The Hungarian Grand Prix finished the same way as the three previous races, with a one-two victory by McLaren. This time, it was Lando Norris who took the 25 points, further reducing the gap between the two "Papayas": Piastri sits at 284 points, Lando Norris at 275 points, with Max Verstappen far behind at 187 points (still on the podium, which means he is legally tied to Red Bull). Both teammates fought an intense battle in the final laps of the race, but each one used a different strategy despite being in the same team: Norris only made one pit-stop, while Piastri stopped twice.
This ended up being key for Norris to hold, as even with only one change of tyres, Piastri was unable to pass him in the narrow and twisty Hungaroring, a track some compare to Monaco for the difficulty of overtaking. Andrea Stella, team principal at McLaren, denied that they were favouriting any driver (two stops should theoretically be a better strategy, but the risk of the one-stop strategy paid off for Norris).
Instead, he said that "this is part of racing". "As McLaren Racing, we want to give great racing to Formula 1," he said, via Motorsport. "We want to give our two drivers the possibility to utilise, express their talent, pursue their aspirations, their personal success, and this needs to happen within the boundaries of the team interest and the fairness, the sportsmanship, and the respect for one another."
Much has been said about the conflict of interest between two teammates also competing each other for the prestigious driver's title, but Stella so far is "very proud of how Lando and Oscar go racing". "That was firm, fair racing. It was definitely within our principles. I think this is a great way of honouring Formula 1 racing. These are the values of McLaren."
Entering the summer break, only nine points separate the two drivers, with almost equal chances of any one of them to claim their title, and nobody else even close of matching them this year.