@LandoNorris beats @Max33Verstappen, #Antonelli to #HungarianGP victory. #F1

Norris Hungarian GP Victory – Reigning World Champion Lando Norris lead from start-to-finish to score a solid victory for McLaren at the Hungarian GP ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who was second and championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli who completed the top three.

 

 

This was Norris’s 12^th-career victory to end the first half of the season on a high before the sport’s traditional summer break.

 

In terms of the World Driver’s Championship – Antonelli’s third-placed-finish means he increased his lead in the standings and now has a 50-point lead over Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton (who finished fifth after being hit with a five-second-timed-penalty), and 56 points over his team-mate George Russell (who finished seventh).

 

Antonelli – 219 points.

Hamilton – 169 points.

Russell – 160 points.

 

Mercedes holds a 72-point lead over Ferrari in the World Constructors Championship standings.

 

Mercedes – 379 points.

Ferrari – 307 points.

McLaren – 220 points.

 

When the 70-lap Hungarian GP began, pole-sitter Norris got a really good start as Leclerc was past by Piastri whilst Verstappen overtook both Ferrari’s into turn one.

 

Both Hamilton and Verstappen made slight contact at the opening corner and through turns two and three Piastri swept past team-mate Norris into the lead.

 

Russell suffered anti-stall and dropped back into 21^st.

 

The beginning of the second tour saw Piastri at 0.9 seconds clear of Norris with Verstappen third, Hamilton fourth, Leclerc fifth, Antonelli sixth, Hadjar seventh, Lawson eighth, Lindblad ninth as Hulkenberg completed the top ten.

 

Hamilton was all over the back of Verstappen in the battle for third place.

 

The third tour – Piastri was leading in Hungary – the scene of his maiden Grand Prix victory. But he had not broken the Overtake at this stage, with Norris sticking within one second behind the Australian.

 

Hamilton was still having a look at Verstappen in the battle for third, and Stroll had radioed to complain about a lack of power.

 

Hamilton most likely would be pitting early to get rid of his softer tyres.

 

The fourth lap – Norris had just slipped outside the one second mark behind his McLaren team-mate Piastri, so would not have Overtake Mode in his grasp. If things stood as they are, Piastri would get the preference of the first pit-stop.

 

Norris had Verstappen for company, nine tenths back and Hamilton was just three tenths further adrift.

 

The fifth lap – Lawson remained in eighth, in-front of Lindblad and Hulkenberg.

 

Further back, Russell was charging back – the Mercedes driver was up to 16^th.

 

Lap seven – Piastri was now 1.2 seconds ahead of Norris.

 

Verstappen had fallen back – he was 1.9 seconds adrift, so Norris no longer needs to think about defending from the Red Bull.

 

Hamilton was all over the back of the Dutchman, but surely his C5’s would start overheating in the dirty air from the RB22.

 

Antonelli had been unable to make in-roads in his battle with Leclerc, who was back up to speed and looking on chasing down the Ferrari.

 

The eighth tour – Up-front, this is slightly unchartered territory for McLaren. Yes, they done solid in the Sprint race in Miami, but they have not had the pace in the Grands Prix generally to fight for victories.

 

Piastri was now 1.7 seconds clear of his McLaren team-mate Norris, whilst Perez was noted for a starting infringement.

 

Lap 10 – Leclerc was now within a second of Hamilton ahead. Should Ferrari split strategies and bring one driver in was the question? Nothing to lose, as they need to find a way past the Red Bull to take the fight to the papaya cars out-front.

 

“Dirty air,” muttered Norris, in response to a question about his tyres from Race Engineer William Joseph.

 

The 11^th tour – Race leader Piastri qualified fifth, he started third and was currently leading the race. He was told Plan A, and he replied that he was fine with that option.

 

Piastri led by 1.4 seconds, Norris suddenly started closing back in on his team-mate.

 

Lap 12 – Hamilton had been within a second of Verstappen the entire proceedings so far – but he could not find a way past the Red Bull.

 

“Max is really slow,” said Hamilton.

 

They were battling for third place, and this was allowing the two McLarens to pull away.

 

Lap 13 – Russell was back up to 11^th and was 3.3 seconds behind Hulkenberg in the battle for the final points place.

 

Hamilton pitted from fourth and with a 2.6 second stop emerged on the harder compounds down in ninth place behind Lindblad.

 

A tour later – Hamilton crucially made it past Lindblad to take eighth as Red Bull reacted from Hamilton’s stop.

