Norris claims he was "dead" after the Hungarian Grand Prix

F1 Grand Prix, GP Hungary, Hungaroring

Having delivered a sensational comeback drive after a disappointing start at the Hungarian Grand Prix, McLaren's Lando Norris claims that he was "dead" after a tough race in which he had to fend off the attacks of his team-mate Oscar Piastri in the closing stages.

McLaren looked utterly dominant across the practice sessions, but a sudden change to the weather conditions meant that they were unexpectedly challenged by several rivals.

In the end, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc got the better of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, but a second and third spot on the grid were still strong starting places for the Woking-based outfit.

At the start, Piastri held on to second place, but Norris fell behind the Mercedes of George Russell and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

With a one-stop strategy for Norris and fading pace for Leclerc, the McLaren pair worked its way up into the lead.

The closing stages saw Piastri close in on his team-mate on his fresher tyres, and the Australian mounted a several attacks, Norris held on to secure a one-two for the British outfit.

Reflecting on his race in Mogyoród, Norris said: "I'm dead. It was tough. We weren't really planning on the one-stop at the beginning but after the first lap it was kind of our only option to get back into things.

"It was tough. The final stint with Oscar catching, I was pushing flat out. My voice has gone a little bit. Pretty good, rewarding even more because of that, but the perfect result today.

Asked why and when he made the final decision to pursue a one-stop strategy at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Norris claimed that he wanted to salvage the race with the different strategy after his disappointing start to the race.

"I mean, I didn’t think it would probably get us the win. I thought maybe it would get us at least into second. I knew our pace was good, even in the first stint behind George.

"I couldn't get past, but the pace was strong. So, I knew if I just had some clean air and I could push that I could maybe make things work, and that's what we did.

"It’s always a bit of a gamble, these kinds of things, but it also requires no mistakes, good laps, good strategy, all these things. And that's what we had today. So, I'm very happy.

With his victory in Mogyoród, Norris managed to close the championship gap down to just eight points heading into that summer break. Asked how much of a relief it is for him, the McLaren man stated:"I think it’s so tightly fought, it's hard to say if momentum's on anyone's side, but we're fighting hard.

"It's fun. It's tough but fun racing against Oscar and great for us as a team. Another one-two. Our 200th win actually in Formula 1. Credit to Oscar, he put up a good charge and I just about held on. I look forward to plenty more of these."