The 2026 Formula 1 season has reached its summer break after a thoroughly absorbing Hungarian Grand Prix. As was the case with Spa, here are Living Sports’ winners and losers from round 11.
Not to state the obvious, but Lando Norris’ first win of 2026 was among the most impressive of his career to date. That’s not to say it was perfect. The reigning world champion conceded the lead at turn two on lap one and later ran wide at turn four. But crucially, Norris had the raw pace to make up for both those errors. He was demonstrably quicker than his teammate Oscar Piastri and, after performing a successful overcut, ran virtually untroubled en route to a commanding win. It remains to be seen whether McLaren’s progress will carry over into the second half of the season. What is certain is that Hungary provided a much-needed confidence boost for both team and driver.
In contrast to his teammate’s jubilation, Oscar Piastri’s Hungarian Grand Prix was one to forget. There was initial promise as Piastri decisively snatched the lead on lap one, but as the race unfolded, the gap in pace between him and Norris became painfully clear. In fact, Piastri was even under threat from the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton. A collision with Carlos Sainz compounded Piastri’s issues, and the McLaren driver was eventually forced to retire with gearbox issues on lap 55. A disappointing end to a frustrating first half of the season. The only consolation is McLaren’s progress; should it continue, Piastri should have a chance to make up for lost ground in future races.
Given Red Bull’s patchy form, his disdain for the new regulations and the constant speculation surrounding his future, it's easy to forget that, were it not for a late error at Silverstone, Max Verstappen could have finished on the podium in each of the last four grand prix. It's not where he or Red Bull want to be, but Verstappen’s performance in Hungary was encouraging to say the least. After benefitting from a flurry of grid penalties, Verstappen found himself on the second row of the grid and promptly snatched third off the start. Not only did Verstappen do well to resist the advances of Lewis Hamilton for the duration of his first stint, his lap 16 lunge at turn one was nothing short of inspired. He may have benefitted from a late VSC and the resulting duel between Hamilton and Antonelli, but Verstappen had the pace to secure a podium on merit, something few would have expected at the start of this season.
Hamilton was the fastest Ferrari driver this weekend, but given the blistering pace the Scuderia set in both practice and qualifying, there’s little denying the claim that points were left on the table. Hamilton was stripped of his front row start after impeding Piastri in qualifying, while his race was scuppered by a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Even so, the damage was largely done on the opening lap. Starting on the softs, neither Ferrari had the fast start the team was hoping for. Charles Leclerc couldn’t close in on those ahead and had a fairly anonymous run to fourth, while the decision to pit Hamilton for softs under that late VSC did not pay dividends. The seven-time world champion found himself stuck behind Kimi Antonelli and lost any chance he might have had of catching Verstappen again. Ferrari has generally been Mercedes’ nearest challenger. However, with McLaren making gains and Verstappen in the picture, the Scuderia will have to minimise strategic errors if it's to keep the competition at bay.
Victory at the season opener in Australia must feel like a long time ago for George Russell. After retiring due to a turn one collision with Hamilton at Spa and only qualifying seventh in Hungary, Russell’s engine went into anti-stall at the start, which dropped him to 21st place. Recovering to seventh will have done little to lift his spirits as Russell now finds himself 59 points off the championship lead. There may be 12 races to run, but Russell is no longer in control of his own championship bid. The summer break will give Russell the chance to reset and hopefully regain his form going into the second half of the season.
Unavoidable, really. With Aston Martin having brought a plethora of upgrades to Hungary, Cadillac were once again F1’s slowest team. Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez locked out the back row of the grid in qualifying and later failed to finish the race. Bottas was forced to retire due to a fiery brake failure on lap 13, while Perez’s suspension gave way on lap 48. Two issues that plagued Cadillac all season long. Having recorded nine DNF’s from the 11 races so far this season, Cadillac will be keen to rectify its reliability issues during the break.