 

Hamilton came out crucially in-front of Verstappen.

 

Lap 16 – McLaren ordered race leader Piastri to box, but Bottas’s brakes caught fire and was seen travelling slowing in the pits – the McLaren team opted to keep the Australian out on track.

 

Yellows in the pit lane, so no one could respond just yet in terms of stops unless they want to lose another tenth.

 

Verstappen went late, late on the brakes and forced his way down the inside into Turn 1 of Hamilton in a thrilling move past the Ferrari.

 

The 17^th tour – Both race leader Piastri and Leclerc pitted too. Hard tyres for both drivers.

 

Piastri was out in fourth place in-front of Verstappen, Leclerc was down in eighth.

 

Lap 18 – Norris pitted from the lead, put on a set of the harder rubber, an average 3.6 second stop and came out in fourth place behind team-mate Piastri.

 

That meant Antonelli lead from Hadjar, those pairing were yet to pit. Piastri was all over the back of the four-time World Champion, who was aiming to help his team-mate by holding up the McLaren.

 

The 19^th lap – Antonelli lead the race but was still yet to pit. Hadjar was holding up both McLarens, those three were running together and Piastri did get a move done down the main straight. Norris followed suit on the Frenchman through Turn 2.

 

Hadjar let Verstappen through but not Hamilton, so he was absolutely playing the team game.

 

Hamilton got past the second Red Bull into Turn 5, but Hadjar bought his team-mate a few tenths.

 

Lap 20 – Hadjar pitted for his C3’s and came out 10^th, as Piastri lead Norris by 0.8 seconds, Verstappen was one second behind that and Hamilton 1.2 seconds behind the Dutchman.

 

The quartet were on the same piece of track, all seeing each other in their various mirrors. Leclerc was a little further back, and Antonelli was still out in-front having not yet pitted.

 

The 21^st tour – Is Antonelli on a one-stop strategy was the question? Are the rest on a two-stopper?

 

McLaren had been told to get on with it, which implied a two-stop strategy for them.

 

Russell was yet to pit, and he was up to seventh as he overtook Lawson, who also had not yet stopped.

 

Lap 22 – Antonelli pitted, releasing Piastri back into the lead. The championship leader had a swift 2.1 second stop with a bolted set of harder compounds and came out in sixth place behind Leclerc.

 

The 24^th lap – Piastri was back in the lead, by nine tenths of a second from Norris. Verstappen was third, 1.8 seconds in-front of Hamilton. Then came Leclerc, Antonelli and Russell – who had yet to pit and looked to be hanging for a potential Safety Car.

 

Lap 25 – Norris had the edge on his team-mate Piastri all weekend, well, bar for that one corner on the opening tour. And he was coming for Piastri, just 0.666 seconds between the two McLaren team-mates.

 

The 26^th tour – Norris was still running right behind Piastri’s rear wing, the Australian unable to put the fresh air ahead to good use over his team-mate. The Australian could not break that one-second barrier and was under increasing pressure.

 

“Plan A, how’s the tyre?” Piastri was asked.

 

“It doesn’t feel great,” he responded.

 

The 27^th lap – The McLaren pairing were running line astern at this stage of proceedings – they had dropped Verstappen; Hamilton was a further 2.1 seconds back and Leclerc was 1.1 seconds back – although he was harrying his team-mate.

 

Antonelli was 3.4 seconds further back too as Leclerc was starting to ask the question of his team as to whether he would be let through if he had more pace than team-mate Hamilton.

 

Lap 28 – Ferrari had so much pace on the softer tyres, but on the hards they did not seem particularly strong. And the bad news was that they have a second set of those to use.

 

Russell finally pitted, harder tyres for the Briton in a slow 3.9 second stop. The Mercedes driver could not quite get away cleanly again. He was down in ninth in-front of Lawson.

 

The 29^th tour – Piastri remained in the lead, seven-and-a-half-tenths clear. Norris might need to send it, just like Verstappen did to get Hamilton earlier on.

 

Lap 30 – Norris got a nasty gust of wind and ran wide, and that bought Piastri some space. Now there was 1.5 second between the duo.

 

Behind, Leclerc was all over the back of Hamilton and finally had Overtake Mode. The pairing need to push on, as Antonelli was closing in behind.

 

Hamilton pitted for a fresh set of the harder tyres and had 2.4 second stop.

