Hungarian GP: Lando Norris wins first race of 2026 Formula 1 season after early Oscar Piastri squabble
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
1) Lando Norris, McLaren2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull3) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari5) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari6) Isack Hadjar, Red Bull7) George Russell, Mercedes8) Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls9) Nico Hulkenberg, Audi10) Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
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.
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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.
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"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."
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
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