In the round-up: Oscar Piastri admitted he did not consider his sprint race victory in Qatar last year as a real win.
In brief
Piastri pleased to have “no question marks” over winner status
Piastri was the only driver on the grid to have won a sprint race but not a grand prix until his maiden triumph last weekend. Afterwards he admitted his grand prix victory felt very different to his sprint race win.
“The sprint win was always a bit awkward,” he said. “In my opinion it’s a win, but not really a win. This is much more of a proud moment for me than winning the sprint.
“Of course, it was a special moment at the time, but now to have no questions, no question marks over whether I’m a race winner or not is a very nice feeling to have. The emotion is definitely different.”
His team mate Lando Norris said Piastri deserved his breakthrough triumph. “That’s a very special feeling winning your first race – and I say first race because I think you’ll agree that it’s his first race win and not a sprint race.”
Hadjar “still speechless” over gaffe
Formula 2 points leader Isack Hadjar was still reeling over his blunder in Sunday’s feature race a day later. Hadjar qualified third but had to start from the pit lane after failing to join the track in time ahead of the start.“I’m still speechless about that one,” he admitted. “Missed out on taking part to the start on the grid because of human mistake.”
Hadjar finished the race in 18th. “Starting last from the pits, we still went with normal strategy and we were in the points until the second [Safety Car] killed us,” he said. “Some pitted for option [tyres] and I was easy to overtake. That’s it. Wasted race.”
Aston Martin reveals Valkyrie hypercar
Aston Martin has revealed the hypercar based on its Valkyrie road car which will compete in the World Endurance Championship next year. The Valkyrie AMR-LMH was shaken down at Donington Park by Darren Turner, Mario Farnbacher and Harry Tincknell.
Tsuboi ends Super Formula win drought
Sho Tsuboi scored his first Super Formula victory for four years at Fuji Speedway on Sunday. Having delayed his pit stop until lap 28 of 41, he passed Tadasuke Makino, Tomoki Nojiri and Toshiki Oyu to win. The win leaves him 9.5 points behind championship leader Nojiri.
Red Bull junior driver Ayumu Iwasa missed pole position by 17 thousandths of a second but stalled his engine at the start. “I have no words about that,” he said afterwards. “We decide the set-up and plan for the start. So in the car at the start, I cannot do anything from the driver’s side. It was a big frustration, also for the team.
“We had a good race performance but the start was everything. We need to check and see what happened.”
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Links
Formula E buys W Series’ IP rights, undecided on how to use them (Formula Scout)
'It didn’t work out for them. They got some great footage, some great IP, some great name recognition, some great awareness. So we wanted to acquire that on the off-chance that we could use that in the future, in some way, shape or form, in order to promote women in motorsports.'
Drivers left wondering 'Where was the yellow?' after Toronto melee (Racer)
'IndyCar’s race control’s activation of the caution system coincided with Ericsson’s impact into O’Ward, and prior to the back-to-back hits from Fittipaldi and Ferrucci, but those on their way into the corner behind Ericsson who became involved were either unable to see or react to the yellow in time to avoid O’Ward.'
Fornaroli confident heading to Spa after ‘positive’ Budapest weekend (Formula 3)
'We watched the replay, maybe there was more space on the left, but in that moment, you have half a second to decide, so I decided to go on the inside, but it was the wrong way.'
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
I have set up meetings with relevant people already, my term will be a failure if I don’t bring one of the biggest sporting tourist events to South Africa which is F1. Our first meeting is end of August in Monaco. https://t.co/qzw2RnRYue
— Gayton McKenzie (@GaytonMcK) July 21, 2024
An Update:
Yesterday morning’s surgery on my thumb was successful. I am so thankful to everyone at Indycar medical and IU Methodist for the quick timeline. Feeling good and will share more news when able. Also, typing with my left hand is hard.
