Lando Norris won his first race of 2026, after late-race mishaps for Oscar Piastri handed him the 2026 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix.
McLaren have broken Mercedes and Ferrari’s stronghold on F1 in 2026 after Norris took a stellar win at the Hungaroring, on Sunday.
Norris missed out at the start to his team-mate Piastri but was able to take the chequered flag first after a series of mishaps for the Australian saw Piastri bow out of the 70-lap race with gearbox issues.
Max Verstappen followed his 2025 title challenger home in second, bagging his 131st career F1 podium after a late charge on Lewis Hamilton turned out in his favor under the VSC triggered by Piastri’s DNF.
Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli rounded off the podium as a chaotic conclusion to the Hungarian GP saw the Italian benefit from Hamilton’s misfortunes in the pit lane.
How the race unfolded
The start to the 70-lap race was a chaotic affair as Piastri got a better launch off the line than pole-sitter Norris.
Leclerc got off the line sluggishly, too. His team-mate Hamilton, on a brand-new set of Softs quickly got himself alongside the Monegasque into Turn 1, with Verstappen joining the party soon with the duo getting themselves past in the run up to Turn 2.
By the time the pack reached Turn 3, Verstappen had muscled his way past the Ferrari of the seven-time World Champion, and into third. Meanwhile Russell went nowhere as his afternoon quickly got trickier than it was as he suffered anti-stall at lights out.
Hamilton, with his tyre advantage over Verstappen, kept hounding the RB22, but by Lap 5, the gaps had stabilised with the McLarens thriving in clean air. Piastri led Norris, followed by Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Antonelli and Hadjar.
In their own personal fight for P5 in the Constructors’ with Alpine, Racing Bulls had had a blinder of a start, Lawson climbing up to eighth from a P13 grid slot and his team-mate Lindblad slotting in behind him in ninth. Hulkenberg squared off the top 10.
Piastri posted the fastest lap of the race so far, on Lap 7, extending his lead over Norris to 1.5 seconds. Meanwhile Leclerc had rocked up to the back of the squabbling pair of Hamilton and Verstappen for the final podium place.
The Dutchman had started graining his right-rear tyre and was not happy with the suspension or gearbox on his RB22 as Hamilton kept his siege alive. This allowed Leclerc to get into the overtake of Hamilton, who in turn, was pinned to the gearbox of Verstappen’s RB22.
On Lap 10 Norris had started chipping away at his gap to his team-mate, urging the team to deploy team orders against the Australian. Piastri was promptly delivered a strategy update with the McLaren driver reporting back, “The tyres feel good.” By Lap 12 Russell had already made his way back up to 11th on the road.
With no way through the Red Bull on track, Hamilton dove into the pits on Lap 14, attempting to undercut Verstappen. He rejoined the race in eighth. Red Bull responded on the very next lap but Verstappen got jumped by the Ferrari driver into Turn 1.
The four-time World Champion was having none of that, though, as he dove down the inside of the Briton on the next lap to take the position back from the Ferrari driver.
Piastri made his pit stop on Lap 17, exiting the pits just ahead of the battling pair of Verstappen and Hamilton. Norris followed suit on the following lap, but a slow stop put him just behind the Australian but more importantly ahead of the Red Bull and Ferrari.
Meanwhile, Hadjar was playing the team game, impeding Piastri’s advances while allowing Verstappen to close up to the back of the McLaren duo.
His defence withered away on Lap 19 as the McLarens and Verstappen got past him, but he was able to slot in behind Hamilton for long enough to allow his team-mate to pull a one second gap to the Ferrari.
21 laps in, Antonelli was the only driver in the top five who was yet to pit, with the McLaren pit wall sensing a one-stopper for the Championship leader and instructing Piastri to up the ante. The Australian was now trying to extinguish the Italian’s 10-second lead of the race.
Mercedes called McLaren’s bluff and called Antonelli into the pits on Lap 22, with the Mercedes driver coming out sixth on the road with clean air and a six lap tyre offset to Piastri.
Verstappen had extended his advantage over Hamilton, in third, to just under two seconds, as Norris got himself within a second of the race-leader Piastri. But the reigning World Champion was struggling to keep his MCL40 on track as a tail wind caught him off guard, into Turn 5, and his advantage over the Australian evaporated.
