F1: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have made it a front row lockout at the Hungarian GP, after finishing 1 and 2 in qualifying.
Piastri’s maiden victory was notable for how fundamentally unremarkable it was.New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >His sprint victory in Qatar last October was the deposit. This weekend he merely proved what we all already knew. Certainly McLaren’s ready supply of OP1 victory hats speaks to the fact the team saw it as a matter of time.
He’d been on the pace all weekend, qualifying just 0.022 seconds behind Norris to lock out the front row for McLaren. Norris attempted to capitalise but couldn’t make an impression before Piastri’s dirty tyres eventually cleared up and allowed him to generate a little more breathing room.Piastri’s performance was impressive for a couple of reasons.Second and more important is that there was no sign of the single considerable weakness seen in his game last year: race management.
McLaren pitted Norris first ostensibly because Lewis Hamilton was an undercut threat from further behind. “I’m trying to protect you, mate,” Joseph replied. “The way to win a championship is not by yourself. You’re going to need Oscar and you’re going to need the team.” “Of course it’s never the easiest thing to work out, but I think we’re all respectful and trustful enough to see the reasons why no matter which side we’re on.”
Piastri, meanwhile, started the weekend 131 points adrift and leaves a still distant 116 points down. “It hurts,” Norris said. “When you’re leading the race and have to give it back, it hurts, especially because for the drivers championship every point helps. While Norris has since insisted that he was always going to swap places, the frantic messages from the team — and some of his replies — certainly suggested the opposite.
Having missed so many shots at victory in recent months, that mindset would be justified — for a day or so.McLaren isn’t an aspiring winner. It’s not a sometimes challenger.The team is now second and just 51 points behind Red Bull Racing in the constructors championship. The fight is on.
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