Piastri earns 1st F1 victory during wild Hungarian GP
McLaren's Oscar Piastri earned the first Formula 1 victory of his career during a wild Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday that saw teammate Lando Norris finish second and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton place third for his 200th podium.
Norris led the race late but followed team orders, slowed his pace, and let Piastri pass for the win. The younger McLaren driver led the early portions of the event following a great start and was passed by Norris during a pit-stop strategy that favored his teammate.
Norris, who is closer in points to Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the driver standings, appeared to be agitated about making the swap. He said after the race, however, that "the team asked me to do it, so I did it, and that's it."
Once again, poor pitwall decisions led to McLaren putting their drivers in unacceptable positions of having to make the calls for themselves on track. Don't want Lando in the lead, don't give him the undercut. A wholly unnecessary mess. The team has to get itself together.
— Will Buxton (@wbuxtonofficial) July 21, 2024
Verstappen finished fifth after multiple arguments with team radio about poor strategy, as well as a late-race collision with Hamilton. The incident was investigated after the race, but it was determined no further action was required, according to Motor Sport magazine's Chris Medland.
"Today was a rough race for us so naturally that frustrated me as I want things to be better," Verstappen said, according to The Associated Press. "I don't think we were fast enough. We unfortunately just didn't have the pace and the strategy wasn't working for us today.
"I need to look back at what happened with Lewis, but I committed to the move and I don't think I braked too late, but we collided."
Max went airborne after his collision with Lewis 😳 pic.twitter.com/9IkhfPTNCd
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) July 21, 2024
Piastri is the seventh different race winner this season, joining Verstappen, Norris, Hamilton, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz.
Following Sunday's result, McLaren (338) is within 51 points of Red Bull (389) for top spot in the constructor standings.
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