Lando Norris converted pole position into victory at the Hungarian GP, securing his and McLaren’s first win of the 2026 season. He finished over 15 seconds clear of Max Verstappen, while Kimi Antonelli completed the podium to further extend his championship lead.
- Norris wins, 15.080 sec from Verstappen
- Hamilton moves up to second overall in drivers’ championship
Norris scores first win of F1 2026
Piastri retires with gearbox issue
Oscar Piastri grabbed the lead from his McLaren teammate at Turn 2 on the opening lap. The duo held position for the first half of the race, but Piastri found himself released in traffic after his second pit stop, caught up in the battle between Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso. The McLaren driver ended up making contact with Sainz, with the latter being handed a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.
Out at front Norris was lapping significantly faster, and gained enough time to pit and re-join the track in the lead. Things went from bad to worse for Piastri as he stopped on lap 56 with an apparent gearbox failure.
A controlled drive thereafter handed Norris his first win of the 2026 F1 season. “My pace today was probably some of the best pace I’ve ever had. The car was beautiful to drive and I felt very confident, so a great race. To get it back in terms of going long, which is certainly not what I was expecting, but the pace was so good I could always extend the stints, and fresh tyres then always won me the race. I’m just happy to be back and see the number one again,” the reigning world champion said.
Verstappen, Antonelli complete podium
Piastri’s retirement triggered the Virtual Safety Car that shuffled the order. Verstappen and Antonelli, who had just pitted for fresh tyres, stayed out and inherited P2 and P3 ahead of the Ferrari duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton’s hopes of finishing on the podium were dashed when he was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane. He dropped to fifth place in the final classifications after the penalty was applied, behind his teammate Leclerc.
Isack Hadjar crossed the finish line in sixth place. George Russell recovered to P7 after a disastrous start that saw him drop as low as P19 after his anti-stall kicked in. Both Racing Bull drivers scored points, with Liam Lawson P8 and Arvid Lindblad P10. Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg separated the two in ninth place.
2026 F1 championship standings
Antonelli heads into the summer break with a 50-point lead at the top of the standings. Russell’s recent misfortune, meanwhile, has dropped him to third in the championship, while Hamilton moves up to second place overall with nine points separating the two.
The 2026 F1 season will resume with the Dutch GP at Zandvoort on August 21-23.
