McLaren’s Oscar Piastri takes the chequered flag at the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring race track in Mogyorod, near Budapest, on Sunday. (AFP)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AFP) — Oscar Piastri claimed his first Formula One victory on Sunday ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris after a radio freakout brought an extraordinary conclusion to an incident-plagued Hungarian Grand Prix.
In a race marked by variable fortunes and plenty of squabbles on and off the track, the McLaren duo started on the front row for the first time since 2012 and took an overall one-two finish, with Norris ultimately following the team’s instructions to hand his team-mate his first career win.
The 23-year-old Piastri won by 2.141 seconds, with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton coming third for Mercedes to claim his career-high 200th podium finish.
He survived a collision late in the race with Red Bull’s three-time champion and series leader Max Verstappen, who went off the track but recovered to finish fifth.
Charles Leclerc finished fourth and Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz sixth, while a disgruntled Verstappen was summoned to ask the stewards for an explanation for his collision with Hamilton.
Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez started from 16th on the grid and finished in seventh place, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, who started from 17th. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was 10th.
“It’s very special,” said Australian driver Piastri.
“I’ve dreamed of this since I was a kid. It was a bit complicated at the end, but I was in the right position at the start of the race.
“Racing McLaren is so much fun, it’s an incredible feeling.”
Norris was the first to congratulate his team-mate after appearing to ignore team orders and allowing the Australian driver to pass in the final stages of the race.
“Well done, a one-two finish and lots of good points for the team, well deserved,” he said.
Norris got off to a shaky start, with him, Piastri and Verstappen all three abreast going into Turn 1, but then Piastri went off the track in the lead, the Dutchman then dropped to second, giving him a clear advantage and pushing Norris down to third.
This triggered an exchange of messages in which race engineer Giampiero Lambiase instructed Verstappen to let Norris pass, but Verstappen was visibly annoyed.
“So you can throw people off the course?” the Dutchman yelled.
By lap 10 Piastri was 2.7 seconds ahead of Norris, with Verstappen in third place, two seconds behind the two Ferraris led by Hamilton and Leclerc.
Hamilton eventually set a string of fastest laps to move into third place, but Verstappen, on younger tyres, caught him up and, after passing Hamilton in a hard slide at Turn 12, pitted again on lap 41 to launch an attack.
At the front, Piastri was cruising ahead of Norris, with Verstappen 11.5s back in third place. Hamilton rejoined the track in fifth place behind Sainz, with Leclerc behind him on the new medium tyres.
Norris pitted again for medium tyres on lap 46 and rejoined in fourth place ahead of Hamilton, followed by Piastri on lap 47, with Norris moving up to second place and handing the lead to Verstappen, but being told to “take your place back when convenient”.
Verstappen made his second pit stop on lap 50 for medium tyres and returned to the track in fifth place, behind Leclerc, but 4.5 seconds behind the Ferrari.
Norris, who was in the lead, was reminded of his team’s instructions and responsibilities as Piastri closed in.
“We know you will do the right thing,” McLaren said, but Norris remained silent when told not to push his tyres too hard because he knew it could reduce Verstappen’s championship lead.
“Tell him to catch up,” he said.
As tensions rose for McLaren, Verstappen made a dash up the inside of Hamilton at the first corner on lap 63, but locked up and hit the Mercedes. The collision sent Verstappen briefly airborne, before bouncing back up and rejoining the track in fifth place.
McLaren then issued Norris an ultimatum.
“Five laps to go. To win a championship, it’s not just about me, it’s about the team. I need Oscar and the team.”
With three laps to go, Norris slowed dramatically, handing the lead to Piastri.
After the race, Piastri celebrated with the trophy on the podium (Photo: AFP)
