Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring for the second consecutive year, claiming his 12th career Formula 1 victory and his first win as reigning World Champion. The McLaren driver converted pole position into a dominant performance that he described as “probably one of my best races” in terms of personal performance.
Norris did not have it all his own way from the start. Teammate Oscar Piastri passed him on the opening lap to take the early lead, but Norris’s superior race pace allowed him to regain control. Piastri, who was running in third position, was forced to retire on Lap 56 with a gearbox reliability issue, denying McLaren what would have been their second 1-2 finish of the season.
“I think I went a bit wide in the dirt, but Oscar did a good job to get past,” Norris said of his difficult start. “But man, I was pushing like hell. My pace was some of the best pace I have ever had, the car was beautiful to drive, and I felt very confident.”
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Norris expressed satisfaction with his tire management and overall execution. “I knew that I could win the race today even after Lap 1, so I am very happy I did. There was a little bit of luck on my side, and sadly some misfortune on Oscar’s — it is a shame because it would have been great to have gotten double points as a team.”
The victory marked the first time Norris has won a Grand Prix twice at the same circuit and gave McLaren three consecutive race wins heading into the summer break. An upgrade package installed on the MCL40 ahead of the weekend, targeting improved performance at high-downforce circuits, appeared to deliver beyond expectations.
Team Principal Andrea Stella praised the team’s efforts and acknowledged the upgrade’s surprising effectiveness. “When we look at the numbers and the anticipated numbers associated with the upgrades, we thought that we would need to bring more performance to be in this condition, so in that sense, yes, it was a bit of a surprise, but it is always good to have a positive surprise,” Stella told Sky Sports F1. He noted that Norris secured pole position by just 12 milliseconds and that race pace was “even more encouraging.”
Stella tempered the celebrations with a pragmatic outlook, particularly regarding the gearbox failure that ended Piastri’s race. “This is a world of numbers, and of facts, so we remain with our feet on the ground. We know that there is more work ahead of us from a performance and also from a reliability point of view,” he said.
McLaren now enters the summer shutdown with strong momentum, and attention will turn to translating the upgrade gains to further success across a variety of circuit types in the second half of the 2026 season.