Aussie Oscar Headed for F1 Greatness
Posted on August 1, 2025 Tags: Hungarian Grand Prix
Stats deliver the goods!
THAT STUNNING MOVE BY OSCAR PIASTRI at the unfortunate delayed start of the Belgium Grand Prix will be talked about in racing circles for many years to come.
Early days yet, but It may yet be a deciding factor that wins Aussie Oscar the 2025 Drivers World Championship.
The 23-year-old was fearless at the jump and bolted to the line at the renowned Circuit de Spa Francorchamps in last week’s Belgium F1 Grand Prix, despite a couple of flutters, to celebrate his sixth win of the season – and eighth overall.
And he heads into this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix as the reining Hungaroring champion!
Mark Webber’s gamble paying off Bigtime
Oscar’s Manager Mark Webber – a nine-time winner driving for Red Bull Racing between 2009 and 2012, with doubles at Monaco, Britain and Brazil – must be over the moon!
Oscar Piastri’s extraordinary win at Belgian’s legendary circuit, around seven kilometres of the most trying tracks on the calendar, marked his 59th career Formula 1 race start/
That puts him level with Daniel Ricciardo in terms of victories — eight wins apiece — but Piastri reached that milestone in significantly fewer starts.
Consider this: Oscar 8 wins after 59 starts; Lewis Hamilton 8 wins after 60 starts, Max Verstappen 8 wins after 107 starts!
That is positioning the young Aussie in the presence of rarified air.
So, how did the young man go about achieving his latest accolade at the Belgian GP?
Fearlessness wins every time
Simply put:
“I tried to be as brave as I dared!” brave as I dared through Eu Rouge!”
Mind-numbingly brilliant move
From second on the grid, Oscar Piastri knew he’d likely get one real shot at winning the race.
After all, Lando Norris’ qualifying lap Saturday for the legendary seven-kilometre course through the Spa de Francorchamps circuit is considered one of the best so far this season.
That didn’t deter Oscar from pulling off a brave, mind-numbingly brilliant move to overtake his teammate just as they left the crest of Raidillon, at Lap 5 of the delayed start, ducking out of Lando’s rooster tails and sweeping into the lead.
And the vibrant young gun simply didn’t look back, making fewer errors than his teammate, and going on to win an extraordinary race.
“I was able to stay pretty close” (to Lando)
“I knew it was going to be crucial,” Oscar said of the extraordinary passing move, at an eagerly attended post-race news conference. “I had a good run out of Turn 1 and then tried to be as brave as I dared through Eau Rouge and was able to stay pretty close.
“After that, the slipstream did the rest for me. I knew that was going to be important to win the race today.”
It was massive boost for Oscar who was battling back-to-back defeats to teammate Lando – at Spielberg and Silverstone – to extends his Championship lead 16 points.
Oscar’s calmness at the helm is being hailed as his greatest strength, “coupled with a killer instinct that lies beneath an ability to seize such a moment when it really mattered,” as one commentator put it.
“The move through Eau Rouge, I knew it was going to be by far my best opportunity to try to win the race,” Oscar told Luke Smith, senior writer for The Athletic when asked when he’d started plotting it.
A clear presence of Mind
Oscar with another champion, Aussie cricket captain Pat Cummins
“I’d been thinking about it for a while, put it that way,” said Oscar. “Obviously, in those conditions, it’s a little bit more difficult than if it’s dry. I knew that I had to try and do that.
“When I watched the onboard back, it didn’t look quite as scary as it felt in the car, I knew that I had to be very committed to pull that off.”
Much as Oscar knew that would likely be his best chance to get Lando, the Brit was well aware he’d be exposed leading the pack at the restart.
“Oscar came past me pretty easily,” Lando recalled. “So even if I had a better Turn 1, his run and the slipstream probably still would have got me.”
With 39 laps still to run, it seemed the definitive move that decided the race.
Track leader always shows the way
As the leader on the track, Oscar knew he had priority over the first tyre change, coming in on Lap 12 for slicks tires. Lando was given the option of double stacking on the same lap but opted out.
“It was just more painful for me that Oscar got the good lap,” Lando Norris said in the bullpen, post-race. “I had to go one lap longer. That’s life.”
But when Oscar had to change tyres again, managing the mediums all the way to the end was still a huge ask.
“I felt good for about five laps,” he said. “(But) I was a bit nervous considering we had nearly 25 laps to go at that point. So, I had to be a bit careful, but it held on in the end much better than I feared.”
