Norris and McLaren Finally Win: Drama at the Hungaroring 2026
Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Verstappen and Antonelli, while teammate Piastri retired due to a gearbox issue after a collision with Sainz.
Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Verstappen and Antonelli, while teammate Piastri retired due to a gearbox issue after a collision with Sainz.
Lando Norris and McLaren finally secured their first win of the 2026 season at the Hungaroring on Sunday, July 26, as the British driver crossed the finish line with a total time of 1:39:56.180, ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen (+15.080 seconds) and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli (+18.728 seconds). The race was marked by dramatic twists, an intra-McLaren collision with a Williams, and a series of penalty decisions that reshuffled the order.
Norris claimed pole position on Saturday by just 0.012 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while Charles Leclerc took third and championship leader Kimi Antonelli fourth. However, stewards later handed three-place grid penalties to both Hamilton, for impeding Piastri, and Antonelli, for failing to slow sufficiently under yellow flags. At the start, Norris was accompanied by Leclerc, Piastri, and Verstappen, with Hamilton fifth and Antonelli seventh.
At the start, Norris maintained a clean lead, but by the second corner of the first lap, Piastri overtook his teammate and took the race lead. The Australian spent the first half of the race ahead of Norris, who constantly pressured from close behind and asked his engineers to let him through, but the McLaren team resisted those requests. The internal battle remained unresolved until the moment that turned the entire race around.
After the second pit stop, Piastri encountered Carlos Sainz in the Williams car in the first sector and made dramatic contact with him. That moment, combined with Norris' exceptional pace in clean air ahead of his own second stop, turned the race in favor of the reigning champion. Piastri then retired due to an apparent gearbox issue, which triggered the Virtual Safety Car (VSC), and the Australian watched the race from the sidelines for the final 15 laps.
The VSC activation prompted new pit stop action: Verstappen and Antonelli, who had just changed tires, stayed out and thus secured second and third places. After his final stop, Hamilton emerged ahead of Antonelli, but footage showed he reached the white VSC line at the end of the start-finish straight behind the Mercedes, so he had to give up the position. Additionally, a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane further dashed Hamilton's podium hopes, and he finished fifth with a time of +24.540 seconds behind Norris, while Leclerc was fourth (+23.840 seconds).
Isack Hadjar finished sixth in the second Red Bull, while George Russell was seventh despite a disastrous start that dropped him to 19th due to an anti-stall system activation. Racing Bulls scored a double points finish thanks to Liam Lawson (eighth) and Arvid Lindblad (tenth), with Nico Hulkenberg of Audi in between in ninth. Hulkenberg's teammate Gabriel Bortoleto finished 11th, without points. Aston Martin, in its most encouraging performance of the season, brought Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso to 13th and 14th places, separating Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto. The race saw retirements for Valtteri Bottas of Cadillac (overheated brakes) and Sergio Perez (front-left wheel issue).
With Norris' win, McLaren ended its wait for a first victory in the current season. Verstappen kept the pressure in the title fight with 18 points, while Antonelli, who led the championship before the race, collected 15 points for third place. The season is still far from over, and the drama at the Hungaroring showed how every detail-from strategic decisions in the pit lane to the VSC white line-is crucial in modern Formula 1.
