Norris explains McLaren strategy frustration after Piastri battle at Hungarian GP

After losing his Pole Position lead to Piastri at Turn 2 on the opening lap, the Briton told his team on numerous occasions he was faster than the Aussie, and pleaded with McLaren to let him pit before his teammate ahead of their second round of pit stops.

Sticking to their 'papaya rules' of racing, which sees McLaren avoid favouring one driver over the other, Norris' demands were rejected, with the 26-year-old replying: "You mean you won't let me? I'm miles faster."

Piastri indeed pitted ahead of Norris, but the world champion's strong series of laps thereafter, along with his teammate's controversial collision with back-marker Carlos Sainz, allowed him to get in front by the time he emerged from his second stop. There was no stopping Norris from there, on his way to securing a 15-second winning margin ahead of Max Verstappen, while a gearbox-related DNF marked a miserable end to a highly frustrating day for Piastri.

Having also said he was "on another level" compared with Piastri in Budapest and that did all he can to "force" his teammate's pit stop, Norris was then asked if he still had any frustrations with how the situation played out.

"I just want to win the race," Norris replied. "There are certain rules we have as a team, and we can’t harm each other’s race by being overly aggressive and wanting to win. But I want to win, and I certainly had much better pace than him.

Believing his pace was such that he could have afforded an extra pit stop on Piastri, Norris said McLaren were on the "fine line" in terms of harming both drivers' race. It is not the first time strategy has been a point of contention at McLaren in Budapest, with Piastri's maiden F1 win in 2024 coming long after Norris had been ordered to let his Aussie teammate through for the lead.

"I wanted to box and undercut because my pace would have been so good," Norris continued. "I could have pulled away a whole pit-stop window, I think, on him and boxed again if I needed to. Or I get him to box early.