 

The seven-time World Champion emerged in seventh place behind Hadjar. The Briton needed to clear him as soon as he could.

 

Norris had closed back up to Piastri, who was struggling for pace.

 

The 32^nd lap – Piastri had been given the hurry up from his race engineer, but he did not have the pace left in his tyres. Norris was just 0.6 seconds back again.

 

Have McLaren got a problem on their hands was the question?

 

Further back, Hamilton breezed his way past Hadjar on the straight.

 

Lap 33 – McLaren sent their pit crew out – and they came back in.

 

Norris meanwhile wanted to be let past. “You mean you won’t let me? I’m miles faster,” he said.

 

Piastri was leading and was 0.6 seconds ahead. And as such, he had the preferential pit stop strategy.

 

As Hamilton was flying on new harder tyres.

 

Piastri pitted from the lead on lap 34 for his new set of the C3’s and came out in fifth place behind Antonelli after a 2.6 second stop.

 

The mid-way point of the race – McLaren had left Norris out – and it looked like he was going to try to create a gap and a tyre offset for later in the Grand Prix.

 

He lead from Verstappen, Leclerc and Antonelli.

 

Then came Piastri, who was going to the end. Hamilton was 2.6 second back and was also going to the end.

 

The 36^th lap – Norris was fighting Piastri and Hamilton. Verstappen was battling Hamilton. No one quite knows what Antonelli was doing. And no one knew who would win, and who will be on the podium.

 

Leclerc pitted for hard tyres; another 2.5 second stop and the Monegasque driver was back out in seventh place behind Hadjar.

 

Meanwhile, Mercedes had told Antonelli the one-stopper was not working for him, he was already losing too much life from his tyres.

 

The 38^th tour – Norris had yet to pit a second time, and Verstappen was in the same situation.

 

Drama – contact for Piastri with Williams’ Sainz. He was overtaking Sainz, and the Spaniard just did not seem to see him coming under the blue flags.

 

Lap 39 – The contact was minimal in terms of damage, with race time not so much. It was a wheel bang, and Piastri had lost so much time and as a result – Norris nearly had a pit stop advantage.

 

The 40^th lap – Norris was in for more harder tyres. This was it and he came out in-front of Piastri.

 

Norris held the net lead of the race.

 

Lap 41 – Up-front, Verstappen lead from Antonelli. Norris was two seconds in-front of Piastri, and had a tyre offset and seemingly was faster.

 

The race win had to be gone for the Australian with Piastri muttering: “Mate, Don’t ***** talk to me now.”

 

The 42^nd lap – Verstappen pitted for a used set of soft tyres.

 

The Dutchman came out side-by-side with Leclerc, Verstappen just in-front, but Leclerc tried a move into Turn 1. The Dutchman might have cold tyres but they were rapidly warming up and Verstappen kept the Ferrari at bay.

 

The Red Bull driver was out in fifth place behind Hamilton.

 

Lap 43 – All change yet again – Antonelli, who had only pitted once, was leading the race. Norris was second and was now five seconds clear of Piastri in third.

 

Then came Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc.

 

Hadjar had pitted from seventh place.

 

The 44^th tour – Could Antonelli hold them at bay? Was he one-stopping was the question? Surely not. Antonelli was only 1.6 seconds clear of a charging Norris.

 

Piastri was losing more time and was cutting a rather frustrated figure at this stage.

 

Hamilton impeding him cost him in Qualifying, and now some contact when lapping Sainz might have costed him the win.

 

Sainz was hit with a five-second-timed-penalty by the race stewards for causing a collision with Piastri.

 

Lap 45 – Norris had caught the Mercedes and was crawling all over the back of Antonelli’s F1 W17 entry. But given the Italian’s tyres were 22 laps older, this fight would be short-lived.

 

Leclerc was still all over the back of Verstappen in the battle for fifth.

 

The 46^th lap – Norris got the move done, after a bit of side-by-side with the Italian into the Hamilton corner. The reigning world champion was back in the lead, and unlikely to pit again with a big lead over his team-mate Piastri.

 

The Briton was on the charge.

 

Lap 47 – Norris was in the lead, Antonelli holding second and yet-to-pit a second time, and Piastri in third.

 

Verstappen was 6.6 seconds behind Hamilton, but on fresher rubber – although they were soft and thus their full tyre life was unknown.

 

Leclerc was trying to chase down the Red Bull driver whilst Russell was battling to stay in the points.

