Brundle: Piastri Has Not Had a “Lucky Break” for Almost a Year

Piastri’s run of setbacks continues

Martin Brundle believes Oscar Piastri’s difficult Formula 1 run continued at the Hungarian Grand Prix, arguing that the McLaren driver has been denied any meaningful “lucky break” for almost a year.

Piastri ultimately lost the title to Norris and finished third behind a resurgent Max Verstappen, who had been more than 100 points behind him only a handful of races earlier.

The decisive moment in Hungary

Piastri’s Hungarian race was compromised before a transmission failure finally ended it. Brundle, writing in his Sky Sports F1 column, identified the second round of pit stops as the point at which victory slipped away.

“Piastri pitted on Lap 33 again to cover [Lewis] Hamilton on fresh tyres, and then Norris had his chance to prove he was indeed faster by running hard and pitting on Lap 39, giving him a decent tyre life offset to his teammate Piastri,” Brundle wrote.

On the same lap, Piastri was attempting to lap Carlos Sainz’s Williams while Sainz was battling Fernando Alonso. After Sainz ran wide at Turn 2, Piastri appeared to have been given the way through. Sainz then moved heavily back towards the racing line and collided with the race leader.

The incident cost Piastri crucial time, although he avoided spinning. More detail on the incident is available in this report on the Hungarian GP blue-flag failure.

Norris emerged from his pit stop in the lead and would not relinquish it. He continued to build his advantage, even making a third stop under a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 56 for fresher soft tyres before recovering Piastri’s McLaren after its transmission failure.

“The young Australian hasn’t been able to catch any kind of lucky break for the best part of a year now,” Brundle concluded.

Piastri will now look to the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort for a change in momentum when Formula 1 returns from its summer break.