Reigning Formula One world champion Lando Norris secured victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, his first this season, ahead of Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli.
An eventful Hungarian Grand Prix saw poleman Lando Norris take back-to-back victories at the Hungaroring circuit, winning Round 11 of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship with McLaren on Sunday.
“I’m very happy to be back and parking the car in front of the #1 board again. The car was beautiful to drive, and I felt very confident," he outlined.
"My pace today was probably some of the best pace I’ve ever had. The team has put in a huge amount of work to get us into a position to win again."
The 26-year-old made a clean getaway but lost the lead to teammate Oscar Piastri, who, after overtaking the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, running in P2, wasted no time to take over the lead in the second corner.
On lap 13, the Monegasque teammate Lewis Hamilton, who started P5, made his first pit stop, which resulted in an undercut on the Red Bull Racing of Max Verstappen.
Previously, he had overtaken Leclerc for P4 while Verstappen started the race from P3.
The four-time world champion reacted quickly to Ferrari's strategic move, reclaiming his position with an outstanding overtaking manoeuvre.
“I saw the opportunity as my only one, so I went for it. We’re good on the brakes, so that helped. I was all under control,” the Dutchman said.
Both MCL40s began the Grand Prix on the Medium tires with a strong pace to lead the pack, making the most of the upgrades the team brought to Budapest.
Norris made his first pit stop right behind Piastri, both switching to the Hard tire.
Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who started P7, gained pivotal positions on the opening laps and stayed out, stealing the lead when the McLaren drivers pitted.
On lap 22, the Mercedes driver, on a two-stop strategy, headed to the box with Piastri retaking the top spot on the track.
From there, the 9-time Grand Prix winner made a solid run on clean air, but with his teammate in his mirrors.
In a circuit where overtaking is rare, they held positions on track until lap 33, when the Australian went to the box for a new set of Hard tires.
As he attempted to overtake backmarker Carlos Sainz, they made contact, and the Williams driver was handed a five-second penalty.
On a circuit where the Papaya outfit has been dominant over the years, Norris imposed a commanding pace, taking back P1 from the Italian driver on lap 46, having made his second pit stop on lap 39.
On lap 56, Piastri was forced to retire the car due to a gearbox problem, denying him any chance to score points; moreover, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, allowing Norris a third pit stop for a set of used Softs.
The Prancing Horse took the opportunity to make a double stop to fit Soft tires as well.
However, as the seven-time world champion had a five-second penalty to serve for speeding in the pit lane, he would lose positions to Verstappen and Antonelli.
The Dutch racer, who did not expect to finish second (15 seconds behind Norris), made a brilliant final stint of 29 laps on the Soft compound, despite struggling with the car balance all weekend.
Assessing the strategy call, he remarked: “We had no other choice. If I went in, then I would’ve been behind the grid and behind Lewis. Then you’re done. We had to stay out and hope the tyres would hang on.”
Further discussing his race, he asserted: “It was one of the hardest races of the year, in terms of how I felt in the car. For 80% of the race… it wasn't enjoyable. The balance of the car was undriveable. The car was difficult to control. It had too much oversteer and was difficult to control in the hobbles.
"At the start already something wasn’t right. When I got out of the car, there was a hole in the bodywork. Those kinds of things definitely don’t help.”
Antonelli, who started from P7, crossed the finish line third, holding off Leclerc and Hamilton, who finished fourth and fifth respectively.
"It was not an easy race today. It was very difficult to overtake, even when we had significantly more pace than the cars ahead," the 19-year-old stated.
"We knew it might be like that today and so it proved. We did well to build a decent tyre offset to those ahead though throughout the race, and that enabled us to get up into the podium positions."
Audi's Nico Hulkenberg scored his first points of 2026 with the German outfit, bringing the car to the box in P9.
McLaren’s leaves Budapest with a record 14th win at Hungaroring, the first for Norris as world champion.
“This is probably the circuit that suits me, and suits the MCL40 best, but I want to believe we can continue this form after the summer break," the British driver stressed.
The Overall Standings
Mercedes stays atop both the Constructors’ and the Drivers’ world championships.
Antonelli has built on a 219-point tally with six pole positions and six Grand Prix victories. Hamilton stands second on a 50-point gap while Mercedes' George Russell sits third with 160 points.
Formula 1 will resume action on August 21 at the Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands.