of the move I'm very, very far from the apex, so there's a lot of room on the right-hand side.

"So I was very, very surprised by the stewards. I don't know who typed it up but… that will be a question when I speak to them at some stage."

Verstappen, who has the opportunity to become the third driver to win four times in a row at Spa this weekend, endured a difficult race last time out. 

The Dutchman finished in fifth in Budapest and is without a win in his last four races, the last time he failed to win four meetings was back in 2020. 

His frustrations at the Hungaroring boiled over, repeatedly expressing his frustration and anger at his team's strategy and his car's performance over the radio.

"You have to be a team leader, a team member," said Hamilton. 

"Maybe not such a team leader, just always remember you are a team-mate with lots of people and you have to act like a world champion."

When asked to elaborate on that latter point, Hamilton replied: "That is a good question… Not like it was last weekend."

Hamilton, who has won the Belgium Grand Prix four times in his career, arrives at Spa full of confidence following his recent displays. 

Having endured a difficult start to the season, but three podium places in his last four races, including ending his 945-day wait for a win following a record ninth triumph at Silverstone, has seen the Brit back to his best. 

Mercedes remain fourth in the Constructor's Championship, but have closed the gap to Ferrari to 81 points, with upgrades expected on their car this weekend, including a new front wing, floor and beam wing, something that has excited Hamilton. 

"I still feel so much youth, am energised, driven and love working with the team.

"We have got some upgrades this weekend, so I can't wait to see how that feels on the track. Hopefully it's another step in the right direction and I'm excited for the next part of the season."

Max Verstappen has hit back at critics following his radio frustration during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Verstappen, who has won each of the last three races at the Belgian Grand Prix, which comes up this weekend, became increasingly frustrated at the Hungaroring last week as he finished in fifth place following a coming together with Lewis Hamilton late on.

The three-time reigning Formula One world champion is set for a 10-place grid penalty at Spa this weekend after exceeding his engine allowance for the season. 

Verstappen has not won any of the last three races, and has seen his lead at the top of the Driver's Championship cut to 76 points by Lando Norris.

The Dutchman's recent frustrations boiled over in Hungary, spiralling into an X-rated rant at Red Bull engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

But Verstappen has no regrets.

"People that don't like my language, don't listen in or change the volume down. I'm very driven for success. I've proven that already," said Verstappen.

"I always want to optimise stuff. People can argue that you might not be so vocal on the radio, but that's their opinion.

"My opinion is that it needs to be said at the time to maybe also try and force [things]. That's how it goes.

"We are very open-minded. We are very critical of each other as a team, and that's been working for us very well, so I don't expect that to change."

The last time Verstappen failed to win in four races in a row was in the 2020 season, but Red Bull are showing signs of vulnerability.

And he will face an enormous task to triumph for a 62nd time in the competition, although he is ranked as the fourth driver in F1 history with the most wins without starting from the front of the grid (29). 

Verstappen made light work of the power unit components penalty he sustained at the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, making his way from 14th to win the race. 

Should he emerge victorious this time around, he will become only the third driver to win four in a row on Belgian soil after Ayrton Senna (1988 to 1991) and Jim Clark (1962 to 1965). 

"If you look at our last few races where we haven't particularly been the fastest, I wouldn't say that with 10 places extra, we have a chance of winning," said Verstappen.

"But a race can always be turned upside down with moments, so you have to be open-minded, try to make the best of it and that's all we will try to do.

"We also don't know how competitive we will be. There's new tarmac, so we need to see how the tyres respond to that as well.

"There's a lot of unknowns with the weather too. Quite a bit of rain is expected tomorrow and Saturday, so we need to follow the weather and our progression this weekend to see how competitive we are."

DRIVERS TO WATCH

Charles Leclerc - Ferrari

Despite being beaten in both qualifying and the main event in each of the last two races by team-mate Carlos Sainz, Leclerc will be keen to get points on the board in Belgium. 

Leclerc has not been among the podium places since his maiden triumph at Monaco in May, but the omens are in his favour with the Italian team achieving more victories (14), more pole positions (12) and more podiums (41) at Spa. 

