Team orders make for a tense finish in Hungarian Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri has roared to his maiden Formula One victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix, becoming only the fifth Australian driver to reach motor racing’s pinnacle.

But the 23-year-old Melbourne ace’s triumph only came in the most extraordinary of circumstances on Sunday when a furious Lando Norris was forced by the British team to give up victory to his young Australian teammate.

Eventually, despite having resisted team orders over the last 20 laps of the race, Norris reluctantly complied after a series of increasingly extraordinary pleas from the team.

Piastri had been in control of Sunday’s race after he grabbed the lead on the first turn from polesitter Norris.

But after leading for much of the race, Norris, the nearest challenger to Max Verstappen in the F1 championship race, was handed an apparent lifeline by Mclaren when the team pulled him in for his second tyre change two laps earlier than Piastri.

The “undercut” gave Norris the lead, and he held a five-second advantage over Piastri, with the team telling the Englishman that he should give the place back to the Aussie “at your convenience”.

Apparently, Norris didn’t think it was convenient at all. His race engineer, Will Joseph, kept imploring him to give back the place, only for Norris to say: “Well, tell him to catch up, please.”

The pleas became more strident. “I’m sure you’ll do the right thing,” said Joseph, before later saying: “Just remember every single Sunday morning meeting we’ve had . . . ”

Then, he told Norris: “I’m trying to protect you . . . ” before he finally asserted: “There are five laps to go. The way to win a championship is not by yourself, it’s with the team. You’re gonna need Oscar and you’re gonna need the team.”

With three laps left, he said: “Please. Do. It. Now.”

With a huge row looming, Norris did slow up, allowing Piastri past on the 68th of 70 laps at the Hungaroring circuit, enabling the Victorian to win his first Grand Prix after four previous podiums. He had also won a sprint race in Qatar last year.

Norris was second, with Lewis Hamilton third, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fourth and an out-of-sorts Verstappen fifth.

Piastri now joins Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo on the Australian F1 roll of honour, and was left declaring: “It’s very, very special. This is the day I dreamed of as a kid, stepping to the top of an F1 podium.

“Obviously, a bit complicated at the end but I put myself in the right position at the start, and thank you to the team — an amazing effort.”

Asked whether he was nervous about whether Norris would give up his position, Piastri added: “The longer you leave it the more you get a bit nervous — but it was well executed by the team.

“I put myself in the right position. Yes, my pace wasn’t as quick as I’d like in the last 10 laps, but I was still in the right position to make it happen.

“To have won after 18 months with the team feels amazing.”

It was resurgent Mclaren’s first one-two in a race since Italy in 2021.

After he had cooled down but remained evidently miffed, Norris shrugged, when asked about the controversy: “Team asked me to do it, so I did it…”

But he praised Piastri, adding: “We did it in style.

“Oscar got a good start, got me off the line, controlled the race well, so it was coming at some point (for him) and he deserved it today.”

For Piastri, for so long considered one of the great talents in motorsport, it was his first Grand Prix win in just his 35th start. — AAP

There are five laps to go. The way to win a championship is not by yourself, it’s with the team. Please. Do. It. Now.

Mclaren engineer Will Joseph