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By Ishaan Kapoor — 26 July 2026 — 4 min read

Norris claims first win of 2026 season

Lando Norris secured his and McLaren’s first Grand Prix victory of 2026 at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He finished ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli. The race saw mid-race drama and a late retirement for Norris’s teammate, Oscar Piastri.

Norris, who started from pole position, was initially overtaken by Piastri at Turn 2 on the opening lap. Piastri maintained the lead for the first half of the race, with McLaren resisting Norris’s requests to be allowed past. However, the internal team battle shifted after the midway point when Piastri, following his second pit stop, made contact with a Williams car while encountering traffic in the first sector. This incident, combined with Norris’s pace in clear air, altered the race’s trajectory.

Piastri’s day concluded with a retirement due to an apparent gearbox problem. His stoppage triggered a Virtual Safety Car (VSC), which led to further pit lane activity. Verstappen and Antonelli, who had recently changed tyres, remained on track to secure second and third positions, respectively. They finished ahead of the Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who both made three pit stops.

Race incidents and penalties

Hamilton initially emerged from his final stop ahead of Antonelli but had to cede the position. Replays indicated that he had crossed the relevant VSC white line at the end of the start/finish straight just behind the Mercedes. Hamilton’s hopes of a podium finish were further dashed by a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Despite pressing on and challenging Antonelli, Leclerc ultimately moved ahead to claim P4 once the penalty was applied.

Isack Hadjar secured sixth place for Red Bull, while George Russell finished P7 after a challenging start to the race. Russell dropped as low as 21st due to the anti-stall system engaging. Racing Bulls achieved a double points finish, with Liam Lawson in eighth and Arvid Lindblad in 10th, sandwiching Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg’s teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto, narrowly missed out on points, finishing 11th.

Aston Martin, with their updated cars, showed an encouraging performance. Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso finished P13 and P14, respectively. They split the Alpine cars of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, and finished ahead of both Haas and Williams cars. Piastri watched the final 15 laps from the sidelines after his retirement. The Cadillacs of Valtteri Bottas, who experienced overheating brakes, and Sergio Perez, who had an issue at the front-left, also failed to complete the race.

Qualifying and strategy

The qualifying session at the Hungaroring circuit was extremely close, with Norris claiming pole position by a margin of just 0.012 seconds over Hamilton. Leclerc secured third, and championship leader Antonelli qualified fourth. However, both Hamilton and Antonelli received three-place grid drops from the stewards. Hamilton was penalised for failing to slow sufficiently under yellow flags, and Antonelli for impeding Piastri.

These penalties meant Norris started from pole, followed by Leclerc, Piastri, and Verstappen. Hamilton was demoted to fifth, ahead of Russell, while Antonelli dropped to seventh. Perez started from the pit lane after making set-up changes. As the formation lap began, it was revealed that Norris, Piastri, and Verstappen opted for medium starting tyres, while Leclerc and Hamilton chose softs, aiming for an advantage into Turn 1. Bortoleto, Alonso, Carlos Sainz, and Stroll also started on soft tyres, with the rest of the field on mediums.

At the start, Norris made a clean getaway. Piastri, despite the differing tyre compounds, overtook Leclerc to follow his teammate into the first corner, while Verstappen battled with the two Ferraris. Piastri then moved into the lead at Turn 2, executing a cut-back move on Norris. Hamilton also passed his teammate Leclerc for fourth and appeared to make contact with Verstappen. Russell experienced a difficult start, falling from seventh to 21st due to the anti-stall system. By Lap 13, Russell had climbed back to 11th, having passed several drivers, including Alonso’s Aston Martin and Bortoleto’s Audi.

Pos.	Driver	Time	Points
1	Lando Norris NOR	1:39:56.180	25
2	Max Verstappen VER	+15.080s	18
3	Kimi Antonelli ANT	+18.728s	15
4	Charles Leclerc LEC	+23.840s	12
5	Lewis Hamilton HAM	+24.540s	10

The first front-running pit stop occurred on Lap 14 when Hamilton switched from soft to hard tyres. He rejoined in ninth and quickly overtook Lindblad. Verstappen responded on Lap 15, also moving to hard tyres from mediums, and rejoined behind Hamilton. However, Verstappen surprised Hamilton with a pass into Turn 1 at the start of the next lap. Piastri and Leclerc pitted on Lap 17, followed by Norris on the subsequent lap, which allowed Antonelli and Hadjar, who had not yet stopped, to lead temporarily. Antonelli continued for a few more laps before pitting for hards on Lap 22, indicating a two-stop strategy. Piastri then regained the lead but faced pressure from Norris. Verstappen gradually fell to third, followed by Hamilton, Leclerc, and Antonelli. Russell climbed to seventh before pitting for hards on Lap 28. Bottas retired from the race on Lap 30 due to suspected overheating brakes.

Hamilton made his second stop for hard tyres on Lap 30, as he was being caught by Leclerc. On Lap 33, Piastri pitted for another set of hard tyres, giving Norris clear air and a potential advantage for the final stint. Hamilton expressed concern about his second stop on Lap 33.

Source: formula1.com