Formula 1 News: 2024 Hungarian GP Post-Race Press Conference

The top-3 finishers in the 2024 Hungarian GP F1 race met with the media after the race, which was won by McLaren driver Oscar Piastri

DRIVERS

1 – Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren)
2 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Nico Rosberg)  

Q: Wow, this is really Formula 1 at its best at the moment! It’s unbelievably exciting out there to watch from outside. Lewis, P3 today. You beat the Red Bulls fair and square as well. Good feeling?
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah. Big thanks to this amazing crowd this weekend. And a huge congratulations to McLaren on the 1-2. That’s my old, original family, so I’m really, really happy to see you, all the boys, the whole team, back up front. And then for us today, yeah, the team has done a great job to continue on with pushing this car. Ultimately, we didn’t have the pace of the McLarens, nor did we have the pace of the Red Bulls, but we just were able to hold on at the beginning of the race. It was very, very tough to hold on, to make those tires last. And obviously, the close battle we had at the end was a bit hair-raising, but that’s motor racing. So I’m really happy. I’m grateful for the points. Big thank you to the team.

Q: Take us through that battle a little bit, with Max. I mean, it was just unbelievable to watch from the outside. How nerve-wracking was it from inside the car? 
LH: It’s not nerve-wracking. I think when you see the pace at which they close the gap in certain corners, you just laugh to yourself, because it’s not something I can do. Particularly in the last sector, they were very, very strong, same as the McLarens. So, I mean, I saw him coming from a long way back, and he was able to brake a lot later than me. But he sent it up the inside. I stayed still, and he clipped the wheel and went over. So I think a racing incident, but, you know, yeah.

Q: Let’s have a word for Oscar, who just had his first win on a Sunday in his career. You have more than 100, many more, so let’s have a word for Oscar.
LH: Yeah, amazing. Congratulations to Oscar. He’s been doing a fantastic job ever since he got here, to be honest, but he’s been so consistent, and it was only a matter of time before he got a win, so this is a great day for him. He had an amazing pace from the get-go, so really, really happy for him and his family.

Q: Thank you very much, Lewis. Let’s hope for more progress from you guys in the next couple of races. Lando, let’s start with a fantastic team effort this weekend. I mean the car has been phenomenal, one-two that’s a super result of the team isn’t it?
LN: Yeah, an amazing day for us as a team. I think that’s the main thing, honestly. I’m so happy. It’s been a long journey to get to achieving this on merit and that’s exactly what we did today, and I think a long way clear of the rest, so we did it in style as well. So a good run by the team, and of course to Oscar. He had a good start, he got me off the line, and he controlled the race well. So yeah, it was coming at some point, and he deserved it today.

Q: Sorry, but I have to obviously ask: we were thinking, is he maybe not going to let him through, or what’s going to happen there? We got the impression you thought it was not quite fair for the team to ask you to let him back through. Can you take us through your thinking there?
LN: The team asked me to do it, so I did it, and yeah, that’s it.

Q: OK, I’m not going to dig further on that one then. How excited are you for the rest of the season? I mean, it really seems that you guys have the fastest car out there at the moment. You still believe in the championship as well then?
LN: For sure. I mean, definitely as a constructor, two good drivers and an amazing team. So absolutely, I think it’s still difficult, still a long way to go. And today was our day. Spa, it can change completely, you know. So we’ll keep pushing and we’ll try to do more of the same.

Q: OK, thank you very much, Lando. Congrats on the second place in team effort. Oscar, it is your first Formula 1 win on a Sunday. How awesome is that feeling? It’s your first win. How special is it?
Oscar PIASTRI: Very, very special. This is really the day I dreamed of as a kid, standing on the top step of an F1 podium. Yeah, obviously a bit complicated at the end, but I put myself in the right position at the start. And yeah, thank you to the team for an amazing effort, an amazing car. Yeah, it’s a hell of a lot of fun racing with McLaren, so I can’t thank them enough for giving me the opportunity to be in F1. And yeah, to now be winning together 18 months in is an incredible feeling.