McLaren racing at “very, very high level”
“Truth is there is very, very little between our two drivers, and this is because the two drivers are racing at a very, very high level,” said Andrea Stella (pictured above), Team Principal of McLaren F1.
“We are lucky at McLaren to have two drivers that, deservedly, are fighting for the World Championship,“ he added.
But there’s no doubting Oscar managed the race quite brilliantly.
AC’s Out on a Limb Confession
Of course, I’m way ahead of myself here. There are still 11 races to go after this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. But, hey, I’m all in for Oscar Piastri, a brilliant young Australian racing driver who few of us had even heard of a few short years ago. Oscar has rekindled my love for the sport which was seen lacking something for me when Daniel Ricciardo left the stage! Your faithful servant, Adrian.
But the last words go to:
McLaren’s Andrea Stella:
“At the same time, I think Lando didn’t help himself by not having a great gap on the finish line. So, I think the execution is what is going to make the main difference.”
And the Atlantic’s Luke Smith:
“In a year where they are so evenly matched, these are the moments that will prove decisive. On Sunday, it was Piastri who made it really count.”
More Bucks for Brad!
Meanwhile Brad Pitt’s F1 – The Movie has passed a major milestone, surpassing $US500 in global box office collections.
Different Horse Power
In his first social media post since his sacking, an undaunted Christian Horner posted a very brief Instagram of himself riding one of his horses, and wrote: “Different horse-power this Sunday.”
The Hungaroring Circuit
The Hungaroring provides the backdrop to the last few days of Formula 1 track action before the summer break, with this weekend’s race marking the fortieth anniversary of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary
Another factor that plays its part is the high temperature that usually accompanies the Hungarian weekend, leading to predominantly thermal degradation, exacerbated by the very dark track surface.
In fact, last year’s race here saw the highest recorded track temperature of the season, at 58.6 °C.
However, that is much less likely this weekend! Despite balmy weather forecast for Friday and Saturday the prediction for Race Day Sunday is anything but.
Hungary’s Hungararing Circuit
The Hungaroring facility currently is undergoing a major transformation, following the refurbishment of the paddock area. This year, the main changes relate to the pit lane, the main straight, the pit complex and the main grandstand.
The grid area and the pit lane have been resurfaced, and it has already been tested with GT races here in early July.
Usually, track evolution over the weekend is very high here, especially during the first two days, with Pirelli tipping possible graining during Friday free practice, before gradually decreasing the more the track gets rubbered-in.
High thermal degradation is a factor drivers will have to deal with even over a flying lap in qualifying on the Soft.
If it is not looked after properly, it could create problems in the final two corners.
The Compounds
The trio of slick tyre compounds is the same as last year: C3 as Hard, C4 as Medium and C5 as Soft. Up until last year, these would have been the softest tyres of all, until the introduction this year of the C6.
But Pirelli has decided the C6 would be too extreme a choice for a track that exerts this level of energy density on the tyres for every lap.
Although the actual loads are not that high in absolute terms, the fact that the lap is short means that it increases cumulatively and significantly with each lap.
And who knows where Oscar will end up?
Pirelli’s Statistics Corner
Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver at the Hungarian GP with eight wins, nine pole positions and 12 podium finishes. Michael Schumacher is second with four wins and seven poles, while Kimi Raikkonen is second to Lewis in terms of podium finishes with nine.
McLaren has the best record here with 12 wins, followed by Williams and Ferrari, both on seven. McLaren and Mercedes share the lead when it comes to pole positions on nine, with Ferrari third on eight. Ferrari tops the table for podium places with 29 ahead of McLaren on 25 and Williams on 18.
Three drivers still racing today took their maiden Formula 1 win at the Hungaroring: Fernando Alonso in 2003 with Renault, Esteban Ocon in 2021 – effectively with the same Enstone-based team, by then known as Alpine – and young gun Oscar Piastri last year with McLaren.
RACE SCHEDULE
Perth WA Times
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
Hungaroring 1st Aug – 3rd Aug
PRACTICE 1
Friday 1st August 19:30
PRACTICE 2
Saturday 2nd August 23:00
PRACTICE 3
Saturday 2nd August 18:30
QUALIFYING
Saturday 2nd August 22:00
RACE
SUNDAY 3rd August 21:00
NEXT EVENT
NETHERLANDS GRAND PRIX
Circuit Zandvoort I 29-31 Aug
EDITED by AC
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