Lando Norris may have stolen the headlines after his crucial victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix – but one figure you may well recognise also enjoyed the limelight.
Norris survived a last-gasp charge from Oscar Piastri to narrow the gap on his McLaren title rival to just nine points ahead of Formula 1’s summer break.
The Brit was unsurprisingly in high spirits as he celebrated his success with champagne on the podium, having delivered a controlled display despite falling to fifth place on the opening lap – a setback which prompted a bold one-stop strategy.
Charles Leclerc began on pole but dropped back behind both McLarens after suffering a chassis problem, which also allowed George Russell to pick him off.
However, the cameras were trained on another famous face earlier in the day. Indeed, as the drivers prepared to take to the grid in Budapest, one famous online sensation – the face of one of the most popular internet memes – made an appearance.
Andras Istvan Arato, more commonly known as the internet meme ‘Hide the Pain Harold’, took to the track and received adoration from the crowd.
The face behind the ‘Hide the Pain Harold’ meme was spotted at the Hungarian Grand Prix
Andras Arato, a retired Hungarian electrical engineer, took photos with several drivers
Arato posed alongside Isack Hadjar before the drivers took to the grid at the Hungaroring
In 2011, a photo of Arato appearing to fake a smile went viral.
The Hungarian electrical engineer has since worked as a model – hence the awkward stock images he posed in – as well as the advertising and photography industries.
Seemingly a local legend, Arato was afforded the opportunity to meet several of the drivers, including Isack Hadjar, Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto.
He was also in the paddock for last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix and posed with the likes of Norris and Russell, both of whom couldn’t help but smile.
Arato had been invited by F1 reporter Sandor Meszaros and was given a guided tour.
‘Meszaros Sandor @mesandor is Hungary’s most characteristic autosport journalist, he arranged an exclusive tour of the paddock for us in the racing circus that serves as his second home,’ Arato captioned his Instagram post.
Speaking after pipping Piastri to the line, Norris admitted he did not expect to win.
‘I’m dead. I’m dead. It was tough,’ he explained in his post-race interview.
This is one of the hilarious stock images Arato posed for which first surfaced back in 2011
Arato was also at the Hungarian Grand Prix last year and took a photo with Lando Norris
He shook hands with Gabriel Bortoleto, who couldn’t help but smile, in the paddock
‘We weren’t really planning on the one-stop but after the first lap it was kind of our only option to get back into things. The final stint with Oscar catching, I was pushing flat out. Rewarding even more because of that. The perfect result.
‘I didn’t think it would get us the win, I thought it would get us into second.
‘I knew if I had clean air and could push I could maybe make things work and that’s what we did. It always is a bit of a gamble these kind of things.
‘It also requires no mistakes, good laps, good strategy and that’s what we had.’