Q: And how impressed are you with the car that McLaren’s giving you at the moment? I mean, it just looks phenomenal out there.
OP: Yeah, it’s a beast at the moment. Yeah, it’s fast in every condition. I think today, you know, we had it under control completely. And yeah, an amazing feeling to just be able to manage the race like that with both cars and secure a one-two. I don’t know when our last one-two was, but I think it’s a long time ago. So incredibly happy for the whole team and nice to get my first one on the board.

Q: You said it’s all under control, but the team order situation didn’t seem very much under control from the outside. How worried were you towards the end there that Lando might actually not let you pass?
OP: The longer you leave it, of course, the more you get a bit nervous. But, no, it was well executed by the team. Yeah, I think it was the right thing. I put myself in the right position at the start. And yeah, with the different strategy we had, yes, my pace probably wasn’t as quick as I would have liked in the last stint, but I was still in the right position to make it happen. So yeah, well executed from the team.

Q: So I suppose then the first of many wins, right, Oscar? I mean, you’re proving to be such a special talent out there.
OP: I hope so. Yeah, I mean, I think I’ve still got some things to work on, but, no, I’ll enjoy the win when I can. And, yeah, the team’s given me a great car, and I really can’t thank them enough for that. And, yeah, I’m trying to do the best job I can, and I’m learning every race I do. So, yeah, I hope there’s many more to come.

Q: Next up is Spa. Very different track, very different downforce level in the car. Do you expect yourselves to be right at the front there as well?
OP: I think yes. I think we’ve proven this year that we can be quick in any circuit, any condition. We’re always there at the front. And I mean, Spa’s not been the happiest of hunting grounds for us recently, but I’m confident we’ll be strong. You know, we’ve got a car that’s become a real all-rounder, so I’m super confident, and I think the rest of the team should be as well.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lando, many congratulations. It’s been a very impressive weekend by you and McLaren. First of all, how do you sum up the last two days?
LN: I’m trying to think of a cool word. I don’t know. Just great. Like, it’s been amazing. I don’t know. A very good weekend, all in all, from all of us as a team. Mistake-free. Great pace in the car. Probably this weekend, I think, we can say confidently I think we were the quickest and I think that’s the first time this year I can confidently say that, so amazing. Our first one-two since Monza with Daniel and yeah, an up and down journey. But, you know, since one year ago we were struggling and the turnaround to Miami and from Miami to here. It’s been incredible. So as a weekend, fantastic. And I’m very happy for us as a team and everyone that’s part of it to reward them with something like this.

Q: And how difficult was it for you to give up the race win?
LN: I mean, I didn’t give up the race win. I lost the race win off the line. so I know everyone is going to want to say that as a story that I gave up the race when I didn’t. I boxed first and naturally you’re always going to undercut. So the team gave me this position and I gave it back. Nothing more than that.

Q: There was a lot of discussion between you and your race engineer over the radio. How seriously did you consider not giving it back?
LN: I mean, things are always going to go through your mind because, you know… You’ve got to be selfish in this sport at times. You’ve got to think of yourself. That’s priority number one, is think of yourself. I’m also a team player, so my mind was going pretty crazy at the time. I know what we’ve done in the past between Oscar and myself. He’s helped me plenty of times… I think this is a different situation. This is not someone helping one another. I was put into a position, and we were undoing that position change. But I mean, I’m also, and I get it, and I know a lot of people are going to say, like, the gap between me and Max is pretty big, 60, 70, 80 points or something. You know, if Red Bull and Max make the mistakes like they did today and continue to do that, and as a team we continue to improve and have weekends like we’ve had this weekend, we can turn it around. And it’s still optimistic. It’s still a big goal to say, yeah, we can close 70 points and as a driver, I can close 70 points in half a season. And then when you’re thinking of the seven or six points that I give away, then… It crosses your mind for sure. So it was not easy, but I also understood the situation I was in and I was quite confident always by the last lap I would have done it.

