Piastri clinches maiden win in dramatic Hungary GP

Oscar Piastri claimed his first Formula 1 career win with victory over McLaren team mate Lando Norris, with Lewis Hamilton joining them on the podium for the Hungarian Grand Prix. But the race ended in controversy. Having lost the lead to Piastri at the start, he regained control in the final pit stops but was ordered to hand it back by the team which he resisted almost to the bitter end. There was also disharmony at Red Bull, with Max Verstappen ending up in fifth place after clashing with Hamilton. But it was a good recovery fror team mate Sergio Perez who was P7 after recovering from his poor qualifying result. 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix - Race results Sunny intervals and light winds graced the Hungaroring on Sunday afternoon as the cars headed to the grid. There had been some consternation at McLaren about pole sitter Lando Norris' car when the driver reported that "something definitely not right with the throttle, it's not how it should be" but the problem appeared resolved by the time the race started. Despite starting on the dirty side of the grid, Piastri did not hold back and immediately forced his way down the inside of Norris. Max Verstappen made the most of the opportunity to ambush him for second place, albeit after running wide into turn 1. Carlos Sainz had dropped to seventh, promoting Lewis Hamilton to P4 and putting Charles Leclerc into fifth from Alonso. Sainz quickly retook one position back from Alonso leaving the Aston Martin driver under pressure from his team mate Lance Stroll. Traffic over the McLaren and Red Bull team radios was almost more frantic than it was on the track, with Norris vehemently pleading that Verstappen should have to give P2 back for gaining an advantage by briefly running off, and Verstappen complaining about the McLaren pushing off the track on purpose. In the end Red Bull decided safety first and ordered Verstappen to hand the place back, which he did. Grudgingly. A number of cars started making their first pit stops as early as lap 6, suggesting three-stop strategies. Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon were among the first to switch from mediums to the hard compound soon followed by Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo. That helped George Russell, Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly - who had been out of position on the grid and started on the hard tyres - to inch toward the top ten. There was no corresponding move from the front runners, Piastri having pulled out a three second lead over Norris by lap 11. Verstappen had fallen back from the McLarens working hard to stay out of DRS range of Hamilton who was in on lap 17 in the hope of the undercut. Norris responded on the next lap having been told by his race engineer that "we believe our race is with Verstappen" for third rather than pushing for the race win with Piastri in on lap 19. The Red Bull stayed out with Leclerc and Sainz to take the lead, despite Verstappen complaining: "I can't turn, the fronts and rears." On his own fresh tyres, Piastri soon caught and passed Sainz for third by the time Verstappen was called in for his stop on lap 22. It wasn't the fastest service and he came back out in fifth between Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda, a net loss of one place in the pit stop cycle. Sainz also came in as Leclerc briefly took the lead before getting his call. Piastri was now back in the lead from Norris, Hamilton third with five seconds in hand over Verstappen and Leclerc dropping back to fifth ahead of Tsunoda, Sainz, Russell, Perez and Gasly - the latter three still to pit and their tyres now close to end-of-life. Perez finally pitted on lap 30 for mediums and dropped to P15, Yuki Tsunoda having gone just as long on a starter set of mediums. Last to come in was Russell on lap 35 who came back out in 11th, Gasly having retired with a suspected hydraulic leak on the Alpine. Further ahead, Hamilton's pace had declined giving his pursuers a taste of blood in the water as Verstappen, Leclerc and Sainz all picked up the pace on their new hard tyres. The Red Bull closed to within DRS range of the Mercedes and made its move into turn 2 on lap 36, but Verstappen couldn't hold the line and went wide allowing Hamilton to live to fight another day. Meanwhile at the front even Piastri was feeling the pressure, running wide and losing two seconds to Norris. Hamilton continued to thwart Verstappen who grew increasingly frustrated with the situation, as Leclerc rapidly entered the fray from the rear. Hamilton and Leclerc finally pitted in tandem on lap 41, Hamilton going for the hard tyres and Leclerc the mediums, coming back out P5 and P6 respectively. Once again it exposed Verstappen to the undercut, and there was smoke coming out of his helmet as he fumed over the team radio. But there were no such concerns at McLaren, with Piastri emphatically told that it was still too early for them to stop. McLaren opted to pit Norris first on lap 45 for a final set of mediums. The idea was to protect against Hamilton rather than undercut Piastri, but by the time Piastri pitted on lap 48 and received a slow service the advantage had swung to the Briton who was ahead. An error by Piastri allowed Norris to pull even further ahead despite McLaren's assurance that they would "manage the situation". "Once you get to Lando we will swap the positions, but we want to avoid Lando giving up a lot of race time," Piastri was told. In the meantime it was up to him to seize the advantage and catch up. Meanwhile Norris was pointedly quiet, to the point that the team requested a radio check from him. When he did respond he made his disagreement clear: he saw no reason to cede the position. The team switched to cajoling him into line with warnings about tyre concerns but Norris pressed on and grew his lead to six seconds. Also on a charge was Verstappen, who had made his final stop and was hunting down Hamilton and Leclerc on the fresher mediums. He soon scythed his way past the Ferrari but Hamilton still stood between him and a podium. He tried the move on the Mercedes into turn 1 but was repelled and tried again next lap by, but by now the old red mist was back in Verstappen's eyes and this time he went too deep and there was contact. The Red Bull was launched briefly into the air; both cars survived but Verstappen dropped back behind Leclerc. Norris finally listened to the team and slowed enough to allow Piastri to retake the lead with three laps to go with Hamilton now coasting to third ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen, with Sainz finishing sixth ahead of solid recovery drivers from Perez and Russell, with Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll rounding out the point. But the place to be post-race must surely be in the McLaren and Red Bull offices for the debrief after that tempestuous climax. Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring, Oscar Piastri, McLaren The post Piastri clinches maiden win in dramatic Hungary GP appeared first on F1i.com.