— Alexander Rossi (@AlexanderRossi) July 22, 2024
We had a good race going and a shot at a top 10 finish. Lucky we all walked out of that late race incident in one piece. There was no warning and no where to go for any of us. Thank you to the team for the great effort in the race, we keep pushing forward. pic.twitter.com/QdvEHHrZ5X
— Pietro Fittipaldi (@PiFitti) July 22, 2024
If this @FIApresident wants to leave a worthwhile legacy he could do worse than ban team orders again for the sake of the sport, the fans but most of all, the drivers. #F1 #Hungary #LandoNorris
— Byron Young (@byronf1) July 22, 2024
@McLarenF1's last one-two also involved a collision between @LewisHamilton and @Max33Verstappen…#F1 #HungarianGP #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/ejQfO1zapQ
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) July 22, 2024
Yesterday @Max33Verstappen should have minimised his points loss to @LandoNorris to just three.
Instead it was eight.
And, had Norris been more selfish, it would have been fifteen.
These differences are going to matter a lot if the gap keeps narrowing.#F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/5du4LFJo6J
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) July 22, 2024
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Comment of the day
Does Piastri’s win in Hungary also signify a shift in the balance of power between the McLaren team mates?
If they hadn’t allowed Piastri to win the race it would have caused serious problems for the team.
Piastri has been thwarted by team tactics favouring Norris all season. This would have been the final straw.
It’s always difficult to manage when it becomes apparent that the number two driver is better than the number one driver. McLaren are going through that transition.
I don’t expect Norris will get any more favours from the team after this. And I expect Piastri will transition to the number one driver position in the second half of this season.
Richard
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Matt and Lalit Palaparthy!
On this day in motorsport
- 35 years ago today Andrea Chiesa won the Formula 3000 round on the super-fast Enna circuit, though a string of crashes meant that out of the 26 starters only he, Claudio Langes, Eddie Irvine, Marco Apicella and Gary Evans finished
montreal95 (@montreal95)
23rd July 2024, 0:39
Really, that’s the COTD? The facts disagree with your assessment that Piastri is better than Norris. He may well become that in the future and is a phenomenal talent but as of 2024 season so far he is not, by any stretch. He’s not beating Norris in qualifying and he’s especially not beating him on race pace. In Hungary Norris pummeled him on race pace even notwithstanding Piastri’s 2 mistakes. He admitted that himself that Norris was faster than him in the race in Hungary as usual. He’s getting better on tire management, sure, but he’s not there yet. In fact the only thing Piastri is consistently better than Norris at, is race starts. Which is precisely what, coupled with the hard to overtake nature of the Hungaroring, gave him the win. 100% deserved win, as race starts are an important part of the race. But not every track is like that, not even close. To become better than Lando Oscar must improve both in qualy and in race pace.
Given the above, and your factually incorrect analysis of the current balance of power at McLaren, I expect your prediction for the second half of the season to age about as well as a bottle of milk left out in the sun during a heat wave.
pastaman
23rd July 2024, 12:59
Sometimes Keith likes to deliberately post controversial CotD’s to elicit more comments and traffic to the site. It appears to have worked.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
23rd July 2024, 16:38
Haha good point! A clever variation on the hated click bait trope, that I don’t even mind cause it’s not stupid. Well done Keith!
cdfemke (@cdfemke)
23rd July 2024, 0:53
The sprint race piastri won was way more of a win than this one, because this ne was gifted to him by Lando, just as he gave one to Riciardo in Monza.
Any race without having to rely on a team order is more of a real win
dot_com (@dot_com)
23rd July 2024, 2:13
Whats frustrating is Lando could have won that race on merit, if he’d let Piastri past immediately and then taken the fight to him in the closing stages. I’m sure Piastri will win more races, but this definitely can’t be the best feeling for a maiden win.
Mooa42
23rd July 2024, 2:17
It’s a myth that Lando was faster than Daniel in Monza, Dan controlled the pace, then they both tried to set the fastest lap on the final lap and it wasn’t Lando who got it. Lando was trying to assert that he was faster, but he wasn’t.