Q: Do you think we’ll see you be more selfish in the future?
LN: It depends. I mean, I’ve done this for… I don’t know. I think I was put in this situation and it’s not my fault that I was leading the race in a way. Simply the team should have just boxed Oscar first and we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. So, it’s not that. I think just as a team, maybe we could have done things slightly differently and I’m sure we’ll talk about it. But at the same time… This guy here deserved to win today. He did an amazing job. He got me off the line and yeah, 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. So yeah, I’ll let him enjoy it. And you know, for us as a team and to have the win is an incredible weekend for all of us.

Q: Alright, Lando, many thanks for that. Let’s come on to the race winner now. Oscar, you’ve dreamt of this moment since you were a boy. You’re a Grand Prix winner in just your 35th start. How sweet was the view from the top step of the podium?
OP: Yeah, very, very special. A lot of Australian flags, actually, which was very cool to see. Yeah, it was an incredible moment. I mean, it’s always special when you get to stand on an F1 podium, but it’s a little bit nicer when you’re at the top of it, so very happy. Like I said, an incredible moment that I’ve been dreaming of for a very long time. I said my first dream in my career was reaching F1. The second one is winning a race. Yeah, I’m very, very happy and proud and not just of myself, but everybody that’s helped me get to this position. You know, going back to my family, firstly, of course. You know, it took a lot of big decisions at a young age to chase the F1 dream. It’s very difficult to become an F1 driver by staying in Australia, so it meant some big decisions early in life. And, yeah, just very, very proud that, you know, those decisions have paid off and we’ve managed to make it worth it. And, yeah, of course, myself just incredibly happy to have achieved this moment.

Q: How different does this feel to the Sprint win in Qatar last year?
OP: Very, I would say. I think the Sprint win… It was always a bit awkward, 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. And yeah, the emotion is definitely different.

Q: Can we talk about tactics? Given the advantage you and Lando had in that race? Why didn’t you stop first? It would have been a lot simpler.
OP: I mean, I’m sure it’s something we’ll discuss as a team. You know, the information I had at the time was Lando was boxing early to cover Lewis, and I was going long to cover Max, essentially, because I knew that he’d stop later, and I think we were just being very safe. Of course, that naturally gave Lando an undercut, maybe made things a little bit more complicated than it needed to be. But yeah, I’m sure that’s something we’ll go through.

Q: Alright. Many congratulations. Thank you. And Lewis, coming to you, 200 podiums, what a score, what a trophy cabinet. Now, you’ve often said that you’re not into statistics, but this surely means something?
LH: The number doesn’t, no. I just think about these two and how young these guys are. They were in nappies when I started, so… No, honestly, it just makes me think about the whole journey and all the great people I’ve had the chance to work with. You know, I got signed by McLaren when I was 13 and so there was always so much love for that team and through the journey that we had, where I had my first World Championship and then they went through a really difficult time so to see them back up there is really, really great. I’m really happy. You know that’s my old family, so really, really grateful to be up here with them. And then ultimately I think it was a tough race today and I  definitely didn’t think I would be having 200 podiums but what have I done? Like 340 something races? So, not too bad a score but I couldn’t have done it without all those great people that I’ve worked with in both these teams.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Lewis, could you talk through the touch with Max? He obviously made that move down the inside. You guys touched. He was on the radio saying about you were moving under braking. Could you talk through your side of it, please?
LH: Yeah. No, I think, I mean, from what I can remember, obviously we passed a back marker. I got to the braking zone, and then Max appeared, to overtake the car behind me, so I moved over to defend. I left enough room in the inside, but Max locked up, and he was going a different trajectory to me. I was going towards, around the corner, and he came shooting across. It felt like a racing incident. And it’s easy to make mistakes like that. And so I don’t feel there should be any hostility. But of course, from his side, there always will be.

