Oscar Piastri secured his debut Grand Prix victory in Hungary on Sunday, July 21, navigating through some nerve wracking intra-team drama with McLaren teammate Lando Norris. The Australian driver initially lost the lead due to a pit stop strategy but regained it after Norris finally responded to team orders.
At the start, Piastri, Norris, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen went three abreast off the line, with Piastri emerging as the leader into the first turn, before maintaining his lead for much of the race. However, during the second round of pit stops, McLaren pitted Norris first to cover off Lewis Hamilton, resulting in Norris emerging ahead of Piastri.
McLaren issued multiple calls for Norris to yield the position back to Piastri, but Norris appeared reluctant to comply for several laps. Finally, on Lap 68 of 70, Norris slowed down, allowing Piastri to reclaim the lead and subsequently his maiden GP victory.
23-year-old Piastri crossed the finish line two seconds ahead of Norris, while Hamilton secured third place for Mercedes after a dramatic late-race battle and contact with Verstappen. This third place finish was an unprecedented 200th in the illustrious career of Hamilton, who looks to be getting back into fighting form ahead of his blockbuster move to Scuderia Ferrari next season.
Speaking of the Scuderia, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fourth, while Verstappen dropped to fifth and faced a stewards’ investigation for his incident with Hamilton. Carlos Sainz of Ferrari took sixth, followed by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who made significant progress from his P16 starting position.
Featured image courtesy of @OscarPiastri on X
