Australian racing fans were treated to a stunning weekend of action at the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, with plenty of Aussies walking away with positive results.  

After a fourth-place finish at Silverstone, Oscar Piastri’s hunt for a maiden podium finish will have to wait after falling to fifth in what was an impressive yet difficult race for the young Australian driver.  

Starting from fourth, Piastri took full advantage of championship leader Max Verstappen pushing both Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris wide at turn one, opening the door for the Victorian to swoop down the inside and take second place.  

With his first major opportunity to run ahead of his teammate, Piastri put in a string of consistent lap times and solid tyre management to maintain a gap of around two seconds to the #4 McLaren behind – before the team elected to pit Norris a lap early. The decision ultimately ended in Norris undercutting Piastri and taking the position as a result.

Piastri was unable to find the pace on the hard tyre as he was forced to manage minor floor damage incurred from earlier in the race.  

Opting to pit early, Piastri was unable to hold off a rapid Hamilton and Sergio Perez and had to settle for an equally impressive fifth place.  

The result sees Piastri 11th in the drivers' championship standings, only four points behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.



Daniel Ricciardo finished 13th in his return to the Formula 1 grid after an opening lap incident all but denied the Australian of a push for points in his first race back since the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.  

After qualifying ahead of AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda on Saturday, the West Australian fell victim of a poor start to Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu, with the Chinese driver tapping Ricciardo’s rear and sending he, among others, off the track at turn one.  

Ricciardo utilised his experience to make a set of medium tyres last a remarkable 40 laps – which resulted in valuable track position in the late stages of the race, with his closest competitors opting to subsequently pit.  

The result saw Ricciardo finish ahead of his teammate in both qualifying and the race, a positive sign to come for the eight-time Grand Prix winner.  

In Formula 2, Jack Doohan returned to the top step of the podium for the first time since Belgium last year, after converting a stunning pole position into a dominant race win during Sunday’s feature race.  

After a perfect start, Doohan was able to maintain a healthy gap at the front with Viktor Martins and Frederick Vesti vying for second place on the opening lap.  

An extended first stint meant he was one of the last drivers to pit, coming out over six seconds ahead of Vesti on lap 25 – knowing all he had to do was maintain composure for the 11 remaining laps on fresher tyres.  

Doohan would go on to cross the line just under 10 seconds clear of second place, topping off his best weekend of a luckless 2023 thus far and moving up to fifth in the drivers' standings.  



In Formula 3, Christian Mansell endured a best result of sixth for the weekend in the sprint race, while narrowly missing out on a top 10 finish the second time around.  

After starting on the second row in the sprint race, Mansell was on track for a podium finish before a late safety car halted his charge, having to settle for sixth as a result.  

In the second race, tyre degradation proved vital in the early stages which saw the young Australian drop positions, in which he was unable to recover from.  

The other two Australians in the category, Hugh Barter and Tommy Smith were unable to threaten the top 10 throughout, with Barter enduring a 25th and 13th place finish respectively. Smith found himself in 24th in the opening race before falling to 29th to close out the weekend.  

Harri Jones enjoyed a season-best result in the Porsche Supercup, finishing sixth overall and second in the rookie class.

The weekend began with a personal best fifth place in qualifying on Saturday, presenting the opportunity for a solid race result for Sunday.  

In brilliant fashion, Jones grabbed that opportunity with both hands to cross the line in sixth place and pick up some valuable championship points.

The result also saw Jones on the second step of the rookie podium, finishing just five tenths of a second behind the rookie leader in Benjamin Paque.  

The FIA Formula 1 World Championship, alongside FIA Formula 2, FIA Formula 3 and Porsche Supercup will all return next weekend at the famous Spa Francorchamps Grand Prix Circuit in Belgium on 28-30 July.