Peter Windsor makes Michael Schumacher comparison to Oscar Piastri’s maiden win in Hungary

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Oscar Piastri became the first driver born in the 21st century to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix when he crossed the line in first at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

It was a subdued celebration from the McLaren driver because of the circumstances generated by the team at the end of the race, whereby they chose to pit Lando Norris first in the final pit stops to cover off any threat from Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen.

By giving Norris priority, it enabled him to undercut Piastri. The team reassured the Australian that he would be given the position back, but Norris was intially reluctant to comply.

What followed was several laps of extraordinary messages between Norris and his race engineer Will Joseph, whereby he was pleading with him to slow down and hand the position back. After telling Norris that a potential Safety Car at the end of the race could prevent the swap, the Briton slowed down to let his teammate through with a handful of laps left.

Piastri said his first win felt better than the Qatar Sprint race victory last season, which itself was largely overshadowed by Max Verstappen clinching his third title after Sergio Perez crashed out. Peter Windsor feels the Australian should have let Norris win rather than get embroiled in a team orders saga when speaking on his YouTube channel.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from height and parents to celebration

Peter Windsor feels Oscar Piastri can’t ‘enjoy’ Hungarian GP win

After the final pit stops it was clear that Norris had better pace than Piastri. Even though McLaren was telling the Briton to save his tyres, he had better overall pace and stretched the gap out to five seconds.

Nico Rosberg compared the whole saga to his days at Mercedes and team orders with Lewis Hamilton, while Windsor made the comparison to Michael Schumacher when he inherited wins from teammate Rubens Barrichello, who was famously treated as a second driver at Ferrari.

“I think the coolest thing in the world would have been for Oscar Piastri to say ‘No, I don’t want this win. That’s not the way I want to win a race, I’ll give it to Lando and I’ll beat him in some other situation’

“Because this didn’t feel like a Grand Prix win. I don’t think he can enjoy that sort of win, any more than Michael [Schumacher] could enjoy inherited wins from Rubens Barrichello.”

Lando Norris planned to emulate Ferrari 2002 farce

Speaking after the race in the driver’s press conference, Norris said that he initially planned to let Piastri through on the final lap at the final corner before being told about the Safety Car threat.

The scene would have emulated the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix when Barrichello was instructed by Ferrari team principal Jean Todt to let Schumacher pass him “for the championship.”

Barrichello slowed down at the finish line to let Schumacher pass, despite starting the race from pole and leading nearly every lap until that point.

After the race, Schumacher implored his teammate to stand on the top step of the podium and handed him the first-place trophy. This led to the FIA fining Ferrari, Schumacher, and Barrichello £800,000. It also led to the banning of team orders from 2003, but that was later lifted in 2011.