Oscar Piastri Breaks Through for Maiden Grand Prix Victory in Awkward Circumstances

Oscar Piastri celebrates on top of his McLaren Formula 1 MCL38 after capturing his first Formula 1 Grand Prix Victory at the Hungaroring in the Hungarian Grand Prix (Source: McLarenF1 on X)

MOGYORÓD, Hungary — Lewis Hamilton’s record-setting British Grand Prix victory at Silverstone shows that the field has caught up to Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Drivers like Oscar Piastri at McLaren want to break through to join the drivers who claimed victory in 2024.

In the penultimate race before Formula 1’s Summer Break, the Hungaroring’s 2.722-mile-long circuit is the stage for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Often seen as a track that is too tight and twisty for F1, it has seen occasional memorable moments in the past handful of years.

After a thrilling qualifying event, McLaren secured a front-row lockout for the first time at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. Lando Norris led Piastri. Further back, the first round of qualifying drama had both the Red Bull of Sergio Perez eliminated after a wreck. At the same time, the Mercedes of George Russell was limited following an unspectacular round. Meanwhile, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly will start from the pit lane after power unit changes.

As the clock winded ahead of lights out, tire blankets were removed, and the opening tire choices were revealed for the expected two-stop race. A majority of the field elected to start on the Medium compound tires. Russell, Perez and Gasly elected to start on the Hard compound tires. In contrast, the Williams of Alex Albon, the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and both Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll elected to start on the Soft compound tires. 

Norris led Piastri around for the formation lap and lined up back in their grid starts for the race to start. The lights went out, and even as Norris got a good start, so did Piastri and Verstappen, which had all three drivers go into Turn 1 side-by-side-by-side. Verstappen went wide on the exit, taking a second for a moment. It looked like he had left the track to gain an advantage while Piastri hurried away, taking the lead.

Verstappen was noted for investigation for leaving the track and was advised by his pit wall to give the spot back to Norris, which he did begrudgingly while Piastri set to work on building up his lead. Meanwhile, Hamilton was holding station in fourth place while the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were battling for positions.

Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL38 Mercedes, Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL38 Mercedes and Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 lead the field into turn one at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 21, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary.

Opening pit stops had opened up for those who had started on the Soft tires, which allowed Russell and Perez to move up the order to make up places after being eliminated in the opening round of qualifying. Piastri was holding a steady pace ahead of Norris, with Verstappen following behind as the leaders began to think about their first pit stops.

Hamilt0n opened pit stops for the leaders on Lap 17 with hopes of undercutting Verstappen for third, while Norris followed him into the pits a lap later and Piastri after that. Verstappen stayed out slightly longer, though complaining of a setup that made it difficult for his car to turn.

Verstappen soon made a stop in the pits, along with Sainz, leaving Leclerc out front. On Lap 24, Leclerc went down the pit lane, handing the lead back to Piastri while Hamilton was trying his best to hold off a quick approaching Verstappen. Russell and Perez had made their way into the Top 10, marking a solid recovery drive for both drivers.

Meanwhile, Alpine called Gasly to retire the car, meaning back-to-back race weekends ending in the garage.

Verstappen was right on Hamilton’s tail; however, the seven-time World Champion was putting up his best defense, keeping his 2021 title rival behind him. Leclerc started to close in on the pair, racing for third while Piastri was working on keeping a consistent pace, even after a slight off that allowed his teammate to close in closer.

Once again, Hamilton was the first of the leaders to pit, bringing along Leclerc. Both drivers returned to the track on a Hard and a Medium set of tires on Lap 41. Norris soon pitted on Lap 44, seemingly to cover off Hamilton yet putting him in an excellent position to take the lead over Piastri in the pits. This is precisely what happened as Piastri pitted two laps later. However, the McLaren pit wall was about to get to work in an attempt to return Piastri to the lead.

Verstappen once again pitted, falling behind both Leclerc and Hamilton and set his sights on returning to the podium places. 

The drama was starting to build up in two different areas. Up front, McLaren was on the radio to both Norris and Piastri. Norris was consistently reminded to slow down enough to let Piastri back past while the sophomore driver was instructed to catch up to the lead. Meanwhile, Verstappen was putting on quick laps in anger as he attempted to correct a possibly incorrect strategy.

I dreamt of this day as a little kid back in Australia. A truly unbelievable feeling. Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me and thanks to the team for this opportunity and all their hard work. Such a special day 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Ev03RmpHAD

— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) July 21, 2024

Norris was being told to conserve his tires to let Piastri catch up, but the other McLaren was still struggling. Meanwhile, Verstappen used DRS to speed past Leclerc in Turn 1, setting his sights on Hamilton.

Within the final 10 laps, McLaren was pleading with Norris to let Piastri catch up and by, yet nothing had changed with an increasing lead. 

Verstappen was starting to work on Hamilton, hoping to get past, yet once again, the Mercedes was seemingly two cars wide. Finally, Verstappen got a run into Turn 1, thanks to a lapped car yet locked up, and made slight contact with Hamilton, sending him forward and bouncing out of the way, letting Leclerc by and putting himself under another investigation by the stewards.

On Lap 68, the message from the McLaren pit wall may have gone through as Norris slowed down and let his teammate by. For a moment, it looked like there would still be a battle for the lead, yet it never materialized.

Lap 70 came and went, and Oscar Piastri claimed his first Formula 1 Grand Prix victory, ahead of teammate Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, who claimed his 200th career podium. Leclerc and Verstappen closed out the top five. Sainz finished in sixth, ahead of Perez and Russell, who turned their days around with solid points finishes. Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda claimed the ninth place in a one-stop race ahead of Stroll, who claimed the final point in the Top 10.

Lewis Hamilton celebrates after claiming his 200th career podium finish in the 2024 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, behind Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (Source: Mercedes AMG)

Alonso finished just outside the points in 11th, the last car on the lead lap. The other Visa Cash App RB of Daniel Ricciardo was the first car one-lap down, ahead of the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, Albon, Magnussen, the Kick Sauber of Valtteri Bottas, the Williams of Logan Sargeant, with the other Alpine of Esteban Ocon and Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu rounding out the runners at the finish with Gasly being the lone retirement.

McLaren may have cemented themselves as the favorites for the rest of the season, with Red Bull seemingly on the back foot, yet how the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix unfolded with team orders might cause issues as the season wears on. Formula 1 heads to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgium Grand Prix, the final race before the Summer Break.