Oscar Piastri makes Australian history with first F1 Grand Prix win at Hungary

Australian Formula One young gun Oscar Piastri has won his first Grand Prix after a wild finish involving McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

Oscar Piastri celebrates his maiden Grand Prix win. Picture: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP

And the Oscar goes to… the highest step on the podium.

Australia’s Formula One young gun Oscar Piastri has just won his first Grand Prix in Hungary after a wild finish involving his McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

It makes Piastri Australia’s youngest ever Grand Prix winner.

Tipped as a future world champion, Piastri fully deserved his maiden victory but needed Norris to let him pass in the closing laps after the Briton was gifted the lead when he was allowed to pit first despite being in second spot.

With fresh tyres, Norris suddenly found himself in front after Piastri pitted on the next lap and while the Englishman argued that he should be allowed to remain there, he eventually relented after he was told by team bosses to slow down and let the Australian drive by.

“The way to win a championship is with the team,” McLaren engineer Will Joseph said. “You’re gonna need Oscar and you’re going to need the team.”

Oscar Piastri celebrates his win at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Piastri was understandably over the moon after taking the chequered flag.

“Very, very special. A lot of Australian flags, actually, which was very cool to see,” he said.

“Yeah, it was an incredible moment. I mean, it’s always special when you get to stand on an F1 podium, but it’s a little bit nicer when you’re at the top of it, so very happy.

“An incredible moment that I’ve been dreaming of for a very long time. I said my first dream in my career was reaching F1. The second one is winning a race.

“I’m very, very happy and proud and not just of myself, but everybody that’s helped me get to this position. You know, going back to my family, firstly, of course.

“You know, it took a lot of big decisions at a young age to chase the F1 dream. It’s very difficult to become an F1 driver by staying in Australia, so it meant some big decisions early in life.”

After being reluctant to let Piastri pass during the closing laps, Norris graciously congratulated his young teammate after the presentation, saying he deserved the win.

“It was tough, it would be tough for anyone leading a race to give it up. I was put in the position, they made me box for and gave me the chance to lead the race and pull away comfortably,” Norris said.

“It was fair to give back, I don’t want to be the guy who comes across unfair, Oscar has helped me in many races. He drove a better race than I did, he got a better start, he deserves it and it’s the right thing to do.”

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished third to register his 200th F1 podium but said all the plaudits belonged to Piastri.

“Congratulations to Oscar who has done a fantastic job ever since he got here to be honest,” Hamilton said. “He’s been so consistent and it was only a matter of time before he got a win.

“I just think about these two and how young these guys are. They were in nappies when I started.”

Oscar Piastri leads his McLaren teammate Lando Norris

Max Verstappen was fifth in his Red Bull after contacting Lewis and being hauled before the stewards. The Dutchman had been in a foul mood, arguing with his team on the radio but was unapologetic.

“I don’t know why people think that you can’t be vocal on a radio, this is a sport and if some people don’t like that then stay home,” he said.

Verstappen leads the championship standings with 265 points after 13 of this season’s 24 rounds.

Norris is second on 189 with Piastri fifth on 149 and McLaren overtaking Ferrari into second place in the constructor’s championship behind Red Bull. Daniel Ricciardo finished 12th.

“You’ve got to be selfish in this sport at times. You’ve got to think of yourself. That’s priority number one, is think of yourself,” Norris said.

“I’m also a team player, so my mind was going pretty crazy at the time. I know what we’ve done in the past between Oscar and myself. He’s helped me plenty of times.

“There’s just a difference of simply just deserving to win a race and not deserving to win. I didn’t deserve to win the race today. Simple as that. So the fact I was in that position was incorrect. I think that was a mistake from us as a team. I shouldn’t have been in this position.”

McLaren's Australian driver Oscar Piastri.

Piastri became just the fifth Australian to win a Grand Prix – joining Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo. At 23, he’s the youngest Aussie winner and will be a huge attraction at Melbourne next year .

He got to the top step on the podium in just his second season and his 34th race start after three second placings and a third, as well as victory in one of the sprints.

Asked about the team’s decision to tell Norris to let him pass, Piastri was diplomatic.

“The longer you leave it of course you get a bit nervous, but it was well executed by the team, it was the right thing, I put myself in the right position at the start,” he said.

“With the different strategy we had, yes my pace probably wasn’t as quick as I would have liked in the last stint but I was still in the right position to make it happen.”

Originally published as Oscar Piastri makes Australian history with first F1 Grand Prix win at Hungary