Norris triumphs in Hungary to secure McLaren's first victory of 2026

After victories for Mercedes and Ferrari at the previous rounds of the championship, McLaren finally opened their account for the season. Lando Norris, who had not stood on the top step of the podium since the 2025 São Paulo Grand Prix, claimed victory at the Hungaroring in a race overshadowed by the retirement of team-mate Oscar Piastri.

The Briton started from pole position but saw his team-mate snatch the lead at Turn 2 on the opening lap. From there, McLaren controlled the first half of the race, with Piastri leading the field.

The race was turned on its head after the McLaren driver's second pit stop, when he rejoined in traffic and made contact with Carlos Sainz while attempting to lap the Spaniard. That incident, combined with Norris' excellent pace, completely changed the complexion of the race and put the reigning World Champion in a prime position to take victory.

On lap 56, a gearbox issue forced Oscar Piastri into retirement. The subsequent Virtual Safety Car reshuffled team strategies and further influenced the outcome.

Max Verstappen secured another valuable result for Red Bull by finishing second. The Dutchman converted fourth place on the grid into a runner-up finish after overtaking Lewis Hamilton and carefully managing his tyres to stay firmly in podium contention.

Ferrari, meanwhile, narrowly missed out on another podium. Lewis Hamilton crossed the line fourth, but a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane dropped him to fifth, promoting Charles Leclerc to fourth place. Even so, the Ferrari driver remains second in the Drivers' Championship standings.

Behind them, Isack Hadjar finished sixth, while George Russell dropped to 21st after a systems issue on the opening lap but fought back impressively to finish seventh.

Aston Martin arrived with upgrades to the car, allowing the team to move closer to the points positions, with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso finishing 13th and 14th respectively.

With this result, Norris secured his first victory of the year, McLaren claimed their maiden win of the 2026 season, and Antonelli strengthened his lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship.

Formula 1 now heads into the summer break before returning at the end of August at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix.

Final classification

Here is the final classification from the Hungarian Grand Prix:

Posición	Piloto	País	Equipo	Time
1	Lando Norris		McLaren	1:39:56.180
2	Max Verstappen		Red Bull Racing	+15.080s
3	Kimi Antonelli		Mercedes	+18.728s
4	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	+23.840s
5	Lewis Hamilton		Ferrari	+24.540s
6	Isack Hadjar		Red bull Racing	+55.488s
7	George Russell		Mercedes	+57.503s
8	Liam Lawson		Racing Bulls	+1 lap
9	Nico Hulkenberg		Audi	+1 lap
10	Arvid Lindblad		Racing Bulls	+1 lap