Ferrari have enjoyed recent races in Belgium, taking pole in the last two editions, with Leclerc doing so in 2023.

Should they repeat the trick, it will be the second time they have done so after 1974 (Clay Regazzoni at Nivelles), 1975 and 1976 (Niki Lauda in both at Zolder).

Leclerc and Sainz will contest their 79th race as Ferrari team-mates, making them the seventh-highets pair with the most races with the same team in F1, surpassing the 78 of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for Mercedes.

Lando Norris - McLaren

While a radio spat of his own at the Hungarian Grand Prix overshadowed an eighth podium place of the season, Norris will be eyeing another impressive run at Spa.

And he now has a fantastic opportunity to close the gap on Verstappen.

The Brit has taken pole position in two of the last four races, after taking just one in his previous 113 starts in F1.

Excluding Hamilton, who did it twice in 2012, Norris could be the first McLaren driver to take back-to-back pole positions since Kimi Raikkonen in 2006 (Germany and Hungary).

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 265
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 189
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 162
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 154
5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 149

Constructors

1. Red Bull - 389
2. McLaren - 338
3. Ferrari - 322
4. Mercedes - 241
5. Aston Martin - 69

Lando Norris admits he is "not too proud" of the way he overshadowed team-mate Oscar Piastri's first Formula One victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend.

Piastri led Norris in a McLaren one-two at the Hungaroring, though the Brit did not allow his team-mate back into the lead following the pit stops until the very end of the race, despite being ordered over team radio to do so.

The incident cast a shadow over McLaren's first one-two since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, at which Norris was second to Daniel Ricciardo.

After the controversy, Piastri became the seventh different race winner in F1 this season. Only 11 seasons have ever seen more – 11 in 1982, nine in 1975, and eight in 1977, 1983, 1985, 2003 and 2012.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, Norris acknowledged he had regrets, saying: "Could it have been handled slightly differently from both the team side and a personal side? 

"Yes, absolutely, and I think we wouldn't have been having this conversation now in some ways.

"Whether people on the outside are going to come up with their own stories of what happened and what I would and wouldn't have done, I don't mind that.

"The things that I could have done, the fact that I kind of clouded over Oscar's first race win in Formula One is something I've not felt too proud about.

"The fact we had a one-two and that was barely a headline after the race… The fact we had a one-two and nothing was really said about it, that's the bit I felt worst about."

Norris has taken pole position in two of the last four races (in Spain and Hungary) after doing so just once in his previous 113 starts. 

Excluding Lewis Hamilton, who achieved the feat twice with the team in 2012, Norris could become the first McLaren driver to take back-to-back poles since Kimi Raikkonen in 2006 this weekend.

Norris does feel coming through the incident could make McLaren stronger as a team, adding: "We discussed it, we have spoken about it. 

"It's not good that we had it, but it's a good thing we've had it at the same time, because we've learned from it and hopefully it's done better next time."

Esteban Ocon will partner Oliver Bearman for the 2025 Formula One season with US-based Haas, the team confirmed on Thursday. 

Ocon, who made his debut in 2016, becomes the first winner of a Grand Prix to drive for the American outfit since their formation eight years ago. 

The Frenchman's only victory came in Hungary back in 2021 for Alpine-Renault, their first win since the Australian Grand Prix in 2013. 

Ocon has 146 Formula One starts since his debut, amassing 425 points, which includes three podium finishes, the most recent of which came in Monaco last year.

The decision comes after Haas announced the departure of Kevin Magnussen a week ago, meaning the US-based team will have an all-new line-up for 2025. 

Magnussen's current team-mate Nico Hulkenberg is moving to the Sauber team as it morphs into Audi in time for the German company's official F1 entry in 2026.

“I am thrilled to embark on this new chapter in my Formula 1 career and join MoneyGram Haas F1 Team from the start of the 2025 season,” said Ocon.

“I’ll be joining a very ambitious racing team, whose spirit, work ethic, and undeniable upward trajectory has really impressed me.

"I’d like to thank Gene Haas and Ayao Komatsu for their trust and support, and for our honest and fruitful discussions these last few months.

