Hungarian GP 2026, race results: McLaren returns, Norris wins! Max and Kimi, class podiums. Ferrari terrible: Leclerc 4th, Lewis 5th

F1 Hungary, GP standings

F1 Hungary, GP report

McLaren repeats itself: the first part of the papaya team’s upgrades works wonders and allows Lando Norris to return to victory after almost nine months. A great performance by the world champion, who in the second stop overtakes teammate Oscar Piastri and pulls away, exploiting the pace of the MCL40.

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Decisive for Norris’s success was gaining track position against Piastri, who was significantly slower on pace, but naturally, the Hungaroring does not favor overtakes. On lap 39, the Australian lost crucial time in an incredible contact with Carlos Sainz, who, as a lapped driver, closed him off between turn 2 and turn 3; the #81 thus suffered Norris’s overcut, who secured his 12th career victory. A great pity for Piastri, who, after a masterful start, led the first half of the race; then, he was even left stranded by a gearbox failure.

Does Ferrari take advantage? Not at all. Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli, authors of two excellent races, take to the podium. Super Max puts up a wall against Lewis Hamilton in the first stint, the Ferrari driver overtakes him with an undercut but the Dutchman perhaps signs the overtake of the year against the #44. The four-time world champion thus sets the table for the podium and thanks to Piastri’s knockout, obtains a P2 that until yesterday was not even in his dreams. Kimi does what he has to: wait. From P7 it is unthinkable to climb back up even with a remarkable pace, so Antonelli extends his stints to the extreme hoping to finish the GP with one stop, but Mercedes stops him on lap 53 for fear of punctures. The Bolognese driver still snatches an excellent third place for the Drivers’ World Championship, where he has a 50-point lead over Hamilton.

A nightmare Sunday, however, for Ferrari, who arrived in Hungary as favorites and finished the GP off the podium, making one glaring mistake after another, both at team level and driving level: Charles Leclerc is fourth ahead of Hamilton. The recipe for disaster contains the following elements: Leclerc starts very badly and loses three positions with used soft tires and on the dirty track; Hamilton remains stuck behind Verstappen despite the aggressive choice of new soft tires; the #44 pulls off the undercut to overtake Max but is sensationally passed in turn 1 by the Dutchman (the only overtake of the GP among the top positions); every stop puts Hamilton and Leclerc in traffic; in an attempt to exploit the Virtual Safety Car caused by Piastri, Sir Lewis agrees to lose second position to be more aggressive with the softs, but first he has to yield position to Antonelli (who passed a few hundredths ahead of the Safety Car line) and then receives a 5″ penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Before serving the dish, one must not forget the Q3 “masterpiece,” between an early exit and the pit wall’s error on impeding. An incredible opportunity thrown away by Frederic Vasseur’s team, who for this performance perhaps deserved an even worse punishment than the 22 points collected today, which nevertheless keep the Scuderia afloat in the Constructors’ World Championship.

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Also scoring points are Isack Hadjar, George Russell (whose anti-stall engaged at the start), the two Racing Bulls, and Nico Hülkenberg: first points for the German this season. Improvements are starting to be seen from Aston Martin (13th Lance Stroll, 14th Fernando Alonso), a disastrous race for Haas and Williams.

F1 Hungary, GP live report

You can relive the emotions of the Hungaroring GP with our live report.

The next event

F1 goes on holiday and returns after mid-August to Zandvoort. In the Netherlands, it starts on Friday, August 21st, at 12:30 PM for the only free practice session (this is the fifth of six Sprint events), while Sprint Qualifying will begin at 4:30 PM. On Saturday, the Sprint at noon and Qualifying at 4 PM, Sunday the GP at 3 PM.

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