Formula 1

Lando Norris storms to Hungarian GP victory from Verstappen and Antonelli

Fraser Masefield
3 months ago
6 min read

Lando Norris made the most of a brilliantly timed race strategy to head home Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli and take his first race win of the season.

A five second penalty for speeding in the pitlane cost Hamilton’s chances of a podium as Charles Leclerc was promoted to fourth.


“My pace today was probably some of the best pace I’ve ever had,” said Norris afterwards. “The car was beautiful to drive and I felt very confident.

“So a great race and to get it back in terms of going along, which is certainly not what I was expecting, but the pace was so good I could always extend the stints and fresh tyres and then always wanted to race.”

|Photographer: Craig Evans| Spacesuit Media | Hungarian GP 2026

It had looked like a 1-2 for McLaren for the majority of the race, but a late retirement for Oscar Piastri spelled heartbreak for the Australian.

With Piastri pulling away in the mid stages and having ‘Papaya Rules’ team advantage over pit strategy, it looked as if the Australian would come out on top.

But it was the Englishman who stayed out longer before making his final stop to take him to the end and maintained his fast pace to take a deserved victory.

“Yeah, for sure. I mean, I didn’t expect to be able to be here today, but yeah, we worked hard for it,” said second placed Verstappen.

“After the first stop to get back ahead of Lewis under braking into turn one and then, yeah, just trying to survive on the compounds trying to make the right calls with the strategy as well.

“So very happy all considering to be second here.”

SHOP THE LANDO NORRIS OFFICIAL CHAMPIONS RANGE HERE

THE TALE OF THE RACE

With the majority of the field and the top ten starting on the medium compound Pirelli tyre, the optimum strategy appeared to be a two-stopper on such a high degradation circuit.

But it was the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Hamilton who opted to try and make places early on with the softest compound Pirelli tyre, so a tyre offset strategy was also likely.

It was a flying Piastri who stormed into the lead from his McLaren teammate, Verstappen and the fast-starting Ferraris in close attendance.

And it was a disaster of a start for George Russell, his Mercedes going into anti-stall and getting bogged down on the grid, ruining his race chances immediately.

With Hamilton swarming all over the back of Verstappen’s gearbox, it became apparent that the Red Bull was holding the quicker Ferrari up and playing into McLaren’s hands.

Try as he might, Hamilton couldn’t find a way past Verstappen, so an early stop and the undercut soon became the Plan B option.

VERSTAPPEN AND HAMILTON VIE FOR POSITION IN FIRST PIT WINDOW

So it came to pass, Ferrari pulling the trigger on lap 14 for the two-stopper, putting him back out on track on the hard compound tyre and ahead of Hulkenberg and Russell.

A neat overtake on Lindblad put him out in clean air as Verstappen pitted a lap later and the net result was Hamilton passing his old rival in the pit lane by a fraction of a second.

Piastri was the next of the big hitters to pit, staying out an extra lap as Valtteri Bottas’ tyres caught alight in the pit lane.

A mighty tussle between Verstappen and Hamilton then ensued, the Dutchman braking super late to get back past.

A slow stop for Norris put him just ahead of the Verstappen and Hamilton battle and with Hadjar holding up Piastri at the front.

It made for a brilliant strategic battle and fantastic racing, as the McLarens again led from Verstappen and Hamilton at the front of the field.

With on track passing so difficult on the tight confines of the Hungaroring, unless your name is Verstappen, the race was always going to be decided by the final set of stops, or a timely Safety Car situation.

And with only another set of new hards available for Ferrari having expended the mediums during qualifying, the race victory seemed to have eluded them.


FINAL STOPS LEAD TO GRANDSTAND BATTLE FOR PODIUM PLACES

Hamilton came in on lap 31 for his final set of hard Pirellis and he quickly passed Hadjar then started to fly.

Next came Piastri but with Norris still reporting good pace, McLaren kept the reigning champion out a few laps longer.

With Leclerc, Antonelli, Verstappen and Norris the last of the big hitters to pit, it then became a straight fight to the chequered flag – traffic backmarker squabbles costing Piastri the net lead.

It made for a grandstand finish, Verstappen on a soft set to try and last him for 28 laps. It seemed a bold move.

SHOP THE MAX VERSTAPPEN OFFICIAL F1 RANGE HERE

Then more drama, Piastri pulling over to the side of the road with a gearbox failure and bringing out a Virtual Safety Car.

It allowed a cheap pit stop for Norris and Hamilton but with Verstappen missing the window and on far older tyres.

But with backmarkers coming into play to help Verstappen keep comfortably ahead of Antonelli and Hamilton, it mattered not after another masterful drive.

It all means that heading into the midseason break with 11 races done and 11 to go, Antonelli leads the championship standings by 50 points, or two race wins, from Hamilton.

And the ever unfortunate Russell is still by no means out of the mix, just nine points adrift of Hamilton in third.

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Fraser Masefield

Fraser is a sports and motorsports editor with over 25 years experience. The former head editor of WilliamsF1, BMW Motorsport, Jaguar Racing and Virgin Media, he has also worked for Autosport, ESPNF1 and Eurosport amongst others.

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