Australian Oscar Piastri achieved his first victory in Formula 1. He won the Hungarian Grand Prix, 13th round of the 2024 season, BTA reports.
Piastri started from second position and led for most of the race, but eventually had to be passed by teammate Lando Norris to claim the biggest success of his still short career. A place on the podium was also found by 39-year-old Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes, who was involved in a fierce battle with current world champion Max Verstappen. The two narrowly missed a brutal crash with seven laps to go, but luckily they were able to continue and finish successfully, awaiting the stewards' decision on a possible penalty.
Right from the start, a battle took shape between the McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who started from the front row, as well as the world champion Max Verstappen with Red Bull.
Entering the first corner, Briton Norris tried to close down his Australian team-mate Piastri, but at that moment Verstappen, who was third on the grid, attacked on the left outside of the corner.
Pressed from both sides, Norris was forced to back off the gas and this allowed Piastri to move into first position. Verstappen, on the other hand, went straight through the chicane to finish second, but shortly after, the Dutchman returned the position to Norris.
Due to the high temperatures of 29 degrees in Hungary, the first entries into the pits started as early as the seventh lap for the drivers who had bet on the soft slicks.
Gradually, all the drivers on the track switched to the hardest tires, and at the head of the column Piastre led ahead of Norris. After them, Verstappen was involved in a fight for the third position with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
On lap 35, Verstappen tried a maneuver to overtake the Briton, but it gave him only temporary success and two corners later, Hamilton regained third place after another exit from the world champion.
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Shortly after that came one of the most controversial moments of the race, which was caused by the McLaren team. Second-placed Lando Norris was first called in to change hard to medium-hard tires. This happened on the 46th lap. Two laps later Piastri also found himself in the pits, but after returning to the track, the Australian found himself in second position, about two seconds behind the first place. The two McLaren team-mates continued to fight for the first position, but it did not offer particularly dramatic moments on the track.
The battle for third place turned out to be much more spectacular. Entering the first corner on lap 63, Verstappen chose the inside track and stopped extremely late. This led to a tire-to-tire collision with Hamilton, and on impact the rear of Verstappen's car was airborne. The Dutchman barely managed to get his machine under control in the safety zone, but somehow managed to continue the race. However, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took advantage of this, finishing fourth.
Meanwhile on lap 68 another change at the top took place. Lando Norris, after multiple conversations with the team on the radio, decided to skip his teammate Piastri ahead of him. By the end, the 23-year-old Australian had no more difficulties and achieved the first victory of his career in Formula 1.
Lando Norris was second, and the veteran Hamilton, who for the second race in a row ranked among the best, also got on the podium.
Charles Leclerc finished fourth, and world champion Verstappen was fifth. The top 6 was completed by the second driver of Ferrari - the Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr.