Lando Norris took his maiden win of the 2026 season after some late-race troubles for team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Hungaroring. Here’s how the drivers fared at the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Heading into the summer break, Norris took his first win as the defending F1 champion, and his second consecutive win at the Hungaroring after Piastri’s lead crumbled in the dying embers of a thrilling Hungarian GP.
Lando Norris: 9.5
Grid Position: P1, Race Result: P1
Norris had an upgraded MCL40 at his disposal throughout the weekend at the Hungaroring. And while he tried to find his feet during Friday practice, he finally unlocked his full potential with the car on Saturday.
Taking his maiden pole position of the season, he became the first non-Mercedes driver to do so.
The 70-lap race was a trickier affair after he lost the lead to his team-mate on the opening lap. That said, he kept his head down and when Piastri’s afternoon started unravelling, the 2025 F1 World Champion was in the right place at the right time to swoop into the lead which he kept until the chequered flag.
The Hungarian GP was a race of many firsts for the Briton. He won his first race of 2026 – the only non-Mercedes or Ferrari driver to do so – whilst also becoming the first driver to have won from pole at the Hungaroring in five years. And yes, it was Norris’ first-ever back-to-back win at an F1 circuit.
Oscar Piastri: N/A
Grid Position: P3, Race Result: DNF
It was a painful afternoon for the Australian as he battled not only backmarkers but bad luck as he saw a steady lead slip away in the latter phases of the 70-lap race.
After being impeded by Hamilton, during qualifying, the McLaren driver was only able to post the fifth-fastest lap of the top 10 shootout. Accounting for the Ferrari driver’s penalty for the incident and a separate grid drop for Antonelli for a yellow flag infringement, Piastri was upgrade to the second-row of the grid.
That said, while he did jump Norris for the lead at the start, contact with the lapped FW48 of Sainz saw him relinquish the lead back to his team-mate, after the round of pit stops, despite leading the majority of the event.
To compound his miseries, the Mercedes gearbox in the back of his MCL40 gave up on Lap 55 as he bowed out of the Hungarian GP to finally end a torrid race at the Hungaroring.
Max Verstappen: 9
Grid Position: P4, Race Result: P2
After a difficult start to F1’s latest era, Red Bull’s iterative RB22 (first majorly upgraded at Austria) saw Verstappen take back-to-back podiums right before the summer break.
The four-time F1 Champion was consistently fighting at the sharp end of the field with the likes of Hamilton, finally muscling his way past the Ferrari driver with an audacious dive down the inside at Turn 1, mid-way through the race.
The Milton-Keynes-based team then pulled a blinder of a strategy call to pit Verstappen for Softs, and the following VSC owing to Piastri’s retirement allowed the 28-year-old to stay out while Hamilton pitted, eventually taking P2 at the chequered flag.
Yet another solid weekend for the Red Bull driver, who while fighting for podiums is still irked by the characteristics of his car and the technical rule-set in general, but is still able to extract the maximum from a package in his trademark Verstappen style.
Isack Hadjar: 8
Grid Position: P8, Race Result: P6
Long gone are the days when the second Red Bull driver was a tool to be deployed by the strategists on the pit wall to aid Verstappen’s advances.
The 70-lap race, on Sunday, saw the French-Algerian driver take his seventh-consecutive top-six finish at the chequered flag for the Milton-Keynes based team.
Compromised by a lukewarm qualifying grid slot, Hadjar had all the pace available from his package at his disposal throughout the race.
Much like Spa, when he gave Verstappen a handy tow to claim a front-row grid slot, the 21-year-old was key to Verstappen’s triumph over Hamilton at the Hungarian GP.
Not only did he allow Verstappen to get to back of the squabbling pack of the McLarens and Hamilton, but also then held up the Ferrari driver enough to allow the Dutchman to eke out a solid gap, mid-way through the race.
In the process, while he did sacrifice some race time, he was able to post yet another solid result and collect a handsome haul of points, heading into the summer break – perhaps enough to secure him a Red Bull seat for 2027 and beyond.
Kimi Antonelli: 9
Grid Position: P7, Race Result: P3
Championship leader Antonelli had to ensure his title credentials held up heading into the summer break. And despite his third-placed finish was far from the lofty standards the 19-year-old has set so far, it did the job and was a hard fought result.
The Mercedes driver had been struggling for single-lap pace, but was still able to post the fourth-fastest lap of Q3, on Saturday. But a yellow flag infringement saw him being handed a three-place grid drop for the 70-lap race, on Sunday.
A late-race strategy call gave the Italian a handy tyre offset over his rivals and the subsequent VSC allowed him to jump Hamilton into P3. From there on, he battled hard with the Ferrari driver, who was on fresher rubber, carving his way through the backmarkers when the Briton eventually was handed a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
As Hamilton’s advances fizzled out, Antonelli took the chequered flag, rounding off the Hungarian GP podium and extending his lead in the drivers’ standings to 50 points over the seven-time World Champion.
George Russell: 7.5
Grid Position: P6, Race Result: P7
The Hungarian GP weekend was characteristic of the bad luck the Briton has endured so far in his bid to bag his maiden F1 title.
An interrupted qualifying saw him being able to set only the sixth-fastest lap of Q3. Given the narrow and twisty profile of the Hungaroring it was always going to be a herculean task for the Mercedes driver to make up the places.
That said, his afternoon got trickier at lights out as his W17 went into anti-stall, sending him to the back of grid on Lap 1. But Russell did put up a spirited fight for the ensuing 69 laps, climbing his way back into the points.
His net P8 was converted into a seventh-placed finish at the chequered flag after Piastri’s DNF but a stellar recovery drive wasn’t enough for the Briton to not lose further ground to his team-mate in the drivers’ standings heading into the summer break.
Charles Leclerc: 6.5
Grid Position: P2, Race Result: P4
After the highs of Silverstone and Spa, Leclerc was brought back to reality with a difficult outing for the Monegasque at the Hungaroring. Despite promising long-run pace and a front-row grid slot for the race, on Sunday, his afternoon unravelled pretty quickly at the start.
The Ferrari driver got off the line sluggishly, jumped by both team-mate Hamilton, and the Red Bull of Verstappen on Lap 1. From there on, he was finding it difficult to make his way past his rivals.
A mid-race overheating issue on his SF-26 made matters trickier, with Leclerc only able to jump Hamilton at the chequered flag after adding the five-second time penalty to the Briton’s race time.
Lewis Hamilton: 6
Grid Position: P5, Race Result: P5
After his maiden Ferrari win at Barcelona, it has been a tough handful of race weekends for Hamilton heading into the summer break.
On Saturday, Hamilton missed out on a 10th pole position at the Hungaroring by just 0.012s to Norris. After the session, Hamilton rued Ferrari’s call to send him out early in Q3, with the Briton surmising he had been compromised with track evolution favoring the McLaren driver.
He was then put under investigation by the stewards for impeding Piastri on his final Q3 run, earning him a three-place grid drop and a fifth-placed start for the race, on Sunday.
And while he did get a great start off the line, he was in hot water with the stewards once more, again as a result of Ferrari’s strategy call.
The Maranello-based squad asked Hamilton to pit under a late-race VSC, which not only meant he relinquished places to Verstappen and Antonelli on track, but he was also caught speeding in the pit lane earning him a five-second time penalty.
Three weekends, four penalties, and a tricky couple of weekends later, Hamilton enters the summer break as the closest competitor to Championship leader Antonelli, on paper, but knows that a 50-point deficit to the Italian may not be as easy to conquer as it looks with the current state of affairs he finds himself in.
Liam Lawson: 8
Grid Position: P11, Race Result: P8
Lawson resumed his points scoring streak at the Hungaroring, on Sunday.
Missing out on a Q3 appearance for the first time since Canada, the Kiwi driver got a stellar push off the line and got himself into the points paying position right off the bat.
Lawson was able to keep himself ahead of his team-mate to the chequered flag and scored four crucial points for the Faenza-based squad as it jumped Alpine for P5 in the Constructors’ heading into the summer break.
Arvid Lindblad: 7.5
Grid Position: P9, Race Result: P10
It was Lindbald’s sixth-consecutive top 10 result for Racing Bulls in his rookie season, cementing his credentials as a worthy candidate for a seat with the team in 2027.
And while it was back-to-back races where the Swedish-British racing driver wasn’t able to hold onto his grid position at the chequered flag, he did enough to see his team carve out a five points gap to Alpine – going into F1’s summer break as the best-of-the-rest.
Nico Hulkenberg: 8
Grid Position: P10, Race Result: P9
It was a strong weekend for the German driver who had been struggling so far in 2026.
Getting back into Q3, Hulkenberg out-qualified his team-mate Bortoleto and was quick throughout the 70-lap race.
Audi also gave him a solid two-stop strategy that saw him make a bevvy of moves in the final stages of the Hungarian GP, on Softs, to get himself into ninth at the chequered flag – scoring his maiden points for the German marque, this season.
Gabriel Bortoleto: 6
Grid Position: P14, Race Result: P11
The last couple of race weekends had seen Audi emerge as a contender to lead the midfield battle in 2026, with the Brazilian driver leading the German marque.
The Hungarian GP, however, saw Bortoleto on the backfoot from the get-go. A difficult qualifying translated into a tricky 70-lap race as Bortoleto struggled throughout the event with tyre degradation on the sweltering tarmac of the Hungaroring.
He finished behind his team-mate Hulkenberg and the Racing Bulls of Lindblad to take the chequered flag in 11th, marking his first non-points scoring finish since Silverstone.
Pierre Gasly: 6.5
Grid Position: P12, Race Result: P12
The downward trend for the Anglo-French marque continued at the Hungaroring with both, Gasly and team-mate Colapinto missing out on yet another Q3 appearance.
