Piastri savages rival in explosive presser over \u2018dumbest thing I\u2019ve ever seen\u2019<\/a><\/p>\nBut it needn\u2019t have worried, because Piastri\u2019s race was about to detonate for an entirely different set of reasons.<\/p>\n
Piastri pitted on lap 33 and was dumped into the omnipresent traffic around the short circuit, and five laps later he closed onto the back of Carlos Sainz, who was racing Fernando Alonso for position.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet out of the way, you idiot!\u201d Piastri radioed, his blood pressure rising as the Williams driver appeared not to heed the blue flags.<\/p>\n
Sainz ran wide exiting turn 2. Piastri took the racing line. Sainz attempted to resume the racing line.<\/p>\n
They made contact, with Piastri shoved off the track.<\/p>\n
It cost him a small but decisive amount of time.<\/p>\n
Norris pitted at the end of that lap and emerged fractionally ahead in the net lead of the race.<\/p>\n
His engineer, Tom Stallard, pre-empted Piastri\u2019s rage.<\/p>\n
\u201cOscar, that\u2019s Sainz that cost us that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But Piastri wasn\u2019t having any of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh mate. It\u2019s better you don\u2019t f***ing talk to me now. Nice of you guys to factor that one in [by pitting Norris], by the way. Thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Piastri simmered away for another 20 laps until his gearbox gave up, leaving him forlornly parked by the side of the road as his teammate charged to a comfortable victory.<\/p>\n
WHAT HAPPENED WITH SAINZ?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no exaggeration to say contact with Sainz cost Piastri the lead and, with it, a shot at victory, notwithstanding Norris was the quicker of the two.<\/p>\n
It was a bizarre incident with several possible explanations, though none of them was especially compelling.<\/p>\n
There were issues with the blue flags system during the race that seemed to generate unusually bad lapped traffic. Some drivers reported not receiving warnings on their steering wheels to identify them specifically as needing to yield, while others claimed the blue light panels seemed to be flashing at random.<\/p>\n
It forced drivers to rely more heavily on their pit walls than the flags and light panels.<\/p>\n
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff memorably scalded some of his rival teams for doing a poor job in this regard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe marshalling system was not functioning, and cars in the back defending [drivers on the lead lap] \u2026 it is just disgraceful from some of the Teletubbies engineers that sit on the pit walls of these teams not telling their drivers what\u2019s happening behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
The moment Carlos Sainz bumped into Oscar Piastri.Source: Twitter<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t apply to Sainz, however, with the stewards noting that he was warned by his particular Teletubby as Piastri approached. Onboard footage also shows he passed several blue light panels.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard \u2014 generally regarded as one of the cleverer and more tactical drivers on the grid \u2014 argued ignorance.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this stage I had no idea I was about to get lapped,\u201d he said, per Autosport. \u201cOn top of that, I was in a big fight with Fernando.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Piastri] was in my [blind] spot on the angle, so it was impossible from my side to avoid him.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably a bit better communication would have helped, but at the same time, [it is] a racing thing that sometimes happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he was \u201creally sorry\u201d for the effect he had on Piastri\u2019s race but believed he had a \u201cpretty good excuse\u201d.<\/p>\n
Piastri wasn\u2019t impressed, describing it as \u201cunacceptable\u201d and \u201cone of the dumbest things\u201d he\u2019d ever seen on a racetrack.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was fighting Fernando for last place like it was the world championship,\u201d he said, per Autosport. \u201cIt cost me the lead of the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s quite critical of others. Others have given him some stick before for being frustrating on track. When you go and do something like that, I think maybe you should look in the mirror a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The stewards penalised Sainz for being wholly to blame, though the infringement was worth only five seconds.<\/p>\n
Cold comfort for the seething Piastri.<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri had to pull over to retire his car due to gearbox failure.Source: Twitter<\/p>\n
WHAT ABOUT THE STRATEGY?<\/p>\n
Piastri\u2019s blow-up was about as brutal as the Australian has ever been on radio, speaking to the depths of his frustration.<\/p>\n
