For the first time in 2026, Lando Norris is victorious. The reigning world champion had the measure of everyone en route to what turned out to be a comfortable win at the Hungarian Grand Prix. That said, Norris’ 12th career win was far from straightforward. Starting on pole, Norris found himself under attack from a fast-starting Oscar Piastri. Norris ran wide at turn two and trailed his teammate for much of the opening stint. Norris attempted an overcut on his teammate, extended his stint by an additional lap and pitted at the end of lap 17. Although unsuccessful, Norris found a significant burst of pace on his hard tyres and was able to close up to Piastri despite an off-track excursion at turn four on lap 29.
The reigning world champion was clearly the quicker of the two McLaren drivers and repeatedly asked to be given priority regarding his choice of pitstop. However, McLaren’s policy is to give priority to the leading driver, which meant Piastri had free rein despite his lack of pace. The Australian pitted on lap 33 with Norris coming in three laps later. Piastri encountered heavy traffic, which, combined with Norris’ superior pace, allowed the Brit to take the net race lead as he exited the pits.
From that point on, Norris was largely untroubled, controlled the pace well and weathered a late virtual safety car to take his first win of the season, 15 seconds clear of the field. Having failed to consistently match Mercedes and Ferrari for much of the season so far, McLaren and Norris will have much to smile about going into the summer break.
Piastri, by contrast, will be massively frustrated. After losing the lead to his teammate, the McLaren driver made contact with Carlos Sainz as he attempted to lap the Williams driver on lap 38. Sainz was later given a five-second penalty, but that would have been of little consequence for Piastri, who coasted to a halt with gearbox issues on lap 56. His fifth pointless result of the season, one that has dropped him to seventh in the drivers’ standings.
Max Verstappen made the most of his opportunities to take second. Starting fourth, Verstappen made a clean getaway and decisively snatched third after the first corner. He then defended brilliantly from Lewis Hamilton for the rest of his opening stint, and while Hamilton was able to overcut him on lap 14, Verstappen capitalised on the presence of backmarker Liam Lawson to slip past Hamilton at turn one two laps later.
After a lengthy middle stint, Verstappen was fitted with soft tyres at the end of lap 41. He emerged in fifth with the intention of closing down Hamilton ahead. Verstappen looked set to do just that before Piastri’s retirement engendered the safety car; Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli pitted, which elevated Verstappen to second. He hung on to equal his best result of the season to date, despite incessant issues with his upshifts.
After starting only seventh, Antonelli will be satisfied with third. After the opening exchanges, Antonelli was left to shadow the leaders in sixth. He pitted on lap 23and was able to run in free air with a tyre offset. A second lengthy stint did not pay dividends, and Antonelli looked set for a sixth-place finish; that was until the late VSC. Antonelli had pitted for hard tyres two laps earlier and stayed out to take third.
Despite stern pressure from Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages, Antonelli held his nerve to take third place and extend his championship lead to 50 points.
Lewis Hamilton had a disappointing race. Starting on the softs, Hamilton did not have the fast start he and Ferrari expected. He spent his first stint battling with Verstappen and was the first of the frontrunners to pit on lap 13. He later threatened Piastri later on in the race and dove into the pits for a fresh set of softs under the VSC. However, the seven-time world champion was given a five-second penalty for speeding in the penalty. He took the flag in fourth but was dropped to fifth behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, who struggled to match his teammate all weekend.
Isack Hadjar finished sixth ahead of George Russell, who suffered arguably the worst start of the season. Starting seventh, Russell’s car went into anti-stall off the line, which dropped him to 21st place. He eventually recovered to seventh in the race, but with 59 points now separating him and his teammate, Russell will likely have to adopt a race-by-race mentality going forward.
Liam Lawson took eighth after a memorable duel with Nico Hulkenberg (who secured his first points of the season) and Arvid Lindblad, while Gabriel Bortoleto finished 11th ahead of Pierre Gasly. Lance Stroll finished 13th ahead of his teammate Fernando Alonso to cap off an encouraging weekend for Aston Martin.
Franco Colapinto finished 15th ahead of Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz and Ollie Bearman. Piastri was joined on the retirement list by both Cadillacs. Valtteri Bottas retired with brake failure on lap 13, while Sergio Perez broke his suspension on lap 48.
Antonelli heads into the summer break with a commanding 50-point championship lead. However, with 12 races left to run, McLaren looking to improve and Ferrari clearly quick; there is still plenty to play for in 2026.