"On a more personal note, I’m very happy to be working with Ayao again, as he’s been a part of my debut when I first stepped into a Formula 1 car during my Lotus Junior days more than ten years ago.

"MoneyGram Haas F1 Team has exciting plans and clear targets for the future, and I’m very much looking forward to working with everyone in Kannapolis, Banbury and Maranello, and being part of this great project.”

Ocon currently sits 18th in the driver's championship after enduring a difficult start to the season, but has managed three top 10 finishes in 2024. 

The 27-year-old's strongest season came in 2022, finishing eighth in the driver's championship, 11 points ahead of former team-mate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. 

Ocon will be reunited with Haas principal Ayao Komatsu after being involved as race engineer for Lotus - which is now Alpine - during the Frenchman's debut year in the competition. 

Lando Norris is convinced he can still chase down Max Verstappen to end his reign as Formula One world champion, though he knows McLaren must remain grounded.

Norris is second in the drivers' championship standings after 13 races, 76 points behind three-time champion Verstappen.

It looked like Verstappen would stroll to a fourth successive championship when he opened 2024 with seven wins in 10 races, but he has failed to win any of the last three, finishing fifth at the Austrian Grand Prix and last week's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Norris finished second behind team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Hungaroring, and he now has seven podiums in his last nine races, including a victory in Miami in May.

Asked about McLaren's upturn by Sky Sports, Norris said: "I said at the end of last year that we were going to win races this year. I said at the beginning of the year that it was not going to be an easy one for Red Bull, and all of that's come true.

"I think we've done an amazing job as a team. First of all, we have to give credit to the team for giving us a car in order to do that. 

"We won in Hungary, but this is the second win of the year. Red Bull have had way more wins. Mercedes have had the same amount of wins as we've had.

"So just because we won one race and had a dominant weekend doesn't mean we're the quickest car. I think maybe two weekends this year, we've had the best car of the grid. 

"Do we have opportunities to maybe win more? Yes. Did we necessarily have the quickest car on those days? I don't think so. But when I think of what we're doing now, we can have more days like Hungary."

Asked whether he still had a chance of capturing the title, he added: "You would be silly to say no. 

"Don't get me wrong, I know it's like 70, 80 points that I've got to catch up. I know a lot of people are going to say that there's no chance.

"But we're going to keep fighting and I'm going to give myself the best opportunity to do so. 

"Especially when you see Max and Red Bull not performing so well, making mistakes, crashing. You want to make the most of those opportunities and plenty more can happen in the future. So, yes, I think it's still on."

The Belgian Grand Prix takes place at Spa this weekend, with the four-week mid-season break following ahead of the final 10 fixtures of the campaign.

Piastri's victory last week made him the seventh different race winner in F1 this year, with only seven seasons ever producing more victors – 11 in 1982, nine in 1975, and eight in 1977, 1983, 1985, 2003 and 2012.

Toto Wolff lauded praise on McLaren following their one-two at the Hungarian Grand Prix, labelling them the "new benchmark" in Formula One. 

Oscar Piastri claimed his maiden triumph in the competition at the Hungaroring last weekend, with Lando Norris coming second after claiming pole in qualifying. 

McLaren have finished in the podium places in their last nine races, with their one-two in Budapest the first time they have done so since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. 

Despite Red Bull's continued dominance in both world championships, their recent performances has shown some vulnerability. For the first time since December 2021, the team has gone three races without a win.

And the British team have capitalised, now sitting 51 points behind them in the constructor's championship, with the possibility winning a first constructor's title since 1998.

Mercedes have also improved, with Lewis Hamilton winning the British Grand Prix for a record ninth time and claiming his 200th career podium in Budapest last week. 

"What we have to acknowledge is that McLaren are clearly now leading the field and by any conditions, it is a one and two," Wolff told Sky Sports. 

"That is the new benchmark. It's great that we have another team that has made that jump in being able to score first and second.

"It's good for all of us… I'm happy for them."

Mercedes currently sit fourth in the constructor's championship, 81 points behind Ferrari after a slow start to the 2024 season. 