I disagree with CoTD too, they are close, but Lando certainly still has the edge.
Edvaldo
23rd July 2024, 2:51
Norris would not pass even if he tried. Not in this, nor in Monza 2021.
Beaten fair and square both times.
MacLeod (@macleod)
23rd July 2024, 7:46
Norris couldn’t overtake him because his Team order him to stay after the swap. So saying if he tried he would failed is wrong or wishfull thinking…
While before the second pitstop he was free to do so. So we can’t say he wouldn’t pass if he tried because he wasn’t allowed. But if he was allowed he could (not it was sure but Oscar made a lot of mistakes in his last stint)
Edvaldo
23rd July 2024, 12:51
He wasnt faster enough.
It was not so easy to overtake this weekend. Ask verstappen.
Jordan (@hunkulese)
23rd July 2024, 4:13
It’s baffling to me that people are still saying Norris gifted him the race unless you’re talking about Norris’ poor start. Norris only got ahead of Piastri because the team wanted to help Norris stay ahead of Hamilton. Norris was only quicker after the pit stop because the race was already decided and the team was asking both drivers to take it easy. Norris did nothing on the track to be in the lead of the race and there’s really no chance he would’ve overtaken Piastri if both sides of the garage were treating it as a battle for the win between the two drivers.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd July 2024, 7:16
@cdfemke Ricciardo didn’t win the 2021 Italian GP in the same manner, though, but by simply staying ahead, even if he was outright slower with some sort of team order call prevented them from directly racing each other.
Mayrton
23rd July 2024, 8:06
Yes, I was about to say ‘neither was this one a win’ thanks to your team who managed to sc… over both drivers in one race.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
23rd July 2024, 3:55
I don’t think I agree with the cotd. Piastri’s great but he only really won this race due to Norris poor start. They’re evenly matched but Norris is still 40-odd points ahead. If McLaren thinks they have a chance at the drivers championship, it will be with Norris, not Piastri. On the balance of things, Norris is still a tad ahead but it’s great how evenly matched they are!
Grapmg
23rd July 2024, 7:06
Like Norris also Piastri can still win the championship. McLaren has a history of letting both drivers fight for it and I think that’s what they will be doing this year. A team order to secure a 1-2 is common sense.
John Beak (@johnbeak)
23rd July 2024, 6:06
Lando is unnecessarily nervous and it’s cost him time and time again in crucial moments. I had hoped his first win would give him the confidence to overcome this but no.
Oscar has a cool head which has allowed him to capitalise on several occasions.
However I still think Lando has a bit of speed advantage both in quali and in race pace. Oscar has been steadily closing in but he’s not there yet. At least not consistently.
I don’t see the two swapping roles as early as CotD suggests, maybe ever. Having no number one heading into a new season and waiting how championship standings develop would make more sense with this lineup.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
23rd July 2024, 6:43
What has Byron Young been huffing? Banning team orders didn’t work the last time it was tried, and would achieve nothing except to create more needless controversy.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd July 2024, 7:15
Indeed & therefore I couldn’t disagree more with him.
Mooa42
23rd July 2024, 7:20
Only way you get rid of team orders is to limit teams to only having one car
dot_com (@dot_com)
23rd July 2024, 16:27
Or ban communication between driver and pit wall. That would make things interesting.
S
23rd July 2024, 10:29
Banning team orders was never tried. They merely restricted the teams to using poorly disguised code words rather than blatantly expressing it outright, and so every team still used them. It was the most ineffective way to implement the (already heavily compromised) idea.
Ordering a driver to move over for their team-mate on track is no more or less unsporting or undesirable than the teams controlling it themselves via strategy.
Nevertheless – it would substantially improve the optics of F1 as a World Drivers Championship – and more importantly, a sporting competition – if such team orders were removed from radio, at the very least.
It is blatant race-fixing and is explicitly forbidden in the sporting regulations – not that the regs mean much in F1.
