Lando Norris captures first race as F1 champion
- Last updated: July 27, 2026 | 10:48
Defending 2025 Formula One champion Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, finally capturing his first victory of 2026.
Norris was the pole sitter in Mogyorod, Hungary, but quickly lost the top spot when his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, capitalised on a chance to overtake him at Turn 2 of the opening lap.
Norris and Piastri accounted for much of the race drama, with Norris unsuccessfully asking McLaren to call off Piastri. Norris had his first chance at clear sailing when McLaren pulled Piastri in for his second pitstop.
The owner of seven victories in 2025, Norris was forced to watch from behind until Piastri emerged from the pitstop and collided with the car of Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jr. The short delay was enough for Norris to overtake Piastri.
Norris took his first race as the champion ahead of four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull and points leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes.
"I don't know what happened, to be honest," Norris said of the faulty Turn 2. "I just kept losing the rear. I had like three or four big snaps. It felt horrible and of course Oscar did a good job to get the cutback and get back past, so I think I was just a bit wide in the dirt -- game over for the first lap.
"But man, I was pushing like hell to try and force him into a mistake or something. 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."
"I'm just happy to be back and see the number one again," the 26-year-old Brit added.
Piastri had completed 55 of the 70 laps when he was forced to end his day because of a problem with his gearbox.
Technical problems in shifting to the 2026 car specifications allowed Ferrari and Mercedes to pull ahead of McLaren this season after its dominant 2025.
Norris has complained plenty about his car this season but had compliments Sunday.
"The team has put so much work in to making a car that can finally win again. It's nice to be able to do it for them," Norris said.
"If we want to come back, we need a lot more of these and we need to continue putting pressure on our competition. This weekend was a perfect weekend for us but it's going to be tough, so we'll keep pushing and keep working hard.
"I owe the team a lot. They've done an amazing job to even get back to winning races at this point, so I'm proud."
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Hamilton fell to fifth place following a penalty for speeding during pitstops. A seven-time season champion, Hamilton is second to Antonelli in the driver standings, trailing by 50 points.
Mercedes leads the team standings with Ferrari second. McLaren is a distant third.
Formula One is now on its summer break until it resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix on Aug. 23.
Reuters