But consecutive wins in the Austrian Grand Prix and Silverstone has shown a sign of their drastic improvements, with George Russell the prime example of that having gone out in the first qualifying session last week, but still able to finish in eighth. 

Russell's nine place improvement was his second biggest comeback in his Formula One career, only surpassed by the 12 positions he moved up at the Hungaroring in 2023. 

And Wolff believes that overcoming their current 81-point deficit to Ferrari and securing third place by the end of the season is a realistic goal for his team to achieve. 

"It's difficult to put targets out because it swings a lot with upgrade to upgrade," said Wolff. 

"But I think if you were to say what is a realistic-to-optimism today, it's probably P3 in the championship.

"Difficult to catch Red Bull and McLaren is now the benchmark, therefore I think that would be a good target. But it's not easy."

Audi have appointed former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto as the head of their Formula One project, parting company with Andreas Seidl.

Made chief executive officer 19 months ago, Seidl was tasked with overseeing Sauber's progress ahead of Audi taking over the team for 2026.

However, with Sauber the only team on the grid yet to earn a point this season, the German manufacturer has opted to conduct a major shake-up.

Olivier Hoffmann, chairman of the team's board of directors, has joined Seidl in departing.

Binotto, who left Ferrari at the end of the 2022 season after the Scuderia's title charge faded in disappointing fashion, will officially take on the role of chief operating and chief technical officer from August 1.

Gernot Dollner, who has taken over Hoffmann's former position, said of Binotto: "With his extensive experience of more than 25 years in F1, he will undoubtedly be able to make a decisive contribution for Audi.

"Our aim is to bring the entire F1 project up to F1 speed by means of clear management structures, defined responsibilities, reduced interfaces, and efficient decision-making processes.

"For this purpose, the team must be able to act independently and quickly."

Binotto had been part of Ferrari's team since 1995, contributing to eight constructors' championship triumphs before becoming team principal in 2019.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes Gianpiero Lambiase's "childish" remark was not aimed at Max Verstappen during the pair's unhappy radio exchange at Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Drivers' Championship leader Verstappen was forced to settle for fifth at the Hungaroring - his second-lowest finish of the season - Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris comprising a McLaren one-two.

The three-time world champion was involved in a collision with Lewis Hamilton on lap 63, after overshooting a corner on an attempted overtake.

It led Verstappen to vent his frustrations towards race engineer Lambiase, telling him over the team radio: "You gave me this s*** strategy. I'm trying to rescue what's left."

The Italian responded: "I am not even going to get into a radio fight with the other teams, Max. We'll let the stewards do their thing. It’s childish on the radio, childish."

It was a surprising exchange given the close-knit relationship shared between the pair, who have worked together for eight years.

However, Horner said Lambiase's comments were instead aimed at the radio traffic from rival teams hoping the stewards would penalise them.

"I don't think GP's [Lambiase] reference at that point was in reference to Max," he told reporters. "Others [were] obviously goading for penalties because obviously the stewards are listening to the radio as well.

"Max was frustrated, which you can understand. He has a very direct line of communication with his engineer. It's something that they’ll discuss between the two of them.

"They've been together for eight years and, yes, there are things we could have done better in the race today that we'll talk about as a team.

"I think everybody sees we need to find more performance, and everybody is working hard to do that and we'll have whatever discussions behind closed doors."

Verstappen, who still holds a 76-point lead over Norris at the Drivers' Championship summit, will head to next weekend's Belgian Grand Prix having not won any of his last three races; last going four without success during the 2020 season.

However, the Dutchman has won each of the last three races in Belgium, and could become only the third driver after Ayrton Senna and Jim Clark to win four in a row.

Lewis Hamilton labelled his clash with Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix as a "racing incident" after finishing third on Sunday. 

Hamilton and Verstappen made contact coming into turn one at the Hungaroring with seven laps of the race remaining. 

The Dutchman attempted to go on the inside of his former rival to secure the final podium place, but in doing so locked up his front tyres. 

Verstappen and Hamilton made contact, with the three-time world champion briefly sent into the air and off the track as he was overtaken by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. 

The stewards swiftly placed the incident under investigation and conducted their analysis of it after the race, with the pair both escaping punishment for the collision. 

