Oscar Piastri's dry humour wins more F1 fans as the Australian ...

21 Jul 2024
F1
In short:

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri qualified one and two in Hungary to secure an all-McLaren front row.

It is the first since 2012 that McLaren has occupied the front two spots to start an F1 grand prix.

What's next?

The Hungarian Grand Prix starts at 11pm tonight (AEST) at the Hungaroring

Australia's Oscar Piastri has continued to win over fans with his dry humour and solid performances after helping McLaren secure a remarkable front-row lock-out for tonight's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Piastri lines up alongside English-born team-mate Lando Norris, who is on pole, after the British team dominated the overnight qualifying session.

"Of course when I miss out by two 100ths you think of all the little things you can do a bit better but it's an amazing result for the team," Piastri said, before adding that the main goal was to keep both cars at the front come the race's finish.

"Of course I want to get into the lead, but we have both cars on the front row and we are trying to win this championship as a team, and we will be smart.

"We want to keep it one-two and we will fight it amongst ourselves to see who gets one."

Piastri is fifth in the drivers' standings, on 124 points, while second-placed Norris has 171. Max Verstappen is well clear on 255. Piastri has yet to win a grand prix, but has finished second in Canada and Austria this year.

He saluted the achievement of becoming part of the first McLaren pairing to take out the front row since 2012, in Brazil. 

"It's the first one-two in qualifying for McLaren for a very long time, so I'm very happy," he said.

Referencing an awkward second practice session on Friday, when he finished down the standings in 13th, Piastri added: "A tricky day on my side yesterday so nice to bounce back."

Earlier in qualifying, Piastri's dry humour had F1 lovers saluting him as a growing fan favourite after a quick retort to his team on radio when they questioned whether it was Daniel Ricciardo or Yuki Tsunoda behind him in the pits waiting to get on the track.

Tsunoda had earlier been ordered to rest on medical grounds after a brutal crash into the wall.

"Ricciardo I believe is the car behind you. I can't tell if it's Ricciardo or Tsunoda but they're ninth and tenth," the team told Piastri over the radio.

Piastri's response was as quick as his qualifying times.

"I think Tsunoda's missing a couple of wheels," he said.

"So I don't think he'll be doing very many laps."

"Ah yes," the pits replied. "That's fair."

The Hungarian Grand Prix starts at 11pm tonight (AEST).

AAP/ABC

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