Oscar Piastri launched a furious attack on Carlos Sainz after the Williams driver hit him while being lapped during the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix, an incident the Australian believes cost him the race lead. Oscar Piastri’s afternoon eventually ended on lap 56 when a mechanical failure caused him to lose every gear on his McLaren.
For roughly the first half of the race, Oscar Piastri appeared—at least in flashes—to have rediscovered the form he showed last season. He produced an excellent start to take the lead of the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole-sitter Lando Norris and managed the opening stint well on the medium tyres. From that point onwards, however, his race began to unravel.
A sequence of events ultimately resulted in contact and an early retirement for Oscar Piastri, while teammate Lando Norris successfully returned McLaren to winning ways. It was a victory the Woking team had been waiting for since its triumphant 2025 campaign, with Lando Norris later describing the performance as one of his best drives.
Oscar Piastri’s Hungarian GP challenge fades on hard tyres
“From my point of view, I did the right things. I think the first stint on the medium tyres was decent. From that moment onwards, though, there was simply no pace on the hards. However, the fact that I led the race for half the distance despite all the difficulties is still at least partly positive,” Oscar Piastri said after returning to the paddock.
The events that upset Oscar Piastri most occurred several laps before his retirement. His second pit stop dropped him into traffic behind several cars that were fighting among themselves. Those included Carlos Sainz’s Williams and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, who were battling for positions well outside the top 10.
Carlos Sainz collision costs Oscar Piastri the race lead
Oscar Piastri rapidly closed the gap to the two Spanish drivers and attempted to take advantage of their battle. At Turn 3, the McLaren driver tried to move through as he sought to preserve the effective race lead over Lando Norris, who had yet to make his own pit stop.
Carlos Sainz evidently failed to see Oscar Piastri and closed the line by moving to the left. Contact became unavoidable, forcing Oscar Piastri to lift off the accelerator and regain control of his MCL40. The Australian lost valuable tenths, allowing Lando Norris to complete the overcut and take control of the race.
“I was more frustrated about being hit by a lapped car than I was about the strategy. I think the timing of the pit stop was correct. We wanted to cover Hamilton, and that was completely normal. If I hadn’t been hit by that car, I would still have rejoined ahead of Lando. From that point of view, I was comfortable with it.”
“At that moment, I was incredibly angry. In fact, ‘angry’ isn’t even the word I would use. There are quite a few others I could use for Carlos. Then, obviously, when Lando came out ahead of me, I knew I didn’t have the pace to attack him. At that moment, I understood that my chances of winning the race were over.”
“I was furious about losing the race lead, but it wasn’t the team’s fault. It was Carlos’s fault.”
Oscar Piastri calls Carlos Sainz’s mistake ‘unacceptable’
Oscar Piastri acknowledged that there had been problems with the electronic blue-flag system, but stressed that marshals around the Hungaroring were displaying physical blue flags and that he was already directly behind Carlos Sainz.
“I knew about the [system] problems with the blue flags, but they were being shown by every marshal around the circuit. I was right behind him. I couldn’t believe what happened. Being hit by a lapped car is one of the last things you expect to compromise your race, but that is what happened today.”
“Frankly, I don’t care whether he saw me or not. The fact that he didn’t see me, that nobody told him or that there was a complete lack of situational awareness is simply unacceptable.”
“There is a very clear system that is used at every race. He was fighting Fernando for last place as if the World Championship were at stake. It cost me the lead of the race.”
The Australian then pointed to Carlos Sainz’s previous criticism of other drivers and suggested the Williams driver should reconsider his own conduct on the circuit.
“Carlos is often very critical of other drivers. He has also been criticised in the past because he can sometimes be difficult to deal with on track. When you do something like that, perhaps you should take a look in the mirror.”
Gearbox failure ends McLaren’s Hungarian GP one-two hopes
Oscar Piastri’s race came to an end on lap 56 because of a failure on his MCL40. Moments earlier, the Australian had still been holding a secure second place and appeared capable of completing a comfortable one-two finish for McLaren.
Instead, his retirement brought McLaren’s hopes of a Hungarian Grand Prix double podium to an abrupt end. Lando Norris went on to claim victory, while Oscar Piastri was listed among the retirements in the final Hungarian GP classification.
Footage from Oscar Piastri’s onboard camera showed the Australian suddenly losing his gears. It remains unclear exactly which component failed, but the gearbox was unquestionably involved in the problem that stopped the number 81 McLaren.
The retirement also represented another setback for Oscar Piastri in the 2026 Formula 1 drivers’ standings after a challenging opening seven months of the season.
“The gearbox? I don’t know exactly what broke, but I lost all the gears,” Oscar Piastri concluded, clearly disappointed and ready for a break following seven difficult months.
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