- Oscar Piastri claimed his first F1 win at the Hungarian Grand Prix
- The Australian turned down the offer to join in on the famous celebration
- A race marked by controversy over the McLaren team’s orders
Oscar Piastri is savouring every moment of achieving his lifelong dream of winning a Formula One Grand Prix and was delighted to miss Australia’s famous ‘shoey’ celebration.
Piastri was determined not to let anything derail him in his triumph at Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix as the post-race fallout swirled around McLaren putting pressure on its No. 1 driver Lando Norris to hand victory to his Australian team-mate.
The furore over Norris’s reluctance to follow team orders and hand the winning position back to Piastri following mid-race tactical pit stops was all but forgotten by the 23-year-old from Melbourne once the Englishman did what he felt was “the right thing” to slow down and gift him victory with two laps remaining.
He didn’t care if it was a gift or not.
“It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid. We’ve had a couple of opportunities in the last few races where we’ve been very close to achieving it. Now, to achieve it is an incredible feeling,” said Piastri, who won an F1 sprint race last year.
“For me, this is a much prouder moment than winning the sprint. Of course, it was a special moment at the time, but now to have no doubts, to have no question marks about whether I am the winner of the race or not is a very nice feeling.”
And he was even able to celebrate the win without having to resort to the customary Australian post-race celebration, sipping champagne from a sweaty racing boot – a rite of passage so beloved of Australia’s last F1 winner, Daniel Ricciardo, Piastri’s predecessor at McLaren.
Ricciardo, who also won in Hungary a decade ago, was last seen drinking from a wineskin after victory in the 2021 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Australian Oscar Piastri claimed his first F1 win in a dramatic Hungarian Grand Prix
The Australian star refused to celebrate with shoes afterwards.
“The shoey is his thing,” Piastri smiled when asked if he would follow suit.
“I mean, I’m going to go with that because I’m Australian, but I don’t know. I’ll try to think of something new. No, I think that’s already happened.
‘I know we did one at Silverstone last week, but I think we were a bit upset after the race so we needed some encouragement. Maybe we’ll do one on the plane back. We can probably afford the cleaning fee now.
“But no, I’ll leave it to Danny Ric and that can be his legacy. I’ll create my own.”
Piastri certainly believes the win he claimed in his 35th race in just his second season will not be his last.
Asked by former world champion Nico Rosberg in the post-race celebrations if it would be his first of many wins, he replied: “I hope so. I think I still have a few things to work on. I’ll enjoy the win when I can.”
Daniel Ricciardo is synonymous with savouring his F1 victories with distinctive celebrations featuring his ‘shoes’
“The team has provided me with a fantastic car and I can’t thank them enough for that. I’m trying to do the best job I can and I’m learning from every race I do. So hopefully there will be many more to come.”