Formula 1 2024: Oscar Piastri insists no tension with Lando Norris, reveals how he celebrated his maiden Grand Prix win
Oscar Piastri has revealed how he celebrated his maiden Grand Prix victory in Formula 1 as he played down suggestions of any tensions with team mate Lando Norris after the McLaren team orders in Hungary.
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Oscar Piastri insists there is no lingering tension between himself and McLaren teammate Lando Norris over team orders after sharing celebratory “Maccas” and mid-air Monopoly following the Aussie’s maiden Formula 1 Grand Prix victory.
Still on a high after his breakthrough Grand Prix win in Hungary, Piastri declared he would have done the same thing as Norris and given back the race lead, adding the responsibility for both drivers was racing for McLaren and not themselves.
The talk of F1 with his first Grand Prix win after just 35 career starts, Piastri is now setting his sights on a twin-championship strike next year, fighting for the drivers’ and the constructors’ world championship from the start of the 2025 season.
Piastri etched his place in Australian motorsport history by becoming just the fifth Aussie to win in Formula 1.
But Piastri revealed his celebrations were low-key, grabbing some McDonalds with Norris and Williams driver Alex Albon after their flight out of Budapest was delayed.
“Celebrations are a work in progress, it wasn’t the most glamorous of after parties,” Piastri told select Australian media, including this masthead on Wednesday.
“We had a flight back from Budapest that was significantly delayed and then flew into a different airport, so I didn’t get home till about 5am.
“My girlfriend was waiting at home for me so I got to spend it with her for the few hours that we were asleep and that was about it.
“Had McDonald’s. We were flying back with a few of the drivers. Lando was there, Alex Albon, and a couple of others.
“In our wait for the delay, we got a cheeky Maccas and had a Big Mac, got home at 5am and that was the celebrations.
“It was nothing crazy. Just a couple of F1 drivers getting some burgers and nuggets really.
“We had like three or four hours of delays and there wasn’t really any food around. So McDonald’s was the nearest and most convenient thing.”
TEAM ORDERS
The maiden win was not without its drama with McLaren issuing team orders for Norris to swap positions with Piastri after strategy allowed the Brit to undercut the Melburnian, who had gained the race lead at the start, in the final round of pit stops.
Norris initially argued against the order, but eventually relented to allow the Australian past.
But Piastri said there was no tension with Norris on the journey home with the pair enjoying a board game mid-air.
“No, we were good. We were playing Monopoly on the way back on the plane,” Piastri said.
“We’re all good apart from Alex Albon teaching us a thing or two about monopoly.”
Piastri said he could understand the “tough” situation Norris found himself in, but stressed he would have done the same thing and swapped positions.
“First and foremost, I’m a McLaren racing driver. I’m not racing for Oscar Piastri Racing, I’m racing for McLaren,” Piastri said.
“So that’s always the big picture and there’s 1000 more people behind me and behind Lando as well.
“The team orders go both ways. We’re very open, very honest about it and I think basically in all situations it’s a very sensible way of going racing.
“The first priority from the weekend was to secure the one-two for the team and that’s what we did. It came with some tough calls when we had to invert and invert back.
“It doesn’t come without some tough decisions. There’s emotions behind them.
“But we both know that at the end of the day, we’re racing for the team. With the last pit stop, if we were genuinely racing each other, then the strategies would have been very different.
“I would have done the same thing as what Lando did and given the position back.
“I fully understand he is a racing driver, so am I. When you’re in the lead of a race, it’s not a nice thing to have to let it back through.
“But we are racing for the team and certain decisions were made on the basis that we are racing for the team and securing a one-two.
“I think the end result was the same and would have been reciprocated the other way had we been the other way around.”
WORLD TITLE TALK
Sitting fifth in the 2024 F1 driver standings, Piastri acknowledged it would take a “lot of good fortune and dominance” to threaten for the crown this year, but he does not shy away from his goal of wanting to be a future world champion.
The 23-year-old said his maiden Grand Prix win had been a “nice confidence boost”, but he was still working on honing his race craft and the “bigger picture”.
That includes next year when Piastri is confident he and McLaren can be in a position to be fighting for both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships from the start of the year.
“If I want to be world champion, which I certainly do, then you can’t just settle for being pretty good or doing most things right. You’ve got to do everything right,” Piastri said.
“I’m gaining more and more confidence and there’s less things to improve on or things to improve to a lesser extent. But I’m still only 35 races in and there’s still a lot for me to learn.
“If I had an opportunity to fight for the championship, I think I’d be able to give it a real shot, definitely. But I’m certainly, by no means, claiming I’m a complete driver just because I’ve won a race now. I’m still trying to work on the bigger picture.
“Realistically for me this year winning the drivers’ world championship is going to take a lot of good fortune and dominance really.
“But next year there’s a really good chance that if we keep going like this, then we will be in contention from the start of the year for both championships.
“So I guess that’s what I’m kind of aiming for and making sure I’m going to be ready.”
While the drivers’ crown was a “long shot” for himself, Piastri said McLaren was right in the fight for the constructors’ championship this year.
After their Budapest one-two, McLaren is now just 51 points behind Red Bull Racing in the constructors’ standings.
“For the team. It’s an incredible position to be in to have a one-two and to have it as dominant as we did on Sunday was incredible,” Piastri said.
“The constructors championship has been, you know, the target for a while now.
“We’re taking a lot of points out of Red Bull. We have taken a lot of points out of Red Bull in the last six or seven races and the fight is well and truly on.
“I don’t even think we’re really a long shot of winning the championship now, we are a genuine chance to win the constructors championship, which is a very exciting prospect for everyone.”
BROWN BET
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has commemorated his drivers’ first victories at the team with tattoos in the past, but Piastri suggested a colourful haircut could be on the table as a tribute to his maiden win from his team boss.
Brown had tattoos of race circuits inked following Norris’ first Grand Prix victory in Miami this year and after Daniel Ricciardo’s first win for McLaren at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
The Melbourne racer quipped a papaya mohawk had been discussed, but he planned to discuss the options with Brown later this week.
“Nothing (has been decided as) yet. A tattoo was not was not on the table so he’s not getting another tattoo,” Piastri said.
“The reason for that one is he was saying the two wins that he had with Daniel and Lando were either on his two sons’ birthdays or one of his sons was at each of the races. So he said I’ve got those for my son’s rather than for the drivers, which is fair enough.
“We never got to anything official. But I do remember a conversation where he said he’d get a mohawk in papaya. So let’s wait and see.
“I’ve got to speak to him about it later in the week but let’s see what we come up with.”
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