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Hungarian Grand Prix: Race team notes - McLaren

NEWS STORY
21/07/2024

Oscar Piastri: "A very, very special day. This is the day I dreamed of as a kid, and to be standing on the top step of an F1 podium, with McLaren, is just incredible.

"While it may have been a little complicated at the end, I think we got ourselves into a good position at the start and then we were in control from there. I want to thank the entire team for an amazing effort and for giving us such a brilliant car. It's a hell of a lot of fun racing with McLaren, so I can't thank the team enough for giving me the opportunity to be in F1. To now be winning together 18 months in is an unbelievable feeling."

Lando Norris: "An amazing day for us as a team, and a huge congratulations to Oscar on his first win. I'm so happy, it's been a long journey to get to achieving wins on merit, and that's exactly what we did today. Oscar had a great start and controlled the race from there, so well done to him - it was only a matter of time before he finished first. I can't thank the team enough for their work and effort to get us here. Let's keep pushing and fighting for wins each week."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "Today is a brilliant day for the team. To finish first and second is a testament to the hard work of every single team member at McLaren, for which I would like to thank them for their efforts and contribution to this incredibly positive result.

"The order of the drivers was altered for the final stint to make the safest call in terms of tyre life and to protect our P1 and P2 finish in case of any problems in the pit stops. Lando giving the position back embodies the values of what it means to be part of the McLaren Formula 1 Team and the culture we instil of being one team and putting the interests of the team first.

"We now keep our feet on the ground, keep building and will not get complacent. There is still a long season ahead and we need to continue to maximise every opportunity available to ensure we keep consistently scoring points and improving the car. We now look to Belgium for one final race before the summer break."

Check out our Sunday gallery from the Hungaroring here.

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1. Posted by kenji, 24/07/2024 1:41

"@Mad Matt....Spa will be quite a test of Oscar's resolve when faced with possible retaliatory activities from within the Norris garage. I did rather like Stella's approach but this latest hoo har makes me think again. The fact that he let Norris's engineer face what looked like, at face value, humiliation from Norris tells us a great deal about what constitutes team integrity. Let's hope that Mark Webber is alongside Oscar at Spa as his experience in similar circumstances is invaluable. That's not to say that Oscar lacks the 'cojones' to take them on when needed. Some precipitation will make the race even more exciting!!!! Roll on."

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2. Posted by Mad Matt, 23/07/2024 7:07

"Thanks for the reply.... I'm certainly looking forward to Spa, one of my favourite tracks and it looks like a wet qualifying and possibly some rain during the race according to current forecasts https://www.meteo.be/fr/malmedy :-) Mind you the weather varies a lot between valleys in that region..."

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3. Posted by kenji, 23/07/2024 2:04

"@Mad Matt.... Harsh? I don't think so but we are all entitled to have our opinions and I value your contributions. It's what makes the world go round. Over the years I've observed many agressive starts but this latest one from Norris was, by comparison, quite severe and set the tone for the race to turn one. Oscar's steely reserve and brilliant timing/placement of his car plus total rejection of any intimidation was what earned him much respect...IMO. It was a fantastic start, watching three cars go wheel to wheel, line abreast around that corner without a disaster was thrilling.

I really abhor team orders but there needs to be some qualification here. In this particular race , the conditions of racing, as laid out by the team prior to the start, reflect a 'team strategy' according to Stella's enunciation of ' McLaren's race principles. There's a lot of difference between that and blatant favouritism taken on the fly...in a manner of speaking. All in all a race of many parts...can't wait to see what happens in Spa!!!

"

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4. Posted by Mad Matt, 22/07/2024 10:19

"Seems a little harsh on Lando @kenji. For me the mistake was that the team didn't say "Lando we're pitting you first to cover off Lewis but you need to give the position back to Oscar in exchange". Although, as you say they didn't actually need to do that at all.

As I remember it, Oscar than lost a little bit running into the gravel and Lando was quick which did in fact bring him out in front and then Oscar couldn't catch up, I think the gap was up over 6 seconds....

I can understand for Lando that his sole goal in life is to win so of course he'll think of reasons not to give the position back, there's the 6 second gap and perhaps a host of other excuses..... but in the end he did give the place to Oscar and spoke well of Oscar in the interviews, saying how well he drove and that he deserved it... I can imagine a lot of other drivers would have either not given the position up or had a little sulk in the interviews.

Of course it would have bee better if Lando had given the position back straight away and better still if the team hadn't created the problem in the first place..

As for team bias, the fact that they pushed Lando to give the place back seems to suggest there are at least some at McLaren who don't see things like that.

Coming to the first, last... the start: To my eyes Lando tried to cover Oscar off but there always seemed to be room to me... perhaps you could argue that Oscar should have given Lando more space at the first corner.... but overall I think they raced well together."

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5. Posted by kenji, 22/07/2024 4:58

"According to this article Oscar doesn't even get an acknowledgement for his 'stellar' race. Oscar had this race in his pocket from the first corner where Norris did almost everything to take Oscar out of the running! Piastri's superb racecraft prevailed and took the honours. Massively disappointed in McLaren for creating the pit incident in the first place. There was no viable threat to Norris. It was touted as an excuse to give Norris priority which of itself in in conflict with team principles. Norris' final admission that he was gifted track position is what was glaringly obvious from the very start. What a sad example he really is. "

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