Hungarian GP: Lando Norris wins first race of 2026 Formula 1 season after early Oscar Piastri squabble
Reigning world champion Lando Norris won McLaren's first race of the season with victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix from Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli; watch all the remaining 2026 races live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Dutch GP from August 21-23
Sunday 26 July 2026 16:47, UK
Lando Norris won his first race of 2026 after an early squabble with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Pole-sitter Norris lost out to Piastri in a feisty opening lap but eventually used his stronger pace to retake the lead after the second round of pit stops, as Piastri made contact when lapping Williams' Carlos Sainz.
However, Piastri later retired when running in second due to a gearbox issue which caused a late Virtual Safety Car with 14 laps remaining.
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Ferrari elected to pit Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc from second and fifth but it turned out to be the wrong call for Hamilton as he sped in the pit lane, so was given a five-second time penalty, and could not overtake Max Verstappen or Kimi Antonelli who both did not pit.
Verstappen hung onto second after a stunning final stint as Antonelli fended Hamilton off on the track to extend his championship lead to 50 points over the Ferrari driver and 59 points to George Russell, who stalled at the start then fought back to seventh.
Hamilton's penalty demoted him to fifth behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc while Red Bull's Isack Hadjar finished sixth.
The seven-time world champion will rue another missed opportunity to challenge for the win as Ferrari did not optimise their strategy and he lost time early on when battling Verstappen, who made a great move on Hamilton into Turn 1.
Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad had a race-long scrap with Audi's Nico Hulkenberg with Lawson coming out on top from Hulkenberg and Lindblad in the final points-paying positions in the last Grand Prix before the four-week summer break.
Norris wins after early team orders dispute
McLaren's big upgrade package for Hungary vaulted them to the front and Norris had been in flying form throughout the weekend.
But, Piastri got a tremendous start and capitalised on a wide moment from Norris at the second turn to take the lead and claim track position on a circuit which is tricky to overtake at.
Norris clearly had more pace in hand but was unable to find a way through and became increasingly frustrated on the radio, asking if he could pit first before the second round of pit stops.
The reigning world champion was told he could not, so McLaren pitted Piastri just before half distance of the 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix while Norris stayed out.
Despite having old tyres, Norris was able to slightly outpace Piastri who got caught out by lapped traffic, including Sainz who did not see the Australian at Turn 2 so the pair made minor contact.
Norris pitted on Lap 40 and came out ahead of his team-mate and went on to dominate the remainder of the race, while Piastri was on course for second, only to suffer a gearbox failure.
"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," said Norris.
"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."
Missed chance for Ferrari and Hamilton?
Having qualified on the front row on a track Ferrari were expected to be strong at, things looked promising for Hamilton at the end of Q3 only for him to be demoted three places for impeding Piastri in qualifying.
Nevertheless, starting fifth, there were still opportunities for Hamilton and he made a strong start on his new softs to move into fourth, crucially ahead of team-mate Leclerc.
He was all over arch-rival Verstappen during the first stint but could not make an overtake, so Ferrari pitted him early to undercut the four-time world champion.
It paid off, only for Verstappen to make a stunning move down the inside at Turn 1 after a blistering out lap so Hamilton was stuck behind the Red Bull driver again.
He pitted for a second time on Lap 30 and was on a charge, effectively in third place behind Norris and Piastri as Red Bull chose to run Verstappen long.
After Piastri's retirement, Hamilton was on course for second and to make inroads into his championship deficit to Antonelli but Ferrari, with hindsight, made the wrong decision to pit the British driver under a late Virtual Safety Car.
Hamilton dropped from second to fourth, just behind Antonelli on a close pit merge but was deemed to speed in the pit lane.
He couldn't find a way by Antonelli and his five-second time penalty for speeding dropped him to fifth on a day Ferrari probably had the pace to at least fight Norris for the win.
The Formula 1 season resumes after the summer break with a Sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix from August 21-23, with every session live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
