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• McLaren 'the new benchmark' of Formula One, says Wolff after Hungary one-two

  Toto Wolff lauded praise on McLaren following their one-two at the Hungarian Grand Prix, labelling them the "new benchmark" in Formula One. 

  Oscar Piastri claimed his maiden triumph in the competition at the Hungaroring last weekend, with Lando Norris coming second after claiming pole in qualifying. 

  McLaren have finished in the podium places in their last nine races, with their one-two in Budapest the first time they have done so since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. 

  Despite Red Bull's continued dominance in both world championships, their recent performances has shown some vulnerability. For the first time since December 2021, the team has gone three races without a win.

  And the British team have capitalised, now sitting 51 points behind them in the constructor's championship, with the possibility winning a first constructor's title since 1998.

  Mercedes have also improved, with Lewis Hamilton winning the British Grand Prix for a record ninth time and claiming his 200th career podium in Budapest last week. 

  "What we have to acknowledge is that McLaren are clearly now leading the field and by any conditions, it is a one and two," Wolff told Sky Sports. 

  "That is the new benchmark. It's great that we have another team that has made that jump in being able to score first and second.

  "It's good for all of us… I'm happy for them."

  Mercedes currently sit fourth in the constructor's championship, 81 points behind Ferrari after a slow start to the 2024 season. 

  But consecutive wins in the Austrian Grand Prix and Silverstone has shown a sign of their drastic improvements, with George Russell the prime example of that having gone out in the first qualifying session last week, but still able to finish in eighth. 

  Russell's nine place improvement was his second biggest comeback in his Formula One career, only surpassed by the 12 positions he moved up at the Hungaroring in 2023. 

  And Wolff believes that overcoming their current 81-point deficit to Ferrari and securing third place by the end of the season is a realistic goal for his team to achieve. 

  "It's difficult to put targets out because it swings a lot with upgrade to upgrade," said Wolff. 

  "But I think if you were to say what is a realistic-to-optimism today, it's probably P3 in the championship.

  "Difficult to catch Red Bull and McLaren is now the benchmark, therefore I think that would be a good target. But it's not easy."

• 'Childish remark not aimed at Verstappen', says Red Bull boss Horner

  Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes Gianpiero Lambiase's "childish" remark was not aimed at Max Verstappen during the pair's unhappy radio exchange at Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

  Drivers' Championship leader Verstappen was forced to settle for fifth at the Hungaroring - his second-lowest finish of the season - Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris comprising a McLaren one-two.

  The three-time world champion was involved in a collision with Lewis Hamilton on lap 63, after overshooting a corner on an attempted overtake.

  It led Verstappen to vent his frustrations towards race engineer Lambiase, telling him over the team radio: "You gave me this s*** strategy. I'm trying to rescue what's left."

  The Italian responded: "I am not even going to get into a radio fight with the other teams, Max. We'll let the stewards do their thing. It’s childish on the radio, childish."

  It was a surprising exchange given the close-knit relationship shared between the pair, who have worked together for eight years.

  However, Horner said Lambiase's comments were instead aimed at the radio traffic from rival teams hoping the stewards would penalise them.

  "I don't think GP's [Lambiase] reference at that point was in reference to Max," he told reporters. "Others [were] obviously goading for penalties because obviously the stewards are listening to the radio as well.

  "Max was frustrated, which you can understand. He has a very direct line of communication with his engineer. It's something that they’ll discuss between the two of them.

  "They've been together for eight years and, yes, there are things we could have done better in the race today that we'll talk about as a team.

  "I think everybody sees we need to find more performance, and everybody is working hard to do that and we'll have whatever discussions behind closed doors."

  Verstappen, who still holds a 76-point lead over Norris at the Drivers' Championship summit, will head to next weekend's Belgian Grand Prix having not won any of his last three races; last going four without success during the 2020 season.

  However, the Dutchman has won each of the last three races in Belgium, and could become only the third driver after Ayrton Senna and Jim Clark to win four in a row.

• Hamilton labels Verstappen collision as a "racing incident" as pair avoid punishment

  Lewis Hamilton labelled his clash with Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix as a "racing incident" after finishing third on Sunday. 

  Hamilton and Verstappen made contact coming into turn one at the Hungaroring with seven laps of the race remaining. 

  The Dutchman attempted to go on the inside of his former rival to secure the final podium place, but in doing so locked up his front tyres. 

  Verstappen and Hamilton made contact, with the three-time world champion briefly sent into the air and off the track as he was overtaken by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. 

  The stewards swiftly placed the incident under investigation and conducted their analysis of it after the race, with the pair both escaping punishment for the collision. 

  "For me it was a racing incident," Hamilton told Sky Sports. 

  "Ultimately he was much quicker and he sent it. I moved a little to defend, but I left enough space on the inside and he locked up and obviously then couldn't turn.

  "He came at a different trajectory and clipped my wheels. If he was under control he would have gone by."

  “It’s nerve-wracking when you see the pace at which they close the gap on corners," Hamilton added of Red Bull's pace.

  "You just laugh to yourself because it’s not something I can do, particularly on the last sector they were very very strong, same as the McLarens.

  “I saw him coming from a long way back and he was able to brake a lot later than me, but he sent it up the inside, I stayed still and he clipped the wheel and went over, so I think it was a racing incident."

  Hamilton's third-place finish saw him claim a 200th podium, the first driver in the history of the competition to reach that milestone. 

  The seven-time world champion, who claimed 49 of those podium finishes with McLaren, was pleased to see his former team produce their first one-two since the Italian Grand Prix in 2021. 

  “Big thanks to this amazing crowd and a huge congratulations to the McLarens with the one-two, that’s my old original family so it’s great to see," Hamilton said. 

  “For us, the team have done a great job at pushing this car ultimately, we didn’t have the pace of the McLarens or of the Red Bulls but we were just able to hold on at the beginning of the race, it was very tough to hold on and make those tyres last."