Oscar Piastri claims maiden win in McLaren 1-2 finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri claimed his maiden F1 win at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, leading a stunning one-two finish for McLaren in a race filled with team orders drama and on-track battles.

Oscar Piastri made history at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix by securing his maiden F1 win, leading a dramatic one-two finish for McLaren. The race, held at the Hungaroring, was marked by intense competition, strategic decisions, and a series of notable performances from all drivers.

The race began with Lando Norris on pole position, but it was Piastri who made an aggressive move at the start, diving down the inside to take the lead into Turn 1.

The McLaren duo quickly established the lead, with Max Verstappen who started third running wide and rejoining the track in second place after a brief tussle. Lewis Hamilton, starting in fourth, capitalized on the chaos, moving up to third.

As Piastri swiftly took the lead, Verstappen’s off-track excursion was promptly investigated, with Norris arguing that the Red Bull driver only gained his position due to not properly committing to the corner. Following discussions between Norris, Verstappen, and their engineers, the Dutchman reluctantly allowed Norris to pass for second place.

Meanwhile, Sainz suffered a challenging start, losing three positions initially before regaining one against Alonso on the second lap.

Drivers on soft tyres began pitting on lap 7, with Alonso and Ricciardo following on lap 8. Stroll remained as the only driver running on softs, extending his stint for six more laps before switching to mediums, just like his teammate.

However, the longer first stint did not yield any advantage as the Canadian fell three places behind after Alonso, Albon and Magnussen overtook him during the pit stops. Meanwhile, Alonso complained over his seven laps worn medium tyres.

On lap 17, Hamilton made his pit stop, switching from mediums to hards. McLaren responded by bringing Norris in the following lap, though it was a less-than-ideal 2.8-second stop while Piastri pitted a lap later, relinquishing the lead to Verstappen.

Hamilton proceeded to record three fastest laps while Verstappen and Sainz also pitted, allowing Leclerc to take the lead. Verstappen rejoined in fifth, seven seconds behind Hamilton, with Tsunoda trailing three seconds behind, still on his initial mediums, just like Leclerc.

Verstappen then clocked the fastest lap, nearly a second quicker than Hamilton’s time on the same lap, while Leclerc was pitted and returned to the track in fifth. The reigning world champion quickly caught up to Hamilton, leading to a fierce battle.

After several unsuccessful overtaking attempts, Hamilton locked up while braking for Turn 1, allowing Verstappen to take the lead, only for Verstappen to miss Turn 2, enabling Hamilton to reclaim third place. Verstappen expressed frustration over the radio, citing difficulties in getting his car to turn properly despite adjusting the brake bias.

The battle continued for several laps, with Hamilton noting, “it’s a very long way to go on this damn tyre.” At the end of that lap, both Hamilton and Leclerc were called in to pit, with Hamilton receiving another set of hard tyres, a compound he was not comfortable running.

Meanwhile at McLaren, tensions were rising as they tried to avoid favoring either driver. With Norris leading Piastri by 1.8 seconds, Norris pitted on lap 46 to cover Hamilton’s strategy, although he still held a considerable lead.

After rejoining the track, Norris proceeded to set the fastest lap, as Piastri pitted two laps later and ended up behind his teammate. Soon after, Norris was instructed to “reinstate the order at your convenience,” which raised eyebrows, as McLaren could have simply pitted Piastri first to avoid the need for team orders.

With 20 laps remaining, Norris led Piastri by 3.8 seconds, followed by Hamilton who was running five seconds behind, then Leclerc and Verstappen four seconds back on fresh tyres as the last of the front runners to pit.

After a few fast laps from Norris, McLaren changed their message to indicate that once Piastri closes in on his teammate, they would swap positions. Unfortunately for the Aussie, the gap had stretched to 3.8 seconds, while Verstappen was battling Leclerc and expressing frustration with his team over the radio, stating, “No, don’t give me that sh**, you gave me the strategy, I’m trying to save what’s left.”

In a similar vein, Norris was also told to conserve his tyres, an order he rejected as he aimed to build a lead over his teammate to secure the win.

By lap 62, with eight laps to go, Norris received a reminder about their Sunday morning meetings, to which he replied, “yeah well, tell him to close up to me, please.” This indicated rising tensions within the team, as the Brit was more centered on his chances to claim a race win.

Meanwhile, Verstappen had overtaken Leclerc and was pursuing Hamilton. On lap 62, Verstappen was pushed wide at Turn 2 and questioned why a car’s width wasn’t left, to which his engineer responded that he was behind at the apex. Verstappen retorted, “Ok whatever man.”

A lap later, Verstappen made an overly ambitious attempt to dive inside Hamilton at Turn 1, resulting in contact that lifted Verstappen’s rear but caused no significant damage to either car. However, he found himself just ahead of Sainz and two seconds behind Leclerc. Verstappen complained about Hamilton “moving under braking,” but his engineer dismissed the concern, calling it “childish.”

With three laps remaining, Norris was again instructed to let Piastri pass, emphasizing that winning the championship required teamwork. Eventually, Norris complied, deliberately slowing down to allow Piastri to overtake him, making the action clear.

The McLaren duo finished closely together, while Hamilton secured third place after another intense battle with Verstappen. George Russell claimed the extra point for the fastest lap of the race.

2024 Hungarian Grand Prix Race Results