I was out the other day and missed the Hungarian Grand Prix. But after waking up to all the Twitter drama about Max Verstappen just sending it out of nowhere and McLaren seeming to do everything in their power to make what should be their best season in a very long time difficult, I had no choice but to watch the whole race replay.
And boy, was it worth it.
The McLaren pit wall was an absolute shitshow. There aren’t any other ways about it. They took an otherwise walk-in-the-park one-two sweep to a 15-lap emotional rollercoaster that left both drivers bitter—Norris for handing a win and seven points to his teammate and Piastri for being handed out his maiden victory thanks to the massive screw-up with the pit stop strategy.
I would not want to be in that post-race briefing room.
Now that Verstappen isn’t winning every race, Formula 1 is fun to watch again. Norris has the fastest car now, and if he and McLaren play their cards right, they can finish the season with two titles. They have managed to throw away easy wins in the last two races, which could have further closed the gap to Verstappen and Red Bull.
McLaren and Norris might not be prepared to be the best of the pack this season. Regardless, they must step up now that they are seriously in the race for the championships.