2026 Hungarian GP Race Review 🇭🇺 | Round 11

Lando Norris took McLaren's first victory of the season, and his first since becoming world champion, after an impressive drive at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix. Norris' triumph meant that F1 has now seen five winners in the previous five rounds as the constructors tighten at the top. Indeed, the top four positions all had drivers from different teams in a sign that this year's title race is far from certain. Despite starting from pole position, Norris did not drive a straightforward race to claim his winner's trophy. It was teammate Oscar Piastri who instead led the first lap. The Australian jumped from his P3 start to pass the Soft tyre starting Charles Leclerc and claim P2 off the line. Leclerc had the red-walled Pirelli rubber's grip, but the dusty side of the lesser-used circuit did not help his getaway and the Monegasque dropped to P5 by Turn 2. Piastri wasn't done, though, and a dive to the inside of the Turn 2 left-hander as Norris went wide was enough to grab the lead. Action behind the McLarens set up the first half of the race, too, with Lewis Hamilton following Max Verstappen in passing Leclerc. The two long-time adversaries were wheel-to-wheel battling for the third podium spot into Turn 3, even banging tyres. Verstappen clung on as Hamilton slotted in behind, but with the Dutchman running Pirelli's Mediums and both Ferraris on Softs, the pace advantage would be with Hamilton.

With the race settling into a rhythm of cars following one another but not able to challenge without an offset of tyre strategy, Ferrari rolled the dice once more. Hamilton stopped again on Lap 40 for another set of Hards to trigger another round of pit stops. McLaren soon followed suit with leader Piastri, but it was Norris asking for an undercut. The reigning champion believed he was much faster, yet with the lead driver being the one to benefit from strategy calls, McLaren brought Piastri in first. That decision proved wise, too, with Hamilton filtering in only a few seconds behind the Australian. Yet Piastri's fortune did not last. Although he fared better on the fresh tyres, his lap times weren't closing the gap to Norris, who was yet to stop. With around 20 seconds lost to a pit stop, Norris was around 20 seconds ahead after going faster on his old Pirellis now that he was in clear air. That was the opposite for Piastri, who encountered Carlos Sainz battling with Fernando Alonso at the back of the field. With the Hungaroring's GPS system not working correctly, Sainz was not told by his engineer that Piastri was chasing him down. The Spaniard didn't move out of the way for the blue flags and instead hit the net race leader at Turn 3. Piastri did well not to spin out, but Sainz still did not yield despite the contact, only moving aside three corners later. Piastri's slowdown was all Norris needed. McLaren pitted the champion two laps later, and Norris reemerged with a one-second race lead.

With all of this going on, there was another element in this race for the podium that became clear only after the second stops. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli ran in P6 from the start, but Mercedes had him stay out longer on his first set of Pirellis. He was going on a long stint on his Hard tyres, too, and had become a hurdle for the leaders to pass. The team eventually stopped him with 16 laps remaining, dropping him from P2 to P6. Yet a podium was still in his future... Piastri's gearbox failed two laps after Antonelli's stop, adding the final bit of misery to the Australians' frustrating Sunday. His retirement triggered a Virtual Safety Car, and Norris, Hamilton, and Leclerc took the opportunity to equip Pirelli's Soft tyres for the final laps. Crucially, though, Antonelli already had fresh rubber on his Mercedes and leapfrogged the two Ferraris to take P3, albeit only by centimetres at the pit exit. Red Bull kept Verstappen out, too, who now had inherited P2 after the others stopped and Piastri retired, with Norris having enough of a lead to return to track in P1. The race finished with those positions, but there was still more late-race drama with Hamilton. The stewards handed down a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane on his final stop. That, ultimately, demoted the man who was once in P3 and closing in on Piastri down to P5 as Leclerc finished 4.4s behind—a day to forget for Ferrari, who went from the front row to no silverware. For Norris, though, this was a welcome reminder that the development race of F1 is just as important as the driver in the car. McLaren have delivered the 2025 champion a car capable of fighting at the front. It might be too late for Norris to defend his crown, but it's now a third constructor winning in 2026. With Verstappen and Red Bull continuing to be in the fight, too, the season might have Antonelli boasting a healthy lead for the summer break, but Mercedes' advantage has vanished. This season still has plenty of mileage left. F1 will return on August 23rd for the Dutch Grand Prix.