Start of the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix
Start of the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix
LIVE

F1 Hungary LIVE: Race updates as Norris leads and Piastri retires

Live coverage of Sunday at the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix

KEY MOMENTS

  • McLarens trade places at pit stop
  • Russell hits more troubles
  • Verstappen and Hamilton battle hard

The tenth round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

A modern classic, the Hungaroring is often described as Monaco without the walls, due to its tight and twisty nature.

As the championship reaches the summer shutdown, all eyes are on Aston Martin, with the team bringing a significant 16-part upgrade. While the pace on Friday was a marked improvement, a suspension failure in FP1 for Lance Stroll ruled him out of the afternoon running.  

McLaren debuted its 'Macarena wing' with rookie Leonardo Fornaroli in FP1, but the part will not feature fully until after the summer break.

Lando Norris topped all three phases of qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton setting the second fastest time. However, the Ferrari man was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri, meaning he starts from fifth. Kimi Antonelli was also given a three-place grid drop for ignoring yellow flags, and starts from seventh. 

2026 Hungarian Grand Prix Sunday schedule

Grand Prix: 2:00pm BST - 4:00pm BST

26 Jul 2026
14:56

In comes Leclerc from fourth. It sounds like Antonelli may not be able to make the one-stop work, as he complains about the tyres. 

14:54

Antonelli is with Leclerc now and is searching for any opportunity to make a pass. Leclerc, like Norris, is going long on this stint. 

14:53

There is a chance that McLaren has blinked early here, with Ferrari forcing their hand. 

14:52

Piastri comes out ahead of Hamilton by three seconds. Norris needs to pit now to have any chance of staying ahead of Hamilton. He may elect to stay out and go long, taking the tyre offset to the end, which may help him against Piastri later on. 

14:51

Norris complains that McLaren "won't let me" pit. He's the second driver on the track though, so it's Piastri's decision. 

But Hamilton is flying on his new hards, so McLaren has to pit one of the cars. 

In comes Piastri. 

14:49

Hamilton finds a way through, and Norris demands to 'box this lap'. The mechanics come out, but both drivers continue. "Lando, we can't, I'm afraid."

14:48

In comes Hamilton for a second stop on lap 31. Fresh hard tyres. This looks almost like a three-stopper now, with more than half the distance remaining. 

The wing adjust wasn't completed, and Hadjar is now ahead of the Ferrari. 

14:46

A third wide moment of the race for Norris. This time, it's up at Turn 4. He goes across the aggressive kerbing, but is now 1.5s back on his team-mate. 

14:43

Hamilton and Leclerc are about to get some bad news, as Antonelli comes charging up to the pair of Ferraris. Verstappen has now managed to pull 2.6s clear of Hamilton. 

14:41

McLaren is still targeting 'plan A', but Piastri reports that his tyres "aren't great". Norris will take some extra momentum from that. 

14:40

A thing of beauty. Verstappen's lunge on Hamilton. 

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14:38

Turning to Aston Martin briefly, we've given the team a lot of stick, but for the first time this year, Alonso is lapping in the top 10. Or at least, he was. Lawson pushes him back down to 11th. 

14:36

In comes Antonelli on lap 22. Possibly calling time on a one-stop plan. A 2.1s stop, and he returns to the track in sixth place. 

14:34

But the McLaren pair have closed by a second in the last lap on Antonelli. Mercedes would likely stop as Piastri closes right up in 10 laps or so. These are some very evenly matched strategies. 

14:32

We haven't really paid any attention to Antonelli yet in this race, but he leads by 12.6s right now. Mercedes will be considering a one-stop play here, and it could well work. 

14:31

Piastri swings wide out of the last corner and uses some boost to pull clear of Hadjar. Norris tries it on the exit of Turn 1, and completes the move around the outside. 

Hadjar allows Verstappen through, and Hamilton forces his way around the outside of Turn 5. 

14:29

Antonelli now leads by 12.7s, but he is yet to pit. 

14:29

A slow stop for Norris. He comes out right ahead of Verstappen, but Piastri is stuck behind Hadjar, who is slowing the leaders to bring Verstappen back into contention for the win. We've seen these games before. 

14:28

Verstappen complains about Hamilton moving under braking, but Red Bull remain impressed by the move. 

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14:27

Piastri comes in this time, and that move from Verstappen might well have saved his lead. Norris will need to come in this time around. 

14:26

Verstappen throws it down the inside of Hamilton into Turn 1, and he pulls off a stunning move on the Ferrari driver! That was brave! Hamilton is trying everything to return the favour. 

14:25

Oh no. Bottas reports smoke from his brakes. The left front looks locked on, and there are visible flames from the Cadillac...again!

14:24

Hard tyres for Verstappen, and Hamilton just makes it work, sweeping around the outside of the Dutchman into Turn 1. 

14:24

Hamilton passes Lindblad around the outside of Turn 5, and in comes Verstappen. This will be very close between the old rivals. 

14:23

Hamilton pits, pulling out of Verstappen's dirty air. This is at least a two-stop plan. Hard tyres go on. This will only work IF Verstappen is not doing a one-stop strategy. 

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