Two weeks ago at Silverstone, a late call to switch to intermediate tyres potentially cost Oscar Piastri his first grand prix win.
While his team mate Lando Norris’ latest near-miss again commanded the majority of attention, Piastri was reflecting on another opportunity to win which had passed him by, as had arguably been the case at Imola and the Red Bull Ring.
“I think the kind of good thing, but kind of bad thing as well, is it’s never been the same thing that’s prevented us from winning,” he said in response to a question from RaceFans. “Obviously today we made a wrong call. Imola we had an issue in qualifying with traffic. In Austria – the less said about qualifying in Austria the better.
“So I guess it’s a good thing that it’s not been repeated error or mistake. But we have good handle now I think on both sides of the garage where we felt like we could have won the race. I think we’ve got the hardest part done, we’ve got an incredibly quick car, we just needs to capitalise on using it.”
At the Hungaroring, McLaren unquestionably did just that, delivering their first one-two since Italy 2021. Piastri was there to capitalise, taking the lead from his team mate at the start.
But the circumstances of Piastri’s breakthrough triumph undoubtedly took some of the shine off his moment of glory. McLaren’s tactics moved Norris into the lead as the final stint began and he took until the 68th lap of 70 to hand Piastri the lead back.
If Piastri seemed a little restrained in his celebrations afterwards, that probably said more about his character than any misgivings about how he won his first race. His personality could hardly contrast more clearly with F1’s other Australian racer, the wise-cracking, perma-grinning Daniel Ricciardo.
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“I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet,” said Piastri in the press conference after the race. “And I’m not really the kind of person to get overly emotional. I don’t think you’re ever really going to see that from me.
“But it’s an incredible feeling. It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid. We’ve had a couple of opportunities through the last few races that we’ve come very close to. Now to make it happen is an incredible feeling.”
Piastri deserves to revel in Sunday’s success, notwithstanding the strange final phase of the race, where McLaren appeared to…
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