Of particular curiosity was what sounded like a veiled accusation that the team had chosen to pit Norris after his tangle with Sainz to guarantee him the lead \u2014 \u201cNice of you guys to factor that one in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Some will have chosen to read into them a deep-seated rage with the team over the handling of its strategy \u2014 and who could blame him given the various incidents in Hungary over the last two seasons.<\/p>\n
It would be over-egging things, however.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the moment I was hoping maybe they would not pit Lando because of that incident to at least give me the chance to stay in the lead,\u201d he admitted to Sky Sports after digesting the race. \u201cBut I think that\u2019s not very reasonable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was more just very upset in the moment about what had happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Piastri also said the timing of his stop was \u201cfine\u201d despite dropping him into traffic, acknowledging that the team had to cover Lewis Hamilton, who at the time still looked like a victory contender.<\/p>\n
The biggest problem is that Piastri wasn\u2019t as quick as Norris.<\/p>\n
Track position is critical in Budapest, but a slower driver is still vulnerable around the pit windows, and even without the Sainz contact, Piastri keeping ahead of Norris after his second stop was going to be a close call.<\/p>\n
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – JULY 26: Race winner Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren and the McLaren team celebrate victory during the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 26, 2026 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Sona Maleterova\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Piastri made almost no gains on Norris during the six laps he had fresher tyres. The Briton, having closed the gap to practically nothing just before the Australian\u2019s stop, seemed to have his teammate cornered.<\/p>\n
\u201cLando was very quick once he had the lead, and he took advantage of his pace and the fact that there was some delay for Oscar,\u201d McLaren boss Andrea Stella told Sky Sports. \u201cThat\u2019s racing. We are McLaren Racing, and today it was great racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Or at least it could have been had Piastri been able to retain the lead and force a battle \u2014 assuming his car would have made it to the finish.<\/p>\n
BUT IT WAS STILL A BIG RESULT FOR McLAREN<\/p>\n
Piastri\u2019s retirement with a gearbox problem \u2014 the team\u2019s second such retirement of the season \u2014 was the only wrinkle in an otherwise impressively competitive weekend for the defending title-winning team.<\/p>\n
McLaren\u2019s big upgrade delivered not just pole position but one of the season\u2019s most comfortable victories too.<\/p>\n
An analysis of race pace in Budapest puts McLaren around 0.3 seconds per lap faster than Ferrari, the next-quickest team, and around 0.4 seconds per lap faster than Mercedes and Red Bull Racing \u2014 and an impressive step after having been badly wayward since May.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to see the hard work has been rewarded,\u201d Stella said. \u201cThank you very much to all the men and women at McLaren for having been so committed in the design and the delivery of the upgrades.<\/p>\n
\u201cLando was in a condition to squeeze every single millisecond of the car, which was good enough yesterday for the pole position [by] 0.012s, but today, if anything, the pace was even more encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact it was more than encouraging. It was unexpected even by the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we look at the numbers and the anticipated numbers associated with the upgrades, we thought that we needed to bring more performance to be in this condition. In this sense, if you want, yes, it is a bit of a surprise \u2014 it\u2019s always good to have positive surprises.\u201d<\/p>\n
McLaren arrived in Hungary with its season on the line, with its upgrade decisive in whether it could close its massive points deficit to Mercedes or at least contend for regular victories.<\/p>\n
It passed the test impressively, with a one-two finish likely before Piastri\u2019s retirement.<\/p>\n
There are some reasons for caution, though, aside from unreliability.<\/p>\n
The reason Hungary has triggered so much internal angst in recent years is that it\u2019s a McLaren track, with its cars chiming well with the layout and its engineers clearly understanding what it takes to get the most from the circuit.<\/p>\n
Even Norris thinks this is perhaps his best track.<\/p>\n
Repeatability has been the missing ingredient for all of Mercedes\u2019s would-be title challengers, with none of them having two really good weekends in a row.<\/p>\n
The signs are certainly good, but it will take more than just one good weekend to become a contender.<\/p>\n
