Inside top-secret McLaren Technology Centre as Lando Norris dominated Hungarian Grand Prix

The Hungarian Grand Prix had a feel of 2025 about it at times as McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri dictated the race from out front.

Its the first time the reigning back-to-back Constructors champions have enjoyed such dominance in a race this year, and it was the first time that Norris took to the top step of the podium following a Grand Prix since he won the World Championship in December.

Finishing 15 seconds clear of Max Verstappen, Norris ate into Championship-leader Kimi Antonellis lead thanks to a number of upgrades and incredible work back at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking.

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While the majority of the team headed to the Hungaroring, engineers and analysts still remained behind, populating the Mission Control room as the rest of the workshops and offices remained empty from the usual hustle and bustle of a weekday.

Thanks to Allwyn, I was given the opportunity to see behind the curtain of the MTC, exploring the workshops, which still held spare chassis and gearboxes, to watching Free Practice 3 and Qualifying inside Mission Control having gawped at the incredible collection of historic and legendary cars.

Walking into a room with a glass window adjacent to Mission Central, the number of screens and vast amount of data completely took me back.

From the specialists at the front measuring Oscar Piastris engine performance on the front row to analysts watching on board footage of every driver on the grid and piecing together how McLarens driver can find a tenth of a second from something as simple as the timing of a down change or the moment getting back on the throttle out of the corner, the room was a hive of activity.

As always at McLaren, Piastris team on the left were working hard in front of me, looking to ensure the Aussie made it to the final stage of Qualifying as the lap times started to tumble around him.

Norris finished top of the Q2 standings and Piastri safely made it into the final stage of Qualifying, but there were no celebrations in the room. The boffins simply got their heads back down and focused on what information to send to their colleagues in Hungary for an ascent on pole position.

The incredible amount of information coming through the unedited team radio that I listened in to gave me such an enormous appreciation for the teamwork that goes into making McLaren a success.

While the screens and data were something an F1 fan would dream of having in their man cave or diva den.

I returned to the ground floor of the MTC to watch Norris put his MCL40 on pole for the first time this year as his Championship-winning ride of last year sat over my left shoulder next to Lewis Hamiltons 2008 car.

We raised a drink to Norris and the team before I headed off past the title-winning cars of Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen and the 80million 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning McLaren F1 GTR (just don't Google the main sponsor).

My experience was exactly the reason why Allwyn are partners with McLaren and F1. The excitement of what lies in store is a huge part of the reason why people choose any sort of entertainment, and the Formation Lap before an F1 race is motorsport fans version of that.

Allwyn AG, a multi-national lottery company and the parent company of Allwyn UK, which operates the UK National Lottery, recognises that anticipation before events is just as exciting as the thick of the action.

They are also partnered with F1 for the Formation Lap because Allwyn recognises it represents the ultimate moment of anticipation. Its where tension builds, and drivers and fans share the excitement before the lights go out

Allwyn have launched their own fan engagement competition through its partnership with F1, creating the Allwyn League that F1 Predict players can join and have the chance to win exclusive prizes related to the peak of motorsport.

They can include grandstand tickets to Grand Prix plus special end-of-season prizes such as Paddock Club access and one-of-a-kind memorabilia. The Allwyn League can be found here.

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