Q: (Jannik Sauer – Watson.de) Lewis, I was wondering, because you have this little fan laying next to you, especially after a hot race like today, there were some headlines in the past few days about the FIA planning to implement some sort of cooling for the cockpit and the drivers. So you are surprised, I see. Do we have any opinion on that?
LH: Well, firstly, I didn’t know that. And it’s not needed. This is Formula 1. It’s always been like this. It’s tough in these conditions. And we’re highly-paid athletes. And you’ve got to train your ass off to make sure you can withstand the heat, ultimately. And it’s tough. It’s not easy, especially when you go to places like Qatar and Singapore. But I don’t think we need an AC unit in the car.

Q: (Florian Niedermair – Motorsport-magazin.com) About your race space in general, did you expect before the race to be battling with Max or was it a surprise for you, especially given the conditions?
LH: No, I think out of pure pace, we weren’t. Unfortunately, we’re still not, in hot conditions particularly… So you saw in Austria and here, we’re not able to keep up with these guys. But in stint one, I was really surprised to see that I was able to hold on to Max. And I wasn’t even having to push too hard to stay within a second, or around a second behind him. So I thought at that point that maybe I was in for a chance of at least fighting for that place. But then in the second stint, it was a bit of a disaster, it didn’t feel good. And the true pace of the car started to show, I think, on those tires. But we obviously got the undercut and track position is clearly key on this track. And I think that really ultimately made the difference.

Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) One for Lando, please. As you said, you were always confident you were going to give the place back, but based on the messages we heard, the pit wall seemed quite worried about it. You had a number of reminders, as it were, so why not give them a confirmation just to put their minds at rest that you were going to do it during that phase? 
LN: I don’t need to. I know what I’m going to do and what I’m not going to do. Of course, I’m going to just question it and challenge it, and that’s what I did. Yeah. I was going to wait until the last lap, the last corner. But then they said if there was a Safety Car all of a sudden, and I couldn’t let Oscar go through, then it would have made me look like a bit of an idiot. Yeah, then I was like, ‘yeah, it’s fair point’. And I let him go, two to go or something. And straight away, I let him go. So yeah, I mean, that’s just your opinion of what you hear. But that’s the same with all sports. You can make what you will of what you hear and what you think you know and that kind of stuff. But I know that I always was going to give it back unless they changed their mind on what they were saying. And they didn’t. So all good.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lando, you said over the radio that you’re fighting for the world championship. Do you think that McLaren made the wrong decision today? 
LN: No. I mean… I didn’t lose the win there. I lost the win off the line. You know, I had a terrible, not even a terrible start, just a bad start. Something happened on my second shift and I lost all my momentum. Oscar got to the inside and that was it. That was that. So, you know, I got put into the lead rather than wanting to. I feel like we made things way too hard for ourselves and way too tricky for ourselves. We should have just boxed Oscar first and things would have been simple, but they gave me the lead and I gave it back. So I shouldn’t have won today. I didn’t deserve to win because of my start and Oscar’s good start and that’s that. So I don’t feel like… I know I was in that position for a while and 16, 17 laps or whatever, It’s hard when you’re in that position to give it back because you’re there. And you’re there and of course that went through my mind, seven points that I’m going to lose. But I think the real fact is I shouldn’t have almost had them in the first place. I shouldn’t have had them in my hands. So the team were right. And I stand by what they said.

Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Oscar, for you in those stages when you were behind Lando, what was going through your mind? Were you worried that you weren’t going to be given the lead back? How much was the concern growing in those final few laps?

OP: I don’t think I was really concerned. The only thing I was concerned about a bit was if there was a Safety Car, then it would have taken the situation out of our hands, would have taken the control out of our hands. So that was really the only thing I was a bit concerned about. But, you know, we’d spoken about it at the timing of the stop that we would sort it back out. And, yeah, I mean, I had full trust in everyone in the team, including Lando, that we would make that happen.

Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Lando, at the beginning of the year, everyone thought Max would run away with the championship. And now here we are. McLaren seems to be the quickest car. Do you genuinely think that the championship is now on? And do you feel that you are ready psychologically to take it to the wire with Max? Because we think it could get quite edgy at the end. 
LN: Yeah, then I look forward to it. I mean, I said at the end of last year that we were going to win races this year. I said at the beginning of the year that it was not going to be an easy one for Red Bull, and all of that’s come true. So I think we’ve done an amazing job as a team. So I think, first of all, we have to give credit to the team for giving us a car in order to do that. We’ve won today, but this is the second win of the year. Red Bull have had way more wins. Mercedes have almost had as many wins as we’ve had. Actually, they’ve had the same amount of wins as we’ve had. So just because we won one race today and we’ve had a dominant weekend doesn’t mean we’re the quickest car. I think maybe two weekends this year, we’ve had the best car of the grid. That’s it. People can come up with their own opinions and say what they like. But, do we have opportunities to maybe win more? Yes. Did we necessarily have the quickest car on those days? I don’t think so. But yeah, when I think of that, when I think of what we’re doing now, what we are able to do in the future, you know, in the short term and also long term after summer break, and we have more days like today, then of course. You would be silly to say no. But don’t get me wrong, I know it’s like 70, 80 points that I got to catch up. So I know a lot of people are going to say that there’s no chance, but I mean, we’re going to keep fighting and I’m going to give myself the best opportunity to do so. You know, especially when you see Max today and Red Bull, not performing so well, making mistakes, crashing. You know, you want to make the most of those opportunities and plenty more can happen in the future. So, yes, I think it’s still on. I know it’s a big stretch and optimistic, like I said before, but I’m not going to say no to the challenge and definitely as a team, we won’t. And psychologically, yeah, I’m happy. I’m ready. I still think, you know, if you throw back to Red Bull Ring, I did nothing wrong in this instance. It wasn’t my fault. So I’m ready to go. I’m excited. I’m ready to battle. And I’m looking forward to the battles that we’re going to have.

Q: (Nate Saunders – ESPN) Lando, a question for you. Just on team orders generally in this situation, Will Joseph mentioned in some of those laps to you, he said, think of those meetings that we have on Sundays, which I assume is just kind of a reference back to discussions about similar situations. If you are going to make a championship fight out of this, at what point do you think McLaren actually need to make calls like that? Because you are right that there’s a big gap to you and Max right now, but obviously that gap might come down quicker if McLaren is maybe making those calls quicker. So what do you think needs to, you know, when does that need to happen if you are going to turn this into a championship fight? 
LN: I think there’s just a difference of simply just deserving to win a race and not deserving to win. I didn’t deserve to win the race today. Simple as that. So the fact I was in that position was incorrect. I think that was a mistake from us as a team. I shouldn’t have been in this position. And it was a strategic way to just play our race. So it gave me hope and it gave me that position of, ‘oh, I’m here now’. But I shouldn’t have been there in the first place. I’m not going to talk about it because I shouldn’t have been there. I didn’t deserve to win. End of story from that side. But yes, it’s something we always talk about before every race is our trust in one another, our honesty we have as a group. I think that’s something that’s allowed us to catch others so quickly to perform and outperform others so quickly to develop the car quicker. As a team, I think we have and have shown plenty of times between drivers, whether it has been Carlos and myself, Daniel and myself, Oscar and myself, that when things do go one another’s way, we’re there to help one another, you know? And today is a different day. It’s not because strategically something’s really happened and you’re kind of just letting someone pass or something’s going that way it’s that I shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. I shouldn’t have been given that hope of I’m here, I’m leading a race. So I don’t think it’s a fair thing. But of course we’re going to discuss it and there’s going to be times maybe in the future where things are like that. But if Oscar’s led the whole race, I don’t want him just to… It’s not fair, and I don’t think that’s how it should work, that he should just let me pass for me to win because I’m fighting for a championship. Maybe I’ll ask Oscar, maybe he will! Maybe he’d let me pass! But today was his, and that should be it. It wasn’t my race today. He drove better, and he got a good start, and that was that, so… Yeah, like I said, something we’ll speak about as a team and we speak about all the time. Something we’re good at and something we’ll continue to do good at.