There are many more benefits to removing the radio from F1 than just this type of team order.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd July 2024, 7:14
Sprint wins indeed aren’t truly the same.
Didn’t South Africa’s relatively recent past return attempt fail or halt because of some Russian connection?
Re Racefans tweet: A good coincidence + an Aussie winner on both occasions.
Keith’s tweet: Max not maximizing all achievable points is another way of looking at things, but I’m positive he’ll still win the championship by quite a margin, in which case the seven points lost through the McLaren swap wouldn’t matter in the end, albeit not impossible either.
Good COTD.
black (@black)
23rd July 2024, 7:46
Norris is 76pts behind Verstappen with 11 rounds to go. It is not impossible to mount a challenge, but highly improbable, due to the fact that Norris is fighting at the front for the first time and he’s making mistakes here and there (Silverstone’s strategy, Austria’s clash which could have been avoided, etc), while having the fastest car at them moment. Even in Hungary, he started from pole well and his main concern was to squeeze his teammate and not cover Verstappen completely, resulting in yet another poor start from pole.
Max and RedBull on the other hand most of the times, even when the don’t have the fastest car, they manage to come out in front (Canada, Spain, Britain). Beating him to the WDC would require Norris to seriously up his game and not make silly mistakes for any of the remaining races this season. And even then it’s going to be tight.
The WCC though is definately within reach for McLaren. They are only 51pts behind a team with only one points-scoring driver and they cut the difference by 26pts last time. If McLaren wants to take that fight though, they need a driver duo that works well with each other and don’t make silly mistakes. Piastri on Sunday beat Norris at the start and lost the 1st place only because of the team’s strategy – Norris couldn’t pass him. If McLaren denied Piastri that deserving 1st win, then the next time they would be together at the front, maybe they be less civil about it (maybe Norris would consider himself the star of the team and Piastri would be more inpatient to get his 1st win) and result into a ‘Turkey 2010’ situation. Norris is not the absolute star driver of a team (like Max or Lewis during his dominating years), he needs the team and his teammate if he wants to win the WDC one day.
Jamie
23rd July 2024, 8:21
There’s a lack of understanding of F1 in these comments. The lead driver always gets first choice of strategy. Piastri gave up the optimum strategy to allow Norris to defend to Hamilton, he was able to do this due to his great start and the gap he built up so he didn’t need it. This means that Norris was only head of Piastri because the team gave him the said optimum strategy. So, effectively team orders gave Norris the lead, so it’s only fair they reversed. I agree that Norris would have been wise to have done the switch sooner then try and cleanly overtake.
PeterG
23rd July 2024, 14:00
The only reason Lando ended up in undercut range of Piastri was because Piastri made the mistake & slid off track & lost the 8 second gap he’d built.
If Piastri hadn’t made that mistakes & lost that time Norris never would have been in undercut range.
Additionally even after the final stop Piastri made another few smaller errors which is part of why Lando was able to build a 5-6 second gap meaning he had to slow way down to let Piastri catch & pass him.
McLaren’s strategy to pit Lando first only became a problem because Piastri made a few mistakes.
David (@nvherman)
23rd July 2024, 14:59
First correct response I’ve seen here.
Races are not won on the first corner (although they can be lost), and a Grand Prix is run over 305km, not 100-200.
Piastri threw his “win on merit” away, and is lucky his team mate is Norris and not Verstappen, Hamilton or Alonso.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
23rd July 2024, 14:19
People just need to accept that it’s a team sport and that team orders are a part of the sport and have been since the very begging in one form or another.
We saw when they tried to ban them last time (2003-2010) that team orders never really went away, they just found other ways to do it be it coded messages, pre-race agreements, intentionally slow pit stops etc..
It just created a lot of extra questions & controversy & I just feel that having them out in the open so we know what’s going on is better than things like ‘Fernando is faster than you’ where we all knew what it was & why they did it but nobody could just come out & say it which just made everyone look silly in the aftermath.