McLaren’s Oscar Piastri wins maiden grand prix in Hungary

BUDAPEST – Oscar Piastri used the word “beast” to describe his McLaren car, and few would argue against that as the Australian clinched his maiden Formula One win at the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 21.

It was a perfect day for the British team as Lando Norris completed a one-two finish, albeit reluctantly handing back the lead to Piastri on team orders three laps from the end.

Lewis Hamilton finished third for Mercedes with Red Bull’s championship leader Max Verstappen fifth after colliding with the seven-time world champion in a race full of heated radio exchanges.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth, while Verstappen had to face a post-race investigation for causing the accident. The outcome was unavailable at press time, but the three-time world champion could find himself down to sixth.

All that aside, Piastri stole the show as he also became the seventh different race winner in 13 grands prix this season.

“Very, very special. This is the day I dreamt of as a kid, standing on the top step of an F1 podium,” the 23-year-old said.

“Thank you to the team for an amazing effort and an amazing car. It’s a lot of fun racing with McLaren. It’s (the car) a beast at the moment. It’s fast in every condition. I think today we had it under control completely... to just be able to manage the race like that with both cars and secure a one-two.

“I’m incredibly happy for the whole team and it’s nice to get my first win on the board. Hopefully there’s more to come.”

Norris was on track for his second win of the season following Miami, but he accepted team orders in the end and went over to Piastri’s car to congratulate his teammate after the race.

“An amazing day for us as a team. It’s been a long journey and to get to achieving this on merit is exactly what we did today. We were a long way clear of the rest, and we did it in style as well,” said the 24-year-old Briton.

“Oscar had a good start... he controlled the race well. He deserved it today. Two good drivers and an amazing team. Today was our day.”

Piastri had led nearly the entirety of the race before the second round of pit stops, in which Norris took the lead and extended it to around six seconds. But McLaren ordered that Norris returned first place to Piastri.

Behind the top five, Carlos Sainz of Ferrari finished sixth, while Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, George Russell of Mercedes, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll completed the top 10.

Hamilton failed to make it three wins in three for Mercedes – he won the previous round at his home British Grand Prix and Russell was victorious in Austria.

“A huge congratulations to McLaren on the one-two. Congratulations to Oscar. He’s been doing a fantastic job, he’s been so consistent and it was only a matter of time before he got a win. He had amazing pace from the get-go,” the 39-year-old said.

Verstappen, despite his underwhelming day, still leads the standings on 265 points. Norris is second on 189, ahead of Leclerc at 162.

In other news, Formula One will test an active cooling system in the cockpits of cars starting from the Dutch Grand Prix in August as a response to extreme heat experienced by drivers in Qatar last term.

Some of those racing in Doha last October were on the verge of collapse by the end of the race, severely dehydrated and vomiting.

A spokesman for the FIA said the governing body and all 10 teams had begun research to improve venting to cool the drivers. The technical regulations have since been updated to allow a passive scoop on top of the cockpit for better ventilation with teams “strongly encouraged” to use it.

“Initial tests are planned to take place in Zandvoort and upcoming races. If these tests prove successful, the FIA will mandate the installation of such an active cooling system in the future,” the spokesman said. REUTERS, AFP