"For me it was a racing incident," Hamilton told Sky Sports. 

"Ultimately he was much quicker and he sent it. I moved a little to defend, but I left enough space on the inside and he locked up and obviously then couldn't turn.

"He came at a different trajectory and clipped my wheels. If he was under control he would have gone by."

“It’s nerve-wracking when you see the pace at which they close the gap on corners," Hamilton added of Red Bull's pace.

"You just laugh to yourself because it’s not something I can do, particularly on the last sector they were very very strong, same as the McLarens.

“I saw him coming from a long way back and he was able to brake a lot later than me, but he sent it up the inside, I stayed still and he clipped the wheel and went over, so I think it was a racing incident."

Hamilton's third-place finish saw him claim a 200th podium, the first driver in the history of the competition to reach that milestone. 

The seven-time world champion, who claimed 49 of those podium finishes with McLaren, was pleased to see his former team produce their first one-two since the Italian Grand Prix in 2021. 

“Big thanks to this amazing crowd and a huge congratulations to the McLarens with the one-two, that’s my old original family so it’s great to see," Hamilton said. 

“For us, the team have done a great job at pushing this car ultimately, we didn’t have the pace of the McLarens or of the Red Bulls but we were just able to hold on at the beginning of the race, it was very tough to hold on and make those tyres last."

Max Verstappen raged at Red Bull's strategy after finishing fifth at the Hungarian Grand Prix, declaring the team are no longer able to rely on a pace advantage.

Verstappen recorded his joint second-worst finish of the year at the Hungaroring as Oscar Piastri led Lando Norris in a McLaren one-two.

The three-time world champion's race was defined by a collision with old rival Lewis Hamilton, coming into contact with the Mercedes on lap 63 when he overshot a corner on an attempted overtake.

Verstappen vented his frustrations over team radio, telling race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase: "You gave me this s*** strategy. I'm trying to rescue what's left."

Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, the Dutchman refused to apologise for those comments as he said: "I don't think we need to apologise. 

"I just think we need to do a better job. I don't know why people think you cannot be vocal on a radio. This is a sport. If some people don't like that, then stay home."

Verstappen, who also dropped below Charles Leclerc late on, continued: "I'm not happy.

"On a day when we're lacking pace compared to McLaren, you hope we do the right things with strategy, which was not the case.

"You can't rely on a little pace advantage. Maybe last year when the car was quite a lot faster than everyone else, but in the position we are in now, we can't do that.

"Naturally that frustrates me because I want things to be done better. I'm realistic.

"Today we couldn't have beaten the McLarens, but a P3 was on the cards if we were on it a bit more."

Lando Norris said he will always put the team first after handing fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri his maiden Formula One victory at Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Norris started on pole at the Hungaroring but dropped two places at the first corner as team-mate Piastri and world champion Max Verstappen surpassed him.

Verstappen later fell away and ultimately finished fifth, while Norris inched ahead of Piastri after making an earlier pitstop.

Norris – who claimed his first win at the Miami Grand Prix in May – was repeatedly asked to hand the lead back to Piastri but refused to do so until two laps before the finish.

It looked like Norris might refuse the order as engineer Will Joseph told him he would need Piastri's support to push for the world championship, but he told reporters after the race he would always prioritise the team. 

"It's tough. It would be tough for anyone when you're leading the race to give it up," Norris told Sky Sports. "I was obviously put in the position. 

"They made me box first and gave me the chance to lead the race and pull away quite comfortably and to do what I was doing.

"I think it was fair to give the position back. I don't want to come across as the guy who is not fair. Oscar has done a lot for me in the past and helped me in many races.

"He drove a better race than I did. He got a good start, a better start and mine sucked. He deserved it and it was the right thing to do."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, meanwhile, was proud of the drivers' efforts, telling Sky Sports: "We are on this trajectory together. 

"None of us – the team, Lando or Oscar – can go alone. That's the message that we discussed on Sunday morning.

"With racing drivers you need to refresh this message. That's why we have this meeting every Sunday.

"We are extremely pleased by how our drivers are supporting the trajectory of McLaren which is incredible. For me, that's the news today."