There’s something about the Hungaroring and first-time Formula 1 winners. Perhaps it’s the flowing layout of the course north-east of Budapest, with almost kart-circuit-like characteristics. Allied to the difficulty to overtake, which puts much more value on a good qualifying session, it makes it a happy hunting ground for maiden victories.
Case in point: Damon Hill, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen, and Esteban Ocon have all managed their first F1 wins at the circuit. Oscar Piastri has now added his name to that list, one comprising of a total of four F1 championships, 72 victories and, interestingly enough, two Super GT titles.
But it wasn’t entirely straightforward, even if Piastri had looked relatively serene in the lead for the opening half of the race. An excursion eradicated more than half of his buffer over team-mate Lando Norris, and this enshrined the undercut that the Briton was going to get by stopping two laps sooner. And then began the debate when Norris emerged in front when Piastri stopped.
PLUS: The 10 reasons why the Hungarian GP was so good
Of course, it all played out over the radio. Will Joseph, Norris’ race engineer, assumed the role of lobbyist and attempted to appeal to his driver’s better nature, a discussion that eventually bore fruit as the Miami winner reluctantly conceded at the start of lap 68 and allowed Piastri to restore his lead.
There was more spice among the proliferation of radio chatter, as Max Verstappen spent his race sounding off like a foghorn in a tornado, while the TV feed cut to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase’s countenance of a put-upon father watching his toddler throw a strop in a Tesco.
And, as ever, there were plenty more news nuggets unearthed throughout the weekend that have been overshadowed by events since. Let’s unpack a few things we’ve learned, shall we?
1. Piastri is slowly becoming Norris’ equal at McLaren
Piastri and Norris celebrate McLaren’s first 1-2 since 2021
Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images
When it came to Piastri’s first season in F1, he showed great improvement over the season as he began to live up to his prodigious reputation. His racecraft was well-judged, his efforts in qualifying could be spectacular, and he carried himself with a measured approach that suggested that F1’s pitfalls and trappings were water off a duck’s back. The main sticking point appeared to be his tyre management, which paled in comparison to…
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