Oscar Piastri’s Shocking Four-Word Tribute to Hulkenberg Divides F1

2026-01-16 09:48:21

Oscar Piastri

described Nico Hulkenberg’s podium finish as the "highlight of the day" after the British Grand Prix. But

F1

fans weren’t particularly impressed by the actions of Piastri and McLaren teammate Lando Norris on the podium.

The 37-year-old Hulkenberg finally broke through for his first podium finish in his 239th career race. The German veteran had never finished in the top-three of a race until Sunday, dating all the way back to when he made his F1 debut in 2010.

There were joyous scenes for Hulkenberg and Sauber when he crossed the finish line in third behind Norris and Piastri – a remarkable drive from 19th on the starting grid. But the actions of Piastri and Norris on the podium left much to be desired.

The F1 world was expecting the McLaren drivers to make the celebrations about Hulkenberg, and shower him with champagne to mark his first podium in 15 years. But Piastri and Norris left Hulkenberg by himself for the majority of the celebrations, opting to spray champagne at each other and their engineer instead.

Social media was awash with complaints that Piastri and Norris hadn’t given Hulkenberg the recognition he deserved. Many said the podium festivities "felt off", while some labelled the McLaren drivers’ actions as "disrespectful".

One person wrote: "No respect… I’m very sorry for Nico that his first podium was like this! Lando, Piastri should have showered him like Lando got with his first ever win…it felt off in so many ways…"

Another commented: "A bit off from the McLaren trio on the podium not involving Nico in the champagne spraying, some very odd vibes coming from Piastri’s being upset by the penalty. Doesn’t mean you can’t be more encompassing in your celebrations as a team. Respect is earned and Nico has earned that." Others defended the McLaren drivers and said the criticism was making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Oscar Piastri pays tribute to Nico Hulkenberg

Piastri appeared to be more focused on a

controversial penalty he received

, which many believe robbed him of the victory. But the Aussie did pay a compliment to Hulkenberg while airing his complaints.

"I’ll get myself in trouble, so… well done, to Hulkenberg. I think that’s the highlight of the day, so… yeah, I’ll leave it there," he said in a post-race interview.

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Others also felt Piastri could have done better in the cool-down area after the race. There’s no doubt he would have congratulated Hulkenberg for his career-high finish, but he chose to make a curious comment on what his trophy was made of when speaking into the microphone.

Hulkenberg’s trophy was made of lego, as were Norris and Piastri’s. “I also have a question for Nico," Piastri said. “How does it feel after 15 years of F1 to get a podium that’s made out of Lego that you can just pull apart and probably buy next week?"

Hulkenberg saw the funny side and declared his daughter will love playing with it. “I love Lego," he beamed. "It’s good, my daughter can play with it too. You’ve always got to see the bright side. But a bit of silver or gold would have been nice too. I won’t complain.”

This article originally appeared on Yahoo Sport Australia at
https://au.news.yahoo.com/oscar-piastris-four-word-tribute-to-nico-hulkenberg-after-podium-moment-divides-f1-world-020719254.html