No shoeys – just the sweet taste of success for Piastri

[Pelican Press 0]

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No shoeys – just the sweet taste of success for Piastri

Oscar Piastri is savouring every moment of achieving his lifetime ambition by triumphing in a Formula One grand prix — and he was perfectly delighted to give the famous Aussie ‘shoey’ celebration a miss too.

Piastri was determined that nothing was going to deflect from his breakthrough triumph on Sunday at the Hungarian Grand Prix as all the post-race fall-out swirled around McLaren badgering their No.1 driver Lando Norris to hand victory to his *********** teammate.

The furore over Norris being reluctant to follow team orders and give back the winning position to Piastri following mid-race tactical pit-stops was all forgotten by the 23-year-old Melburnian once the Englishman did what he felt was “the right thing” to slow down and gift him the win with two laps left.

Whether it was a present or not, he didn’t care.

“It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a ****. We’ve had a couple of opportunities through the last few races that we’ve come very close. Now to make it happen is an incredible feeling,” said Piastri, who had won an F1 sprint race last year,” said Piastri.

“This is much more of a proud moment for me than winning the sprint. Of course, it was a special moment at the time, but now to have no questions, no question marks over whether I’m a race winner or not is a very nice feeling to have.”

And he was even able to mark the victory without having to indulge in the familiar Aussie post-race celebration of supping champagne from a sweaty racing boot, a rite of passage so beloved of Australia’s last F1 winner, Daniel Ricciardo, Piastri’s predecessor at McLaren.

Ricciardo, who also won in Hungary in a decade ago, was last seen swigging from a boot after victory at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

“The shoey is Danny Ric’s thing,” Piastri smiled when asked about whether he would be following suit.

“I mean, I’m going to get roped into it because I’m an Aussie, but I don’t know. I’ll try and think of something new. No, I think that’s gone and done.

“I know we did one at Silverstone last week, but I think we were a bit upset after the race there, so we needed some cheering up. Maybe we’ll do one in the plane on the way back. We can probably pay the cleaning fee now.

“But no, I’ll leave that to Danny Ric and that can be his legacy. I’ll create my own.”

Piastri certainly believes the victory that came in his 35th race in just his second season won’t be his last.

Asked by former world champion Nico Rosberg in the post-race celebrations if it would be his first of many triumphs, he said: “I hope so. I think I’ve still got some things to work on. I’ll enjoy the win when I can.

“The team’s given me a great car and I really can’t thank them enough for that. I’m trying to do the best job I can and I’m learning every race I do. So hopefully there’s many more to come.”

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