Oscar Piastri has taken his debut Grand Prix victory in Hungary after intra-team drama played out, with McLaren teammate Lando Norris belatedly responding to an order to hand back the lead to the Australian who had lost out due to the team’s pit-stop strategy.
McLaren took their first one-two in three years at the Hungarian Grand Prix but it came with inter-team drama; Lando Norris was repeatedly told to slow down and let Oscar Piastri through in the final stages before eventually letting him pass.
After the duo went three abreast with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen off the line, Piastri emerged as the leader into Turn 1 and led much of the Grand Prix from there. However, when Norris was pitted first during the second round of stops – seemingly to cover off Lewis Hamilton behind – the Briton was the one to emerge ahead.
McLaren intra-team drama:
Norris, Piastri, and Verstappen went three abreast into Turn 1 at the start. Piastri won this battle and led most of the race. However, McLaren complicated matters when it pitted Norris first during the second round of pitstops, seemingly to cover off Hamilton. As a result, Norris undercut his teammate and emerged in the lead.
Over the next few laps, McLaren called Norris to give the position back to Piastri. But the Briton seemed hesitant and even came on the radio to remind his team that he was fighting for the championship.
After several tense exchanges, Norris finally conceded and slowed down to let Piastri through on Lap 68 of 70. This handed McLaren its first 1-2 finish since Monza 2021.
Piastri’s maiden full race victory was secured, but the Australian sounded notably subdued for a driver who had just achieved his “childhood dream”, while instead of enjoying jubilant celebrations and what would have been deserved praise, McLaren faced a post-race grilling about their decisions and actions.
The 23-year-old went on to take the win, two seconds up the road from Norris. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, claimed the final podium position in third for Mercedes, having faced drama of his own after contact with Max Verstappen during a late-race battle.
Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari, while Verstappen dropped down to fifth and will also be investigated by the stewards for his incident with Hamilton. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz followed in sixth, ahead of the Red Bull of Sergio Perez who made ground from his P16 starting position.
Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton escape stewards’ penalty for dramatic F1 collision:
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have avoided a penalty for their late-race collision in Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix after the FIA concluded that no driver was predominantly to blame.
However, the stewards did conclude that Hamilton could have “done more” to avoid the coming together.
The Mercedes and Red Bull driver was battling for third place on lap 63 of the race when Verstappen attempted to draft past his rival under braking for Turn 1.
