Oscar Piastri blasted Carlos Sainz and his own McLaren team after a collision with the Williams driver contributed to his retirement at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Sainz had been shown blue flags, requiring him to move out of Piastri’s way, but made contact with the McLaren after returning to the track from a pit stop. Sainz later claimed he had not seen Piastri approaching.
On team radio immediately after the contact, Piastri said: “Get out of the f*****g way you idiot! Oh my god.” He then turned on McLaren for not warning him that Sainz was nearby: “Nice of you guys to factor that one in by the way, thanks.”
In post-race interviews, Piastri called the move “unacceptable” and “one of the dumbest things” he had ever seen in racing. He also questioned Sainz’s consistency on track. “He’s quite critical of others, and others have given him stick before for being frustrating on track,” Piastri said. “When you go and do something like that I think maybe you should look in the mirror a bit.”
Piastri, 25, had started third on the grid and led by the end of lap one before the contact and a later gearbox failure ended his afternoon. The result was a DNF at the same circuit where he claimed his maiden Formula 1 victory.
Teammate Lando Norris won the race ahead of Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli, giving Norris his first victory as world champion. Antonelli leads the drivers’ championship, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton 50 points behind in second.