ANTONELLI F1\u2019S HAPPIEST DRIVER DESPITE LOW-KEY WEEKEND<\/p>\n
Despite McLaren\u2019s clear advantage and Ferrari\u2019s strong pace, there are really only two important numbers to consider when weighing up the significance of this race.<\/p>\n
Mercedes\u2019s championship lead was reduced by only one point, to 72 points over Ferrari.<\/p>\n
Andrea Kimi Antonelli\u2019s title lead grew by five points to 50 points over Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n
That Mercedes could suffer its worst weekend of the year and walk away with its grip on the sport practically undiminished says a lot about the scale of the challenge its rivals must still face.<\/p>\n
It also tells us a lot about Antonelli.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve spent all year expecting the teenager\u2019s flaws to reveal themselves to us. So far he\u2019s shown us only how much depth there is to his character.<\/p>\n
He started a penalised seventh in Hungary but perfectly judged an offset strategy to maximise his pace in clear air. He finished a plucky third, but it could have been second had he got lucky with the timing of Piastri\u2019s virtual safety car.<\/p>\n
He fended off Hamilton, who had fresher tyres, in the final stint, and yet again comfortably accounted for teammate George Russell, whom he now leads by 59 points.<\/p>\n
Despite finishing third and never really looking likely to contend for victory, Antonelli could rightly feel like the happiest driver heading into the break.<\/p>\n
Andrea Kimi Antonelli\u2019s title lead grew by five points to 50 points over Lewis Hamilton.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was a very good result,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was damage limitation after yesterday. We had to really fight for it, because this weekend we struggled a little bit overall<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just need to really keep raising that bar and just come back stronger, because it\u2019s going to be a very big push.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell, though, leaves Hungary more battered and bruised than ever.<\/p>\n
The team took the blame for an unusual engine problem that left him bogged down at the start, dropping from sixth to 20th \u2014 \u201cIt\u2019s just not acceptable and not good enough from us,\u201d Wolff said \u2014 and though he recovered strongly, he was off Antonelli\u2019s pace and shipped another nine points to his teammate.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdd it to the list,\u201d Russell quipped to Sky Sports. \u201cPray that things calm down in the second half [of the year].\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mercedes dynamic has been fascinating so far this season, but expect it to become only more engrossing as the title-deciding races roll through.<\/p>\n
FERRARI BLOWS ITS BIG CHANCE<\/p>\n
Ferrari was favourite to win this weekend.<\/p>\n
Ferrari warned us that it\u2019s been favourite at some other weekends this year and not come close to winning.<\/p>\n
Ferrari was right.<\/p>\n
The Italian team was presented with a Mercedes open goal this weekend and fired it well over the crossbar, from inexplicably failing to execute for pole position to squandering a strong position in the race.<\/p>\n
Hamilton should have finished on the podium at least, perhaps as high as second, yet managed to slump to fifth, one place behind Charles Leclerc, making this just the third time this year Ferrari could get at least one driver on the podium.<\/p>\n
In fact this was the team\u2019s fourth-lowest scoring weekend of the season.<\/p>\n
Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong in the race.<\/p>\n
The decision to start on softs made sense given the importance of establishing track position, but Hamilton made up only one place while Leclerc, starting on the dirty side of the grid, dropped three.<\/p>\n
Hamilton got stuck behind Max Verstappen for the first stint, and though he undercut the Dutchman, a superb double overtake from the four-time champion reversed their positions.<\/p>\n
He eventually got past Verstappen at the second stop window and was running second late in the race, but then Ferrari decided to pit him behind the virtual safety car, dropping him to fourth behind Antonelli.<\/p>\n
Being caught for speeding in the pit lane then cost him a place to Leclerc, who wasn\u2019t really in the mix all afternoon.<\/p>\n
Ferrari should have scored heavily this weekend. Instead poor execution from the team and its drivers has left it making no real impact on Mercedes and risking any title momentum it might have generated at the halfway mark of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cOh mate. It\u2019s better you don\u2019t f***ing talk to me now.\u201d There\u2019s just something about Hungary and McLaren.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":825861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-825860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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