And while the duo had pace, at Spa, to threaten the points, at Hungary the A526’s pace withered away. Gasly conceded “it felt bad out there” during the 70-lap race and was only able to muster a 12th-placed finish as the Enstone-based team lost further ground in the midfield battle.
Franco Colapinto: 5
Grid Position: P13, Race Result: P15
Colapinto’s recent resurgence in the sister A526 came to a stuttering stop at the Hungarian GP.
While the Argentinian racing driver was within two-tenths of his team-mate during qualifying on Saturday, the 70-lap race was a problem-inflicted affair for the 23-year-old.
Colapinto had a chaotic start to the race but was never really able to settle into a rhythm to make any meaningful inroads towards the points.
He was also perplexed by the lack of grip, pace and balance on his car as he surmised the team needed to go over the data once again to figure out if he was carrying damage through the race.
Well, one thing is for sure, his Hungarian GP performance might as well have damaged the good work he had done in the recent race weekends in the context of convincing Alpine to hand him a race seat with the team for 2027.
Lance Stroll: 7.5
Grid Position: P20, Race Result: P13
Despite an upgraded AMR26(B), Stroll was only able to line up 20th on the grid. That said, the Canadian racing driver seemingly was able to extract race pace from his package as he took the chequered flag in an impressive 13th-placed finish.
The Aston Martin driver had his elbows out in the early phases of the race, making up a handful of places.
From there on, Stroll executed a masterful two-stop strategy, losing a place to Gasly in the dying embers of the race but still being able to finish ahead of his team-mate Alonso. The Aston Martin renaissance may have well truly begun as F1 heads into the summer break.
Fernando Alonso: 7
Grid Position: P16, Race Result: P14
It was a return to form (relatively speaking) for the two-time World Champion at the Hungaroring. The Spaniard took his heavily upgraded Aston Martin into the realms of Q2 for the first time this season – with a P14 grid slot for the race, on Sunday.
The 70-lap race saw Alonso get off to a decent start. His second stint saw him make places up on Bearman and Sainz, and the late-race VSC allowed him to bolt on the Softs for his final stint.
A move on Colapinto with nine laps to go rounded off the Silverstone-based team’s strongest weekend yet in 2026.
Esteban Ocon: 4.5
Grid Position: P15, Race Result: P16
It was one of those rare race weekends when Ocon seemed to have the legs on his team-mate Bearman.
Not only did the Frenchman outqualify the Briton, on Saturday, he was able to take the chequered flag before him, too.
That said, in the grand scheme of things, it was yet another disappointing outing for Ocon who seems to be struggling with Haas as its rivals continue to out-develop the Banbury-based outfit.
Oliver Bearman: 4
Grid Position: P17, Race Result: P19
The only silver lining for the Briton, this season, has been his advantage over his team-mate Ocon in the sister VF-26. Apart from that, his pointless streak has been enduring since the Canadian GP.
At Hungary, Bearman even relinquished his intra-team dominance to Ocon. Getting out-qualified by the Frenchman on Saturday, turned out to be a disappointing 70-lap race, on Sunday, seeing the Briton take the chequered flag in 19th.
Alex Albon: 3.5
Grid Position: P19, Race Result: P17
The European-leg of the season has been a difficult spell to endure for the Grove-based team.
The FW48 has been lacking both, single-lap and overall race pace, and Albon, despite taking his 100th start for the team, couldn’t deliver a result worthy of the occasion.
Knocked out in Q3, the British-Thai driver could muster more than taking the chequered flag in 17th – a race he rightly reckoned was a “wake-up call” for him and Williams.
Carlos Sainz: 3
Grid Position: P18, Race Result: P18
The Spaniard’s sophomore season with Williams has been a rude awakening for the former Ferrari driver.
After sparks of brilliance, in 2025, including a podium at Baku, 2026 has been a long and frustrating affair for Sainz.
At Hungary, his miseries with an uncompetitive FW48 were compounded after contact with Piastri, under blue flags, earned the Williams driver a five-second time penalty from the stewards, as he took the chequered flag in 18th, one place behind his team-mate Albon despite out-qualifying him on Saturday.
Valtteri Bottas: N/A
Grid Position: P21, Race Result: DNF
Aston Martin’s upgrades consigned Cadillac to the absolute back of the grid, at Hungary. Starting the race from 21st, a left-front brake issue then forced Bottas to retire from the race on Lap 15.
Sergio Perez: N/A
Grid Position: P22, Race Result: DNF
The mood wasn’t much different on the other side of the Cadillac garage as Perez also struggled for pace and reliability, at Hungary.
Perez took a pit lane start after additional PU components but even that wasn’t enough to prevent the team’s reliability gremlins to have reared its ugly head again.
A suspension issue forced the Mexican racing driver out of the race on Lap 51, on Sunday – making it a bitter double DNF for the team heading into the summer break.
READ MORE – Carlos Sainz offers explanation for Oscar Piastri blue flag mishap
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