The Piastri-Sainz Case
In the last Hungarian Grand Prix, at a moment in the race when Oscar Piastri was leading the standings (before retiring), the Australian McLaren driver was furious about what happened between him and Carlos Sainz. The Spanish Williams driver, engaged with his compatriot Fernando Alonso, ignored the blue flags, not allowing Piastri to complete the lapping, with the two cars even coming into contact.
Piastri’s Outburst
In the moments following the incident, McLaren’s #81 also called Sainz an “idiot” over the radio, doubling down with the media after the race: “I don’t care if he didn’t see me. The fact that he didn’t see me, that no one told him, or that he wasn’t fully aware, is unacceptable. He was fighting with Fernando for last place as if it were for the world championship, and it cost me the race lead. He is quite critical of others and has been criticized in the past for his frustrating behavior on track. When you do something like that, I think maybe you should take a look in the mirror.”
Attention! Words from Hill
The fact remains that Sainz was penalized 5 seconds for the maneuver against Piastri. But regarding the latter’s words, a world champion who, precisely in Hungary, was close to achieving a real feat at the wheel of the Arrows in 1997 intervened: Damon Hill.
Winner of the title the previous year with Williams, the British driver expressed his point of view on the drivers in Piastri’s position and after the latter’s frustration, who will have to be particularly careful during lapping about the threat posed by lapped cars: “I have an opinion on this. Do you want to hear it? You have to assume that everyone will try to push you off the track!“, he wrote on his Instagram profile.
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