Lando Norris takes first win of F1 2026 as drama hits rivals at Hungarian GP

Lando Norris scored his first victory as a Formula 1 world champion as drama hit his rivals at the Hungarian Grand Prix. 

Reigning world champion Norris capitalised on traffic trouble for McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, and superior race pace, to take his first win of the season, which marked his first victory since the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he sealed his maiden world title. 

It appeared for so long to be a battle between the McLaren duo, with the Woking squad appearing to be heading towards another 1-2 at the Hungaroring, until Piastri dropped out with a gearbox failure on lap 56. 

2026 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix race results

Piastri's hopes of winning had already been ruined after he clashed with backmarker Carlos Sainz at Turn 3, which resulted in the Williams driver being hit with a five-second time penalty. 

Other than a scruffy start that saw him lose the lead from pole when he ran wide at Turn 2 defending from Piastri, there was no such drama for Norris once he got back into a lead that he never relinquished. 

“I don’t know what happened, to be honest. I just kept losing the rear, I had like three or four big snaps. It felt horrible," Norris said of his poor start. 

“Oscar did a good job to get the cut back and get back past. I think I was just a bit wide in the dirt, and game over for the first lap.

“But I was pushing like hell to try to force him into a mistake or something. 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.

“And 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.”

Max Verstappen came home a distant second despite spending most of the race complaining about the performance of his Red Bull.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli recovered to third to complete the podium and further extend his championship lead. 

Any pre-weekend promise of a Ferrari victory faded in the race as Charles Leclerc could only take fourth, ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who picked up a fourth penalty in the last three events. 

The seven-time world champion, who was demoted three places on the grid in Hungary for impeding Piastri in qualifying, was hit with a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane during Sunday’s race. 

Hamilton finished fourth on the road but dropped to P5 behind Leclerc once the penalty was applied. 

Isack Hadjar was sixth in the second Red Bull, ahead of George Russell, who fought back to seventh after his Mercedes stalled at the start as his luckless run continued in Budapest. 

Liam Lawson finished eighth ahead of Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and team-mate Arvid Lindblad, who sealed another double points finish for Racing Bulls to round out the top-10. 

There was another double DNF for the Cadillacs pair of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, who joined Piastri on the sidelines as the three retirements.