The first victory for Lando Norris in 2026 was also the first race in which Mercedes had no chance of winning. After a poor start, the reigning champion pushed a once again dominant McLaren and saw his path cleared with the retirement of Oscar Piastri, victim of a touch with Carlos Sainz. The Woking team could not repeat its one-two finish from the last two seasons at Hungaroring, although it must feel satisfied with its improvement. Ferrari, on the other hand, could not even console itself with the podium, which fell to Max Verstappen and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The Italian strengthens his lead in the World Championship with this third position, four ahead of George Russell, victim of his calamitous error at the start. Although Mercedes never glimpsed the possibility of victory, Antonelli goes on vacation with 59 points over his main rival for the title. Toto Wolff, head of the Silver Arrows, can thank Lewis Hamilton, his old disciple, for the five-second penalty for exceeding the speed limit in the pit-lane.
In another, much smaller sphere, Aston Martin managed well, with its best collective performance of the season. Lance Stroll saw the checkered flag in thirteenth position, just ahead of Fernando Alonso. The conclusions were promising from the moment the Asturian driver clocked a 1:27.283, a lap at the pace of Haas or Alpine. He even dared to follow closely in the wake of Franco Colapinto during the first stint.
Stroke of genius from ‘Mad Max’
Aston Martin, like Ferrari, had fitted soft tires for its two drivers. And on the ninth lap, Stroll had to go through the garage to change the first set. The Scuderia, in turn, wanted to give Hamilton a different feel five laps later, fitting hard tires, with the cunning intention of the undercut on Verstappen. The strategy seemed to work, at least until the Dutchman presented the crowd with a colossal maneuver at turn 1 with which he would instantly get rid of Hamilton and Arvid Lindblad.
Mad Max made the most of his precarious Red Bull, in search of a highly improbable podium. McLaren, of course, had several lengths of advantage. The pace of the papaya cars even surpassed that of Mercedes, which made Antonelli wait 22 laps for his first pit-stop. The situation, by then, was already critical for Russell, victim, once again, of his own errors.
At the start, the Briton was relegated to twentieth place due to his inexperience with the anti-stall system. After a tortuous ride through the midfield, his lap 28 pit stop felt eternal (3.8 seconds). With hard tires, it is true, the title contender clocked a couple of fast laps, around 1:24.0.
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Aston Martin wanted to wait even longer to stop Alonso. Just as the halfway point of the race was reached, the Oviedo native fitted a set of medium tires with which he had to reach the finish line. As soon as he returned to the track, ahead of Alex Albon and Sergio Pérez, he was able to overtake Oliver Bearman. A few meters further on, he engaged in a close battle with Sainz.
Until then, the Madrid native had not appeared on the radars, because his car did not allow him any brilliance. To make matters worse, Carlos became an involuntary protagonist, just when he was supposed to be lapped by Piastri. Whether he didn’t see the blue flags or ignored them, the fact is that he caused a slight collision with the McLaren at the exit of turn 2. The five-second penalty was served during his next pit stop.
Piastri’s breakdown
Piastri’s anger was proportional to the decisiveness of the moment, with the Australian battling Norris for the lead. On lap 40, the reigning champion found himself in great difficulty, because his mechanics took a little longer than expected. Even so, he came out a few tenths ahead of his McLaren teammate, heading for victory.
If there was any doubt, Lando got rid of Antonelli at turn 1, marking his territory, showing unapproachable performance. Andrea Stella, team principal of the Woking team, could dream of a 1-2 finish until lap 56, when a gearbox failure put Piastri out of action.
Unbeatable news for Verstappen and Antonelli, whose quiet and constant work would be rewarded with the podium. The World Championship leader managed to contain the Ferraris. Red Bull, for its part, hit the nail on the head by not pitting during the virtual safety car caused by Piastri’s retirement. Already out of options, Hamilton even received a five-second penalty for his speeding. Only then, Charles Leclerc could he overtake the seven-time world champion at the finish line.