McLaren's double triumph and controversy: Norris was reluctant to let Pjastri win

The first triumph of the Australian in his career

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Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Oskar Pjastri won the first Formula 1 race in his career, but his celebration could not go without controversy at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Australian celebrated at the Hungaroring in front of his teammate from McLaren, Lando Norris, by the Briton handing over the victory to him - he did it three laps before the end at the initiative of the pit bosses.

In the end, Pjastri was 2,141 seconds ahead of Noris, and third place was taken by Luis Hamilton from Mercedes.

The seven-time champion was 14,880 seconds behind the winner and reached the podium for the 200th time.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was fourth, and current champion Max Verstappen was fifth in a Red Bull car.

The U zones were starved by the Sioux Bills and Carlos Sain (Ferrari), Sergio Peres (Red Bull), here for Mercedes George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda (RB) and Len Stroll on the Aston Martin.

Noris entered the race from pole position, but Pjastri and Ferstappen overtook him at the start.

In the fourth lap, Max gave the position back to Norris, as he was under investigation for going off the track and taking second place.

Pjastri kept the leading position until the 18th lap when he went to the pits, and after changing tires he returned to the track in fourth - behind Ferstappen, Leclerc and Sains, to take the second position in the 22nd. Two laps later he was back in the lead.

McLaren decided to let Norris go first for the second tire change on the 48th lap, while they left the leading Pjastri on the track for two more laps.

That was enough for Norris to take the lead, but he later had to concede the win to him...

"The team asked me to do it — and I did," Norris said.

At the end of the race, there was a big fight for third place between Hamilton and Verstappen.

The Dutchman was trying to overtake his great rival, at one point he was close, but then there was contact when Verstappen left the track and had no chance to reach the podium.

Noris resisted the team's pressure until three laps before the end, and then he simply did what he had to do - Pjastri took the leading position in the 68th and a few minutes later achieved the first triumph of his career.

"This is a big day for the team. That's the main reason why I'm satisfied. Oskar had a good start, he was close to me, he overtook me and controlled the race well. I think he deserved to celebrate," said Noris.

Verstappen is still the leader in the general classification with 265 points, Noris is second with 189, and Leclerc is third with 162. Followed by Sains (154), Pjastri (149), Hamilton (125) and Peres with 124...

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