 

Lap 48 – Norris had checked out in first place; the Briton was 4.1 seconds in-front of the Mercedes and was 8.6 seconds in-front of his team-mate.

 

The 49^th lap – Antonelli was warned about track limits again – a recurring theme this season for the Italian.

 

The championship leaders’ pace was okay, but these tyres could drop off a cliff at any moment.

 

The 50^th tour – “Something feels wrong with the car,” said Leclerc. The Ferrari driver was told it was overheating, with the track temperatures remaining around 50 Degrees.

 

He was dropping back off Verstappen

 

Lap 51 – Bottas had already retired for Cadillac, and now Perez was moving slowly. The Mexican had something flapping around on his suspension according to the radio.

 

The other Cadillac driver made it back to the pits to retire the car.

 

Replays showed it was the front suspension that was an issue – possibly a track rod.

 

The 52^nd lap – Norris was out in-front at the Hungaroring, a race he won last season. He was 7.2 seconds clear of Antonelli who was lapping slower than Norris, but on a par with Piastri in third place.

 

Hamilton in fourth was 4.1 seconds in-front of Verstappen.

 

The 53^rd lap – Lindblad was in ninth place ahead of Bortoleto – they both only have stopped once.

 

Lawson in 11^th had stopped twice, as did Hulkenberg in 12^th. RB and Audi were sensibly splitting strategies between their respective drivers.

 

Lap 54 – Antonelli was called in. “But can we go to the end?” the championship leader said. The Italian was told they don’t think the tyres would make it to the end – as his lap times were good.

 

The Mercedes driver emerged in sixth in-front of team-mate Russell. On fresher tyres. With both Leclerc and Verstappen in his sights.

 

The 55^th tour – Norris had a huge 12.4 second lead over Piastri. Hamilton was only two seconds back; Piastri did just not have the speed.

 

Verstappen was 2.8 seconds back on the Ferrari, and Leclerc was 7 seconds back.

 

The gap to Antonelli was three seconds as Russell pitted.

 

The 56^th lap – Antonelli was told with his pace he could get back to second, especially with his tyre offset.

 

Piastri had an issue, he was stopping.

 

The Australian had stopped down at Turn 3 and the VSC was called.

 

Mercedes pitted a couple of tour too soon to take advantage. But with the VSC out for Piastri’s car – a gearbox issue ending the Australian’s race early – many of his rivals took the opportunity to pit.

 

Norris was in, Hamilton and Leclerc both came in whilst Verstappen remained out.

 

Lap 57 – Norris lead from Verstappen as the VSC ends – the Dutchman was on 18 lap-old softer tyres. Hamilton was all over the back of him on used soft compounds.

 

Antonelli was down in fourth place.

 

The 58^th lap – Norris remained with a 5.4 second lead over Verstappen. Behind, Hamilton and Antonelli were battling, Hamilton held the position on his way out of the pits despite Antonelli being ahead at the SC line so Hamilton had to cede the position back to the Mercedes driver.

 

So Antonelli was up to third place.

 

Lap 59 – As Antonelli and Hamilton started to battle and fly, Leclerc was fifth in-front of Hadjar and Russell.

 

Lindblad, Bortoleto and Lawson remained in the points for the midfield.

 

The 60^th tour – Only reliability could do it for Norris here, as he held a six second lead and reasonably fresh tyres to get to the end.

 

Verstappen was being helped to no end on his older tyres by the fact that Antonelli and Hamilton were fighting so hard behind, as they were not closing that gap to the Dutchman.

 

Half-a-second between the duo in the fight for the final podium place.

 

Lap 61 – Verstappen would be hoping for some luck, as he looked at the lap counter. If Antonelli and Hamilton continue fighting, the Dutchman could be on for a solid second place.

 

Hamilton was currently under investigation by the stewards for speeding in the pit-lane.

 

The 62^nd tour – Antonelli was two seconds ahead of Hamilton, so a podium was on for the championship leader – but could he hunt down Verstappen was the question? He was lapping 1.3 seconds faster at this stage of proceedings, and the gap was 5.1 seconds.

 

Lap 63 – Up-front, Norris was flying – he was told to slow down and watch for track limits. He led by 9.5 seconds over Verstappen.

 

Further back Antonelli picked up traffic and lapped the backmarkers in a really bad place, losing time as a result.

