Lando Norris and McLaren secured their first victory of the 2026 season at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Norris, who started from pole position, converted his strong qualifying performance into a win at the Hungaroring.
The race saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen navigate a challenging event to claim a podium finish, while Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes extended his championship lead. Ferrari, after a promising start to the weekend, saw their form decline during the race.
McLaren’s Return to Winning Ways
McLaren demonstrated a significant performance improvement with their upgraded MCL40 car. Lando Norris showcased strong pace throughout the weekend, culminating in a pole position after a fast lap in Q3.
During the race, Norris initially lost the lead to his teammate Oscar Piastri on the opening lap but managed to regain the top spot. It could have been even better for the Woking-based team had Piastri not clashed with Williams’ Carlos Sainz and then ground to a halt with an apparent gearbox issue.
Norris described his pace as some of the best he has ever had, stating the car was “beautiful to drive” and that he felt “very confident.” He also acknowledged the team’s efforts, saying, “I owe the team a lot. They’ve done an amazing job to even get back to winning races at this point, so I’m proud.”
Mixed Fortunes for Competitors
Max Verstappen of Red Bull secured second place despite reporting issues with his car during qualifying, where he described it as “completely broken.” He started from a fortuitous second-row position after penalties affected other drivers.
Verstappen made the most of his starting position, taking third place from Charles Leclerc on the opening lap. He managed to maintain his position, capitalizing on Piastri’s retirement to finish second.
For Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli had a positive outcome, extending his lead in the Drivers’ standings by finishing third. He recovered from a yellow flag infringement penalty that dropped him to P7 on the grid and made gains through a different strategy during the race.
His teammate, George Russell, faced a more difficult day, falling to the back of the field due to an anti-stall issue at the start. Russell managed to recover positions to finish P7.
Ferrari, after topping the timesheets in Friday practice, saw their performance diminish. Lewis Hamilton, who had looked strong in qualifying, received a three-place grid penalty and later a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, resulting in a fifth-place finish. Charles Leclerc finished fourth.
Midfield Battles and Support Races
In the midfield, Racing Bulls demonstrated improved performance. Both Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, equipped with recent upgrades, secured a double points finish. Lawson finished P8 after an exciting contest with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, while Lindblad achieved his sixth consecutive top-10 finish.
In the support races, Noel Leon won the F2 Feature Race for Campos Racing, aided by a Virtual Safety Car deployment. He beat polesitter Kush Maini and Rafael Camara. In F3, Freddie Slater of TRIDENT won the Feature Race, beating Ugo Ugochukwu by a small margin.
Both F2 and F3 are scheduled to continue racing in Monza, while F1 Academy will be in action in Zandvoort.
Source: formula1.com