Norris Claims McLaren’s First Victory of 2026 at the Hungarian Grand Prix

On July 26, 2026 Lando Norris started from pole at the Hungaroring, was overtaken by teammate Oscar Piastri on the opening lap, and reclaimed the lead after Piastri’s collision with back-marker Carlos Sainz. Norris stayed out longer on his first set of tyres, pitted, and emerged ahead of Piastri. A gearbox failure forced Piastri to retire with 14 laps remaining, triggering a Virtual Safety Car that allowed Norris to make a final stop and preserve his advantage. He crossed the line 15.080 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli third. Lewis Hamilton finished fifth after a five-second pit-lane speeding penalty demoted him from fourth. George Russell recovered from an anti-stall start to finish seventh.

McLaren’s Norris Wins Hungarian Grand Prix in Dramatic Race Lando Norris hails "the best pace I’ve ever had" after dominant victory for McLaren in Hungary Road & TrackThe IndependentNorris, McLaren End Dryspell In Hungary ‘You idiot! ’ Piastri rages as rival blunder robs him before DNF as Lando whinges and wins

Qualifying on July 25, 2026 saw Norris snatch pole by 0.012 seconds from Hamilton. Hamilton’s lap was deleted after the stewards deemed him to have impeded Piastri, resulting in a three-place grid penalty that dropped him to fifth. Antonelli also received a three-place penalty for not slowing sufficiently under yellow flags. The McLaren upgrades introduced for Hungary—new floor, brake-duct winglets and revised rear wing—were credited by team principal Andrea Stella for the pole-position performance.

Hungarian GP Qualifying: Lando Norris snatches pole before Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli receive grid penalties

Antonelli’s championship lead expanded to 50 points over Hamilton and 59 points over Russell.

Road & Track

Hamilton, after serving the penalty, complained that “handing out penalties like crazy” was affecting his ability to fight for the championship.

The Independent

Sources agree that Sainz’s contact with Piastri caused the Australian’s loss of time, but details of why Sainz ignored blue-flag warnings remain unclear.

Hungarian Grand Prix: Lando Norris back on top, Kimi Antonelli extends Formula 1 Title lead as Ferrari flop

• “My pace today was probably some of the best pace I’ve ever had,” — Lando Norris

Reuters

• “Get out of the way you idiot! Oh my god,” — Oscar Piastri

‘You idiot! ’ Piastri rages as rival blunder robs him before DNF as Lando whinges and wins

The Hungarian round concludes the pre-summer segment of the season. The championship resumes at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 23, 2026. Teams will aim to build on the performance gains shown in Hungary while addressing the reliability issues that affected Piastri and the penalty-related setbacks that hampered Hamilton.

RTE (Radio Television of Ireland)