McLaren’s Oscar Piastri enjoyed a milestone maiden Grand Prix victory in Hungary, but the Aussie’s post-race celebration was anything but typical for a first-time F1 winner.
Forget the champagne showers or a lavish party in a Budapest nightclub – Piastri opted for a post-race low-key bash featuring fast food and close company.
Travelling together back to the UK, Piastri, teammate Lando Norris Norris, and Williams driver Alex Albon found themselves facing significant delays in their flight plans.
This meant the much-anticipated after-party was replaced by an impromptu McDonald's run, as the Aussie explained.
“Wasn't the most glamorous of after parties,” he acknowledged, quoted by Speedcafe. “We had a flight back from Budapest that was significantly delayed and then flew into a different airport.
“We were flying back with a few of the drivers, Lando was there, Alex Albon, a couple of other.
“In our wait for the delay, we got a cheeky Maccas, had a Big Mac, got home at 5am and that was the celebrations.
“Just a couple of F1 drivers, getting some burgers and nuggets, really,” he added.
“We didn't take any trophies or anything, not that you can put anything in those trophies anyway.
“We had three or four hours of delays, and there wasn't any food around, so McDonald's was the nearest and most convenient thing, so that's what we chose.”
©McLaren
Piastri's landmark win at the Hungaroring came amidst a surprising absence from some key supporters.
Mark Webber, the nine-time grand prix winner and manager for Piastri, was across the pond in London, cheering on Mitch Evans in the final round of the Formula E World Championship.
Even Piastri's girlfriend, Lily, couldn't be there to celebrate in person, while the McLaren driver’s parents were back in Melbourne glued to the screens until the wee hours of the morning, undoubtedly bursting with pride.
“Of course it's nice to have people that are close to you there,” commented the 23-year-old. “But it's impossible to predict where you're going to get good results, so it's just luck of the draw of who's there in some ways.
“Mark's not missed many races in my F1 career, maybe three or four. He was very busy with Mitch in London, so don't blame him at all for going to that.
“But I got to go see Lily that night, a little bit later than I'd planned, but it was nice to go back and see her.
“I had all the people at the track, I had the whole team, fans at the track saying well done.
“A lot of people that were in touch. It was nice, I still had people to spent it with – I had my physio Kim to spend it with and the whole team as well.
“That was very special and then I got to spend it with Lily as well, seen Mark today.
“It was very cool. Of course, if they could have been there at the race I'm sure it would have been even cooler but it was still nice to see them as quickly as I could.”
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