Karun Chandhok shares his verdict on Oscar Piastri’s victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix

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The number of Grand Prix winners during the 2024 Formula 1 season has grown to seven after Oscar Piastri took the chequered flag at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

After months of threatening to win his first Grand Prix in a rapid McLaren, Oscar Piastri finally got the better of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen to add a Sunday win to his Sprint Race victory in Qatar last year.

It comes after years of dominating junior categories, biding his time and then taking a leap of faith that has paid off handsomely.

Former F1 racing driver and pundit Karun Chandhok took to social media to praise the young Australian after the race.

What makes this victory even more satisfying for Piastri and McLaren is how well-deserved it was.

Once Piastri took the lead at the first corner from his teammate, he never looked in danger of being caught.

The last stint of the race created some jeopardy and Norris was the fastest driver during those final laps.

However, both drivers were being asked to ease off to protect their tyres and it was clear with the way that Norris was driving that he wasn’t taking any prisoners as he pondered whether to take victory or hand 1^st place back to Piastri.

He finally ceded the lead to his teammate, but the radio messages shared between Norris and his race engineer will be discussed internally and externally for some time.

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Karun Chandhok congratulates Oscar Piastri on his Hungarian Grand Prix victory

Posting on X (formerly Twitter) after the race, Chandhok said: “Yesterday proved once again why this kid was worth the contract battle for Mclaren to get him!

“Cool, calm, fast and with his feet firmly on the ground. Great job @OscarPiastri.”

As Chandhok alludes to in his message, Piastri’s fate could have been very difficult in Hungary last weekend.

After winning the Formula 2 championship in 2021 off the back of securing the F3 title the previous year, Piastri was Alpine’s reserve driver in 2022.

Alpine thought Piastri was going to replace Fernando Alonso for the 2023 season and even announced that move before Piastri confirmed that no contract had been signed and quickly moved to McLaren to jump into Daniel Ricciardo’s seat.

Piastri wouldn’t have missed the key detail at the end of the race in Hungary that while he was spraying champagne on the top step of the podium, Pierre Gasly was the race’s only retiree and Esteban Ocon came home in 18^th.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Oscar Piastri sent message by Lando Norris after Hungarian Grand Prix win

It was clear at the end of the race that Lando Norris wasn’t happy to have to hand back the lead to Piastri before the end of the race.

Given he’s much closer to Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship, losing out on seven points could prove pivotal at the end of the campaign.

Norris was magnanimous in defeat and sent a message to Piastri on social media at the end of the race.

The pair will need to work together if they want to catch Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship.

Sergio Perez continues to struggle and open the door to McLaren with Red Bull’s lead now standing at just 51 points.

However, if McLaren have ambitions to win both championships, then they may need to start prioritising Norris sooner rather than later.