McLaren returns, and Norris returns as king
Lando Norris found in Hungary those feelings he hadn’t experienced for months. Almost nine months had passed since his last victory (the São Paulo GP), “due to” a McLaren that approached the new technical cycle with a two-month delay in aerodynamics. But the papayas once again proved to be a formidable team, capable of overturning the hierarchies with always efficient and effective updates. And with a champion’s performance, marred only at the start, Norris showed he can be a protagonist in the second half of the championship.
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The McLaren driver showed an unreachable pace throughout the race, managing the tires perfectly and building the success thanks to a consistent speed that allowed him to control every phase of the race. A clear victory, the result of a competitive car but also one of the best performances of his career, which comes as a seal on a championship that Norris considers to be of a higher level compared to the winning 2025.
Norris’s words
“When I have a good car like at the Hungaroring, I believe no one can beat me,” this was Norris’s comment after the GP. “At the start I went a bit wide and pushed like crazy to force Oscar into a mistake. My pace was probably one of the best I’ve ever had. The car was beautiful to drive and I felt very confident, it was a great race.”
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“It was one of my best performances in my career, for how I got the performance out of the car and for how close I was to the limit every lap, to the point that the team had to ask me to slow down a bit. I think I’m doing a better job this year compared to 2025, I’ve been saying it for a while, thanks to the work done in many different areas, some off-track and others here on track.”
In the drivers’ standings, Norris’s return to victory allows him to pull away from teammate Oscar Piastri and go on vacation with much more positivity. The gap to Kimi Antonelli is however 91 points, and the reigning world champion will need a huge feat to defend the title.
