Oscar Piastri did not hold back in his criticism of Carlos Sainz following their collision during the Hungarian GP while Piastri was leading. Even after the Spaniard explained post-race that he suffered a dashboard failure affecting his blue flag indicators, the McLaren driver labeled the incident as “unacceptable” and added that Sainz “should look in the mirror,” given that he “often criticizes others.”

The incident occurred on lap 39, right after Piastri’s second pit stop. He rejoined behind Sainz—who was battling Fernando Alonso for position—and dived down the inside into Turn 2 to complete the overtake. However, Carlos closed the door and hit the #81 car, nearly causing Piastri to lose control.

Piastri ultimately retired with 14 laps to go due to a gearbox failure, but McLaren’s reliability issues did little to temper the Australian’s fury toward Sainz.

“Yeah, I knew there were issues surrounding the blue flags, but they were being shown at every marshal post,” Oscar told reporters present in Budapest.

“I was right behind him. I couldn’t believe what happened. Being hit by a lapped car is never something you expect to compromise your race. I don’t care if he didn’t see me. The fact that he didn’t see me and nobody told him, or that there was a complete lack of situational awareness, is unacceptable,” he fired back.

“He was battling Fernando for the last position like it was for the world championship. It cost me the lead of the race,” Piastri continued. “He often criticizes others quite a bit. Others have criticized him for being an annoying driver on track. When something like this happens, maybe it’s time to look in the mirror a bit,” he concluded.

Formula 1 now enters the summer break. The 2026 season resumes from August 21–23 with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.