 

The 64^th tour – Traffic has costed Antonelli time, not only had he lost time to Verstappen., but Hamilton had closed back up to 1.5 seconds. He was just 0.6 seconds back, as the Ferrari driver met the tailenders at a better point on the circuit.

 

Lap 65 – Hamilton was in hot water – the punishment for pit lane speeding tends to be a five-second-time penalty, and he was 4.7 seconds in-front of his team-mate Leclerc.

 

Antonelli got past Hulkenberg down the straight, which helped him, but so did Hamilton.

 

The 66^th tour – Norris lead by 11.9 seconds from Verstappen, as the World Champion was on course for a maiden Grand Prix victory in 2026.

 

Hamilton was slapped with a five-second-timed-penalty for speeding in the pit-lane – He was 5.044 seconds in-front of Leclerc at this stage, so he wouldn’t lose out. But would Ferrari tell the Monegasque man to keep pushing, or let them be was the question?

 

This helped Antonelli out.

 

Lap 67 – Antonelli was six seconds behind Verstappen as the laps ticked down, and he was only four tenths faster on that last tour. No more traffic.

 

Norris was told that aggressive use of the kerbs could have contributed to Piastri’s gearbox problem and was warned to keep off them as the Briton heads towards the win.

 

The 68^th lap – Leclerc was 4.6 seconds back from Hamilton, so as it stood, Hamilton would drop one position.

 

The penultimate tour – Ferrari tell Hamilton about his time penalty.

 

“Ah, they are handing out penalties like crazy,” he said in response.

 

He was just 4.4 seconds in-front of Leclerc.

 

Norris crossed the line to take victory at the Hungarian GP by 15.080 seconds over Verstappen as Antonelli completed the top three.

 

Leclerc was promoted to fourth to finish ahead of team-mate Hamilton who was hit with the five-second-timed-penalty for speeding in the pit-lane whilst Hadjar placed six for Red Bull.

 

Russell recovered from a poor start off the grid due to anti-stall to finish seventh and ahead of Lawson who placed eighth as Hulkenberg and Lindblad rounded out the final points places.

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2026 Hungarian GP – The Top Three

 

 

2026 Hungarian GP Winner – Lando Norris, #1, McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL40 – (25 Points):

“I’m tired! I don’t know what happened [on the opening lap], I just kept losing the rear and had some snaps, so game over for the first lap. I was pushing like hell to force [Piastri] into a mistake. my pace today was some of the best I have ever had. My pace was so good I could always extend the stint. Just happy to be back, happy to see the No. 1 again. This track is god for us, and one of my best-suited all year so maybe this is as good as it gets for now.”

 

2^nd Place – Max Verstappen, #3, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Ford-RBPT, RB22 – +15.080s – (18 Points):

“I didn’t expect to be on the podium today. We worked hard for it, just trying to survive on the compounds and make the right calls on the strategy as well. I saw the opportunity as my only one and I just went for it [against Hamilton]. It was all under control.”

 

3^rd Place – Andrea Kimi Antonelli, #12, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W17 – +18.728s – (15 Points):

“It was a tough race; we had to try and do something with strategy. We tried to go for a one-stop, but the tyre was too much on the limit so we had to stop. I am very happy; it is the best way to go into the summer break [leading the Championship]. We need to keep pushing as the second half will be hard.”

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Formula 1 AWS Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 Race Results Classification (70 Laps)

 

 

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	70	1:39:56.180	25
2	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	70	+15.080s	18
3	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	70	+18.728s	15
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	70	+23.840s	12
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	70	+24.540s	10
6	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	70	+55.488s	8
7	63	George Russell	Mercedes	70	+57.503s	6
8	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	69	+1 lap	4
9	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	69	+1 lap	2
10	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	69	+1 lap	1
11	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	69	+1 lap	0
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	69	+1 lap	0
13	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	69	+1 lap	0
14	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	69	+1 lap	0
15	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	68	+2 laps	0
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	68	+2 laps	0
17	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	68	+2 laps	0
18	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	68	+2 laps	0
19	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	68	+2 laps	0
NC	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	55	DNF	0
NC	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	48	DNF	0
NC	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	13	DNF	0

 

* Provisional results. Note – Bearman received a five-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags. Hamilton received a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit-lane.

FORMULA 1 AWS HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 2026 – RACE RESULT

 

Click here for the 2026 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

Round 12 of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship returns in a month for the final race at the famous Circuit Zandvoort in Zandvoort, The Netherlands for the Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2026 from Friday August 21-Sunday August 23.