If you missed the Hungarian GP 2026, you honestly missed a lot. Grid penalties before the race, teammates fighting for positions, a retirement with just 15 laps to go, and most important of all, the reigning World Champion taking his first win of the 2026 season.
There was a lot going down in the 70 laps at the Hungaroring.
From Pole to second, and back again
Starting from pole, Lando Norris lost his race lead at the very first lap of the Hungarian GP 2026 to Oscar Piastri, who made a clean overtake coming to turn 2. The reigning World Champion was stuck behind his teammate for a large part of the afternoon despite putting up faster lap times. This frustrated the Mclaren driver and he made that known to the team over the radio.
The situation improved for the British driver once Piastri came in the pitlane for his second stop, giving Norris clean air to build a gap. While Norris’s race improved, his teammate did not share his fortune. Piastri, who was set to fight for the win lost valuable time because of contact with Sainz when he was trying to lap the Williams. Piastri’s efforts to recover from this setback were in vain when he was forced to retire the car with just around 15 laps to go when his gearbox gave out. The Virtual Safety Car that came out due to this incident, all but confirmed his teammate’s win at the Hungarian GP 2026.
Norris finished the race with a 15 seconds lead ahead of Verstappen. For McLaren, this win couldn’t have come at a better time. Now Norris heads into the summer break just 10 points behind Leclerc in the standings.
“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.”
Lando Norris
Verstappen & Antonelli make the most of a difficult day
Max Verstappen qualified sixth on Saturday, not where he was hoping to be. He started two places above his qualifying position because of Hamilton and Antonelli’s penalties, but he still had a tough afternoon ahead of him.
The Red Bull driver did experience some difficulties with the car during the race, but after careful tyre management and a close battle with Hamilton, he managed to lock down the second step on the podium at the Hungarian GP 2026.
“I didn’t expect to be on the podium today, but we worked hard for it.”
Max Verstappen
The Championship leader, Kimi Antonelli completed the top three standings. After failing to slow down for one of the yellow flags in qualifying, he was given a three-place grid penalty. The 19-year-old started from seventh at the Hungarian GP 2026, but managed to fight his way up to third place, and extended his lead in the Driver’s Standings.
“Of course I’m very happy… it’s the best way to go into the summer break.”
Kimi Antonelli
How the weekend looked for the rest of the grid
Hamilton finished fifth in the end, after a five-second penalty for pit lane speeding dropped him behind his teammate Leclerc, who came in fourth. Russell experienced one of the more difficult races of his season at the Hungarian GP 2026. An anti-stall on the opening lap made him drop to nineteenth, and he spent the next 60-something laps working his way back up, crossing the line in seventh. Not the result he was hoping for, but it was an impressive recovery from the Mercedes driver.
Hadjar was sixth for Red Bull, playing the team game during the race. Racing Bull’s Lawson was eighth, followed by Audi’s Hülkenberg in ninth who scored his first points of the season. The last point was grabbed by the other Racing Bull of Arvid Lindblad who crossed the finish line at tenth.
It was another disappointing weekend for Cadillac, as both Bottas and Perez were forced to retire due to issues with the car.
Into the summer break
The summer break arrives at an interesting moment. Antonelli still leads the championship, but Norris has just reminded everyone to not count him and McLaren out completely. Verstappen also managed to grab a podium for the fourth time this season in a car he has been openly struggling with, highlighting he is not done either.
Although the Hungarian GP 2026 did not end in their favor, Hamilton and Russell are still very much in the championship fight too.
The Dutch GP in Zandvoort is next and we have a feeling that the summer break won’t last long enough.
