01/08/2025 19:40
It could so easily have turned into McLaren's worst nightmare, and
will likely have given team principal Andrea Stella palpitations on
the pit wall. Less than two hours earlier, in the FIA team
representatives press conference at the Hungaroring, Stella had
been extolling the various virtues of his F1 championship-chasing
drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. On track, late in the
second practice session for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, those
virtues were almost forgotten as Piastri and Norris came within
inches of colliding. Emerging out of the pit lane and on the
approach to the sweeping Turn 1 right-hander, Norris was forced to
lock up as Piastri aimed for the racing line into the corner. For a
moment, it appeared as if the duo would run into one another, only
to narrowly avoid such a fate. "Oh, that could have been a lot, lot
worse there. Lando having to lock up as Oscar swept around the
outside," exclaimed Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft, and he
was right, too. "Save it until Sunday, boys, save it until Sunday,"
remarked former F1 driver and analyst Anthony Davidson, in the hope
of seeing the two drives go wheel to wheel in the grand prix. "What
was that all about?" Croft added: "That will be terrific if that is
a battle for the lead on Sunday, but Andrea Stella is probably
looking at that on the pit wall and going, 'No, no, no, it's only
Friday, guys. Come on. Calm down. Calm down." With Piastri holding
a 16-point lead over Norris going into the race, a bit of spice
between the two would not go amiss.
