The 200th Formula 1 victory of McLaren in Hungarian Grand Prix was a monument not only in terms of the current effectiveness of the team but also a celebration of the rich history of the organization. That race was always going to be decided by strategy, guts and good sportsmanship and in the end it was Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri who drove them one-two and claimed an incredible win by only 0.698 seconds, just another grand chapter enshrined in the history of McLaren.
The CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella were also quick to remind everyone of this feat being in line with the initial vision of Bruce McLaren. Stella said it was a proud extension of the legacy of Bruce, praising the indomitable spirit and inventiveness that has characterised the team since 1966. The outcome of such a win by McLaren makes the team tie the record of Ferrari and surpass the number of grand prix races won by Mercedes which highlights the enormity of the victory.
However, the history of this race came down to courageous and contrast strategies. Norris bet on a one-stop compared to that, he handled his tyres perfectly and took care of track position in the final laps. Piastri instead tried a more theoretically quicker two stop strategy, and hoped that newer tyres would grant him the advantage. This resulted in a momentous confrontation that was hard fought yet scrupulous, reflecting McLaren as a team that allowed its drivers to compete cleanly, whilst achieving the maximum outcome on behalf of the team.
It was not a flash of genius, too. The victory was the fourth consecutive one-two by McLaren, tangible evidence that the dramatic upturn of the team is founded on technical perfection, harmony of leadership and one driver stimulating the other to go all the way. Brown hailed the performance of both Norris and Piastri as well as the fluidity of the team-effort in the pitlane and the quick thinking in the pitwall as the weekend was a perfect one, or, as close to perfect as can be.
The figures certainly talk to McLaren now. The team will now be only the third constructor in the history of the Formula 1 to gain 200 victories along side Ferrari and Mercedes. Zak Brown described the performance as being as close to perfect as it can get and credited the performance to both of the drivers, the pit crew and the entire engineering staff.
Although Norris acknowledges that he had no need to have complicated the race, the driver is still evolving into a championship-grade driver. Five victories this season and nine in total, move him up the table a step closer to Piastri, with a mere nine-point deficit. In the meantime, the steady performance has landed McLaren on the back foot in the constructors championship.
With the sport being in summer recess, McLaren departs Budapest with not only a trophy but with hope and the spur to continue the legacy as a torchbearer of the Bruce McLaren dream, as well as a proof that excellence never goes out of fashion.
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