Strutting shock of the FIA Stripes Lando Norris of Victory Hungarian GP: McLaren disqualified after leaked footage exposes rule violation

In a seismic blow to McLaren’s 2025 Formula 1 campaign, the FIA has officially qualified Lando Norris’s victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 3, 2025, following the emergence of previously unseen footage revealing aerodynamic irregularities in his McLaren MCL40. The decision, announced on August 5, 2025, hands the victory to Oscar Piastri’s team, which finished 0.698 seconds behind Norris, and the championship classification, according to Motorsport.com . McLaren team leader Andrea Stella quickly accepted the ruling as “disproportionate,” vowing to appeal, while fans on the fence. The qualification, derived from a probe initiated after the Belgian Grand Prix, marks a dramatic turning point in the closest F1 title fight in years.

Norris’ Hungarian triumph, initially celebrated at McLaren’s 200th Grand Prix victory, saw the Briton overcome a first-lap drop from third to fifth with a bold one-stop strategy, overcoming the two-stop approach of Piastri and Ferrari polesitter Charles Leclerc, per L’Atlético . The leaked film, taken by cameras on the border between Spa and Hungary, revealed an illegal regulation of the floor design, which was formed to an aerodynamic advantage, violating FIA technical regulations, per Sky Sports . The FIA’s technical representative, Jo Bauer, confirmed the violation, which resulted in a modification to the dynamic suspension that changed the old guidance of the duration of restarts, and Norris and Leclerc, per BBC Sport . They stripped Norris of his 25 points, elevating Piastri to victory and Mercedes’ George Russell to second, with Leclerc moving into third, per Formula1.com .

Stella responded forcefully in a Sky Sports interview, stating: “The allegations are baseless. Our car has passed every FIA inspection this season and we are confident in our compliance.” He suggested that the footage, which surfaced on X via @f1fanhub, was “inconclusive” and distorted by camera angles, insisting that McLaren’s car passed previous inspections. “We are interested in protecting Lando’s integrity and our championship fight,” Stella added, per Motorsport.com . The decision widens Piastri’s drivers’ championship lead to 34 points over Norris, while McLaren’s 297-point championship lead remains intact, per The Athletic . However, the ruling boosts Ferrari’s hopes, with Leclerc now 43 points behind Piastri, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who finished P9 after colliding with Lewis Hamilton, 97 points back, per Sky Sports .

The controversy has reignited debates over the FIA’s consistency, with fans recalling the 2007 Spygate scandal that cost McLaren $100 million and their constructors’ points, per ESPN . Users like @ln4addict slammed the decision, tweeting: “This is a targeted attack on Sabotage Lando’s title hopes,” while @omicomms supported the FIA, stating: “Rules are rules: McLaren got caught.” Hamilton, who slumped to a career-high P12 in Hungary, hinted at Ferrari’s internal struggles but congratulated Piastri, telling Planetf1.com , “Oscar drove brilliantly; justice has been served.” Leclerc, whose P4 was upgraded to P3, expressed mixed feelings, saying: “I’d rather win on the track, but points are points,” Gazzetta.it .

The disqualification compounds McLaren’s challenges, with Norris’s previous Spa errors and a crash with Piastri in Canada fueling scrutiny of his championship mettle, per The Mirror . McLaren’s Zak Brown, defending his drivers to Sky Sports , told “Lando and Oscar are champions in our eyes; we will fight this fascination to the bitter end.” The team faces a tight timeline, with an appeal hearing scheduled before the Dutch Grand Prix on August 29, per Fia.com . Historical precedents, such as Ferrari’s 1999 Malaysian GP disqualification (later overturned), suggest McLaren’s appeal could succeed, but the damage to Norris’s morale is evident, per Gpfans.com .

As F1 enters its summer season, the fallout from the Hungarian Grand Prix—Norris’s qualification, McLaren’s appeal, and the reshaped title race—set the stage for a dramatic second half. Will Norris sell his victory, or will Piastri’s unexpected victory redefine McLaren’s 2025 legacy? The road through Zandvoort begins with a drama at the season’s peak that is more impressive than F1.