Piastri regrets 2nd place after duel with Norris in Hungarian GP: F1

Oscar Piastri, after finishing in second place behind his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, in the Hungarian Grand Prix, admitted that it was a “difficult” experience. Piastri led the race at several points, but ultimately lost the opportunity to win on the last lap, where Norris managed to overtake him. The Australian driver, who secured his first Formula 1 victory at the Hungaroring circuit last year, expressed mixed feelings despite the exciting battle.

When you lose a race by such a small margin, it’s obviously a bit painful, but I’m sure it was entertaining from the outside. It was entertaining from the inside as well. So, overall, it was a pretty fun race.

Oscar Piastri

Piastri reflected on the team’s strategy, highlighting the difficulty of overtaking in Hungary and the need to try something different to overtake Charles Leclerc, who started from pole position. The McLaren team’s strategy was key, with Norris opting for an early pit stop, while Piastri made two stops, which allowed him to have fresher tires at the end of the race. Piastri acknowledged that the team needed to try a varied strategy to beat Leclerc, whose pace diminished towards the end of the race.

We had to try something to beat Leclerc because it wasn’t obvious that we had enough pace to overtake him and win that way.

Oscar Piastri

Piastri also commented on the difficulty of staying close to the car in front, especially in the central sector of the circuit, where the curves make it complicated to maintain the necessary grip. Despite the difficulty for Piastri, McLaren achieved their seventh one-two finish of the season, and the Australian remains the championship leader, with a nine-point advantage, before the F1 summer break. Piastri pointed out that the team will analyze the strategy used, although he acknowledged that the initial plan was to make two stops.