Leclerc was meanwhile getting closer to Hamilton but without a way through. This prompted the Monegasque to jump onto the team radio comms to politely hint at a team orders intervention.
Half-way through the 70-lap race Piastri led his team-mate Norris, followed by Verstappen, Hamilton, and Leclerc.
Traffic unravels Oscar Piastri’s F1 Hungarian GP lead
On Lap 31, Hamilton was asked to come into the pits for his second stop on the Hards, but the Ferrari diver was jumped by Hadjar on pit exit.
“Can I do something different strategy-wise,” is what Leclerc asked his engineer as he finally found himself in some clean air and with a clear view of Verstappen in third.
Meanwhile Norris was eager to dive into the pits but was refused by the team to give Piastri, the leading car, the priority to pit. The Australian came into the pits on Lap 33, rejoining the race in fifth.
Norris was clearly frustrated with the ‘Papaya rules’ at play and chose to extend his stint, picking a handy tyre offset towards the end of the race over brand new tyres on Lap 34.
Further down the order, Hamilton was asked to abandon any tyre saving to attack Verstappen for position. Leclerc completed his two-stop strategy on Lap 37, taking P7 on the road behind Hadjar and Hamilton.
Piastri, fresh off being impeded by Hamilton during qualifying on Saturday, now had the Williams of Sainz in his way into Turn 3 on Lap 39. Contact with the FW48 meant the Australian lost enough time to lose the net lead of the race to Norris when he pitted on Lap 40.
Norris’ call on strategy saw him not only take the lead from Piastri but also gain a tyre offset to his team-mate with 28 laps to go.
Piastri was visibly fuming in the cockpit of his MCL40. “Just don’t f******g talk to me now. Nice of you guys to factor that [traffic] one in by the way, thanks,” he told his engineer over the airwaves.
Verstappen was put on an alternate strategy by Red Bull, as diving into the pits, his RB22 was serviced with a set of Soft tyres. As he exited the pits, he was chasing Hamilton to get his P3 back.
By Lap 46, Norris had finally muscled his way past Antonelli (who was yet to pit) to take the outright lead of the Hungarian GP, into Turn 1 – making a move finally stick into Turn 3.
With 23 laps to go, Norris lead his team-mate by just over eight seconds.
On Lap 50, Leclerc reported issues with his SF-26 that were confirmed to be overheating by Ferrari as he was being trailed by Russell in seventh who was 51 Laps into a stellar recovery drive from virtually the back of grid after his anti-stall issues off the line.
By Lap 52, Verstappen was four-and-a-half seconds off Hamilton, with his red-walled Soft tyres holding on well over the sweltering tarmac at the Hungaroring.
Antonelli finally pitted on Lap 54, against his wishes to push till the end, fitting a set of Hard tyres with 16 laps to go and on the tail of Leclerc – his engineer, Peter Bonnington forecasting a potential second placed finish for the Italian with his tyre offset.
Kimi Antonelli gains under VSC
Norris had extended his lead over Piastri to over 12 seconds on Lap 55. And on the very next lap, the Australian pulled off the track with gearbox issues calling out the VSC – a disappointing Hungarian GP ending in utter heartbreak.
Norris took advantage of his team-mate’s miseries to pit under the VSC and keep his lead. Hamilton pitted, too, relinquishing position to Verstappen but on a fresher set of Soft tyres compared to the Red Bull driver as the VSC ended.
Hamilton, however, had to give a place back to Antonelli to avoid a VSC infringement. This back and forth allowed Verstappen to open a handy nine seconds gap to the duo behind.
With 10 laps to go, Norris was leading a thrilling Hungarian GP, followed by Verstappen, Antonelli and Hamilton. The Ferrari driver was clearly overdriving his SF-26 as he kept slipping and sliding behind the gearbox of Antonelli, allowing the Mercedes driver to eke out a gap rather than close him down.
On Lap 61, Hamilton’s afternoon got worse as he was put under investigation for speeding in the pit lane. Five laps later, the stewards confirmed Hamilton’s fate and slapped him with a five-second time penalty.
At the chequered flag, Norris took his first win under F1’s latest era with Verstappen following the McLaren driver home in second and Antonelli taking up the final podium place.
READ MORE – F1 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix – Race Results
Discussion about this post