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to Oscar, please. Just on the final stint when you came out behind Lando, I wonder if you could just talk us through what happened there, why you were a little bit unable to close up the gap despite having a little bit younger tires. 
OP: Yeah, I mean, I think the whole race, we were very evenly matched. I think the dirty air made a big difference. I think where I was in the last stint, I don’t think it made that much of a difference. I think ultimately, I just wasn’t quite as quick as I needed to be in the last stint. So I think that’s something that I that I want to improve and, you know, I’m very, very happy with the result, of course, but in terms of leaving the weekend, you know, with the question of am I fully satisfied with my performance today? No, I’m not. And there’s still things I want to improve. Yeah, I mean, I think track position made a very big difference today. And I think that’s why having the start I did was so critical. Yeah, I think just ultimately, I didn’t quite have the pace that I wanted in the last thing. And I still need to go and assess why that was the case.

Q: (Florian Niedermair – Motorsportmagazin.com) Question to Lando. Were you allowed to race each other? If you had the pace to attack Oscar, would you have been allowed to do so from team side or was it an agreement to hold position?
LN: Yeah, we were allowed to race. Maybe something would have changed in certain positions, but we’ve always been allowed to race. 99% of our time together we’ve been allowed to race. There’s been a couple times when it’s just been better to hold position and it’s not been worth anything differently, especially when we’re fighting for, you know, last year we were fighting for ninth and tenth and stuff like that, you know, for any driver, it doesn’t really matter so much. On a day like today, obviously, it feels better or worse either way, but we’ve always been allowed to race as McLaren. We’ve always been able to have those opportunities, and I think mainly because we’ve always been honest with each other, we’ve always respected each other well. I think as a teammate, I want to… For myself, I feel like I’ve always been good and honest and happy and respectful for who I work with and how we can work well as a team. I believe it’s a good trait from my side and it’s helped me plenty of times in the past. So, yeah, we are allowed to race and into the future that will continue to be the same, I’m sure.

Q: (Matt Coch – Speedcafe) Three-part question from him. Is the win everything you’d hoped it would be? What has Mark Webber’s role been in your career? And there wasn’t a shoey on the podium. Will there be one tonight?
OP: Yes, I would say it is. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet. And I mean, I’m not really the kind of person to get overly emotional. So, you know, I don’t think you’re ever really going to see that from me. But, no, it’s an incredible feeling. Like I said, it’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid. You know, we’ve had a couple of opportunities through the last few races that we’ve come very close to. And yeah, now to make it happen is an incredible feeling. But I’m sure with more time, you know, I think in Qatar last year, you know, that didn’t fully sink in until probably the season ended. And, you know, I think with this, it will probably be a similar kind of feeling. Yeah, it’s just quite a cool feeling, but quite hard to, I guess, describe and know how to feel sometimes. The second one was…?

Q: Mark Webber. And are you sad that Mark’s not here? He’s flown back to London to be supporting Mitch Evans, hasn’t he? Yeah.
OP: Has the Formula E race happened yet? No? It’s not happened? Yeah, I mean his influence has been massive on so many levels. I think firstly it’s important to say from Mark and Ann it’s been important on so many levels. I think behind the scenes they’ve done an incredible amount of work for me in my career, whether it was my junior career, getting me into Formula 1, working with McLaren, it’s been a massive influence for me. I think there’s always little tips and things like that. I mean, Mark had a successful career, The majority of it is about the bigger picture of things. And Mark obviously had a long and successful career in Formula 1. And I’ve said a few times, his hindsight of his career is my foresight. And he can keep me out of a few traps, a few holes that maybe he experienced in his career. His influence there is incredibly important. and you know I think also for myself. he’s been in a championship-winning team for a lot of his career and I think you know not just for myself but for the whole team, that’s a key thing to have. And the last question? The shoey is Danny Ric’s thing. I mean, I’m going to get roped into it because I’m an Aussie, but I don’t know. I’ll try and think of something new. No, I think that’s gone and done. I know we did one at Silverstone last week, but I think we were a bit upset after the race there, so we needed some cheering up. Maybe we’ll do one in the plane on the way back. We can probably pay the cleaning fee now. But no, I’ll leave that to Danny Ric and that can be his legacy. I’ll create my own.