Now what is the message? That Oscar Piastri, the McLaren driver, won the Hungarian Grand Prix? That the precious porcelain trophy that he received on Sunday after 70 laps (307 kilometers) did not break, unlike last year? Or that Max Verstappen, the world champion and former long-term winner of Formula 1, in his revised Red Bull for the third time remained winless in a row and finished fifth at the Hungaroring near Budapest? The champion was left out, while Lando Norris (McLaren) came in second and record world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) completed the podium. First Formula 1 victory for PiastriFirst to the winner: Piastri, the 23-year-old Australian, raced in his second season in the Formula 1 to its first Grand Prix triumph. He was one of the eight youngest winners in the history of his sport. “This is the day I dreamed of as a child,” he said, “to be at the top of the Formula 1 winners’ podium.” There, team-mate Norris did him the favor of not destroying the trophy made of expensive Herend porcelain. Last year, the work of art presented to the then winner Verstappen was broken because of Norris. This time he controlled himself. It must have been difficult for him. In his eyes, he was the rightful winner. When the McLaren drivers, who had qualified for starting positions one and two the day before for the first time in almost twelve years, raced over 472 meters towards the first braking zone, Norris, Saturday’s pole man, caught , old ghosts. He accelerated vigorously, but then pulled hard to the right to block his work colleague Piastri. You can’t get past here! Norris almost pushed him into the barrier. This allowed Verstappen to position himself on the outside lane, especially since Norris lost traction due to his maneuver. The trio turned at the same height, Piastri left the right-hand bend in the lead. Norris was booted out. Missed the start again, like in Barcelona. He had already deprived himself of victory there. “We’re racing against Verstappen.” Should things get worse? Verstappen was carried far out and he overtook Norris on the other side of the track. “Max has to give back the position,” Norris radioed and complained about the illegal maneuver. Verstappen also spoke up: “I was pushed away.” A swearing, a shouting, it went back and forth until Red Bull told its captain to let his rival pass – to avoid a penalty. Piastri three seconds ahead of Norris , Verstappen’s two back, that’s how it stood after the first ten laps. What seemed to speak for Norris was that he usually gets along better in racing trim because he knows how to manage the tires better than Piastri. But in the McLaren pits they couldn’t be interested in a stable duel. “We’re racing against Verstappen,” Norris heard. But Norris saw it differently. The Rhinelander Nico Hülkenberg, who started from eleventh place, fell back early, had an unremarkable race in the lower midfield and saw the finish as 13th. The Haas team’s upward trend did not continue in Hungary. Verstappen complained constantly about the driving behavior of his racer. Sample: “I can’t brake properly, I can’t turn in properly. Front axle, rear axle, it’s just bad.” So the record went on all afternoon before Verstappen’s engineer scolded him that it was “childish” to behave like that on the radio. At the first pit stop, the world champion fell behind Lewis Hamilton, with whom he even collided in the final and thus finished behind Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). Internal repercussions are certain. But the main actors on the Danube were others in this comedy with Oscar Piastri almost turned into a horror flick. Norris was called for the second service with 23 laps to go. When Piastri stopped shortly afterwards, the lead was gone and he came back onto the slopes behind Norris. The first Grand Prix victory that was believed to be certain: lost? Norris raced away and left Piastri behind. “If you catch up with him, we’ll change positions again,” he heard. Hopeless. Norris stepped on the accelerator and was ten laps ahead of the race to within five seconds. The McLaren bosses tried to slow him down from the pits. Be careful at first: He should pay attention to his tires and slow down. Then more clearly: “Remember every one of our meetings on Sunday morning.” More on the topic Probably the reference to an internal order that regulates that whoever is in front after the first corner can also win the race. So Piastri. Answer Norris: “Then Oscar says he should catch up.” Finally, urgently: “You won’t win the World Cup alone, Lando. You need Oscar and the team for that.”Norris took pity: two laps before the end, he demonstratively let off the accelerator on the home straight. He let Piastri go, who was able to take the win. Internal repercussions at McLaren are certain. “It’s time to wake up.” And Verstappen? Should he remain winless again next weekend at the last Grand Prix before the summer break in Spa-Francorchamps, this would mean his longest negative streak since 2020. The world champion’s nerves, as was already clear after the failed qualification, are tense. He doesn’t hide the fact that that in his opinion the culprits for the malaise can be found within his own ranks: “It is time,” he told Dutch journalists, “for some in the team to wake up instead of looking for excuses.”
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