Mercedes
Mercedes had a good race, their car looking much better as conditions started to cool. Russell was opportunistic at the start, picking off a sluggish Norris to run third. Like Leclerc and Piastri, he two-stopped and found himself out of the podium places as a result. But he chased down and picked off Leclerc with a late-braking move into Turn 1, the duo coming close to contact. That bagged Russell his first podium since Canada, and Antonelli made it two cars in the points for the Silver Arrows. He battled from P15 on the grid to 10th despite the Hungaroring being notoriously difficult to overtake at, making his hard tyres last a staggering 48 laps.
George Russell, 3rd
“It’s great to be back on the podium. We’ve taken a step forward with the car this weekend, so it is a deserved reward for the hard work of everyone at Brackley and Brixworth. It looked like we were on for a lonely P4, but we closed on Leclerc in the closing stages. The overtake itself was a little dicey; I committed to the corner, and he clearly moved under braking, for which he was given a penalty. Thankfully there was no harm done and we were able to take P3.
“This result gives us encouragement heading into the summer break and we can look forward to the final 10 races of the year now with more confidence. We can’t get carried away as we didn’t expect to be in the top three this weekend. We know the competitive order behind McLaren is tight and we will need to be at our best to fight for podiums consistently in the second half of the season.”
Kimi Antonelli, 10th
“That final stint was a very long one. It felt never-ending! I did close to 50 laps on that Hard tyre and by the end, I was just hanging on out of the final corner each lap and defending into turn one. The cars behind had superior grip but I was able to keep them behind. It felt great to get that final point as our pace in free air was good. If I can start nearer the front after the summer break, then I know we can fight for good points each weekend.
“I am really happy that my confidence in the car has come back this weekend. I leave Budapest feeling much more comfortable after moving back to the previous rear suspension. Yesterday’s qualifying was just a shame as the pace was clearly there. We can take this feeling into the second half of the season and look forward to it with optimism now.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“This has been a positive weekend for the team here in Hungary. We reverted on the rear suspension specification and that helped provide a much more stable and balanced car for the drivers. They had more confidence in it and that was reflected in their pace. It was solid throughout and that helped George score a well-deserved podium and put Kimi in a position to hold off several cars for a point, despite being on nearly 50 lap old tyres.
“This result and our overall performance here at the Hungaroring give us a direction for the rest of the season. As our focus turns to 2026, we won’t have any more major aerodynamic upgrades to bring to the track. Nevertheless, there are refinements we can make as we look to optimise the car we have. That will be useful as we look to end 2025 in a positive way and fight for second in the Constructors’ Championship over these final 10 races of the year.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“We leave the Hungaroring pleased with a solid result and encouraged by the improvement we have seen with the W16. George, starting P4, fought hard with Norris throughout the first two stints, showing good pace throughout. The McLaren was ultimately able to make the one stop work and with it, take victory. George’s speed though helped us close down the Ferrari of Leclerc and pick him off for P3 and the podium in the closing stages.
“With Kimi, the first half of the race was frustrating as he was stuck in a train of cars all on different compounds. We opted to stop him to claim some free air, but he soon found himself back in the pack. It is to his great credit that by extending on the Hard tyre he opened the possibility of claiming the final point in P10. Some clever driving on near 50 lap old tyres held off Hadjar and Hamilton in what was an impressive final stint.
“We now head into the mandatory summer shutdown period. When we return after the break, we will be looking to optimise the W16 and build on this confidence building weekend when we return in Zandvoort. There are still 10 races to go, and we want to end the season on a high. We are also in a battle for second in the Constructors’ Championship and we will be doing everything we can to claim this by the season finale in Abu Dhabi.”
