23-Year-Old Aussie Oscar Piastri Wins His First Grand Prix in Hungary

He joins four other Aussie winners, including Daniel Ricciardo.

Despite some team drama which literally played out on the track, Melbournian Oscar Piastri has won his first Formula One grand prix.

The 23-year-old took the win for McLaren at the Hungarian Grand Prix with his teammate Lando Norris coming second and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton coming third.

Here’s how the young Aussie won his first grand prix in the F1.

In case you don’t know this is what Formula One is.

F1 is the highest level of motor racing around the world, featuring single-seat, open-wheel cars.

Race weekends consist of three practice sessions, qualifying on Saturday, and the race (aka 'The Grand Prix') on Sunday.

Each race is full of high-speed overtakes and crashes. See Netflix’s Drive to Survive 😉

How did Oscar Win?

From the get-go, Oscar took the lead and was the race leader for most of the race.

Drama ensued however when the strategists and engineers behind McLaren, pitted his teammate Lando first with the plans to pit Oscar later, and they would then swap positions when it suited.

But wait, what is pitting?

Pitting in F1 is where teams get their drivers to leave the track and enter the pit lane. This is where race engineers do things to the cars like changing the tyres, make changes to aerodynamics or stabilising the car. Drivers ‘pit’ so these changes can be made, and their cars can operate faster and in the best condition possible.

Because every single second counts, the duration of a pit stop is important as it could determine what position they come. For example, if a driver in fifth place takes a pit stop first before most drivers, he might fall behind initially. However, when the other drivers inevitably take their pit stop, this driver might pull into first.

Pit stops are mandatory for drivers.

Ok, back to the drama.

In yesterday’s race, in lap 46 out of 70 Oscar was in the lead with Lando behind him in second. McLaren made the slightly controversial decision to pit Lando first and then Oscar. Because McLaren pitted Lando first, he then moved up to first place and after Oscar pitted, he moved into second.

The plan was for Lando to let Oscar overtake him and “re-establish the order at your convenience”. Some critics, and tbh Lando, think they should have pitted Oscar first to avoid the theatrics.

Lando began to worry McLaren when he did not slow down and prompted McLaren engineers to say things to Lando over the radio like:

“I know you’ll do the right thing.”

"Please do it now."

"The way to win a championship is not by yourself, it's with the team. You're going to need Oscar and you're going to need the team.”

In the end, Lando obeyed his team and let Oscar take the lead, and he won his first ever grand prix.

They had us on the edge of our seats and even though McLaren got first and second, we’re sure there will be some tense convos behind closed doors.

 

 

 

 

 

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What are the driver rankings now?

Max Verstappen might not be feeling so comfortable in first place now, especially after his small, flying collision with Lewis.

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 265 points.
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 189 points.
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 162 points.
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 154 points.
5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 149 points.
6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 125 points.
7. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 124 points.
8. George Russell (Mercedes) – 116 points.
9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 45 points.
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 24 points.

When is the next race and how do we watch?

The next race weekend is the Belgium Grand Prix, this upcoming weekend 26-28 July. Aussies can watch the race on Foxtel or Kayo.