Lando Norris secured his first victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the Hungarian Grand Prix. McLaren’s dominant performance in Budapest has prompted scrutiny from rival teams regarding its underlying causes.
Mercedes, a team that has claimed the majority of victories this season, expressed reservations about the full explanation for McLaren’s sudden competitiveness. Simone Resta, from Mercedes, suggested factors beyond the introduced upgrades were at play.
Norris took pole position by a narrow 0.012 seconds over Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli. Antonelli later received a three-place grid penalty for a yellow flag infringement during qualifying.
This penalty, issued for failing to slow sufficiently at Turn 11 during Q3, meant Antonelli started from fourth on the grid. George Russell’s Mercedes also suffered an anti-stall issue at the start of the race.
Russell’s technical problem effectively removed him from contention early in the race. This left the Mercedes challenge compromised from the outset of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.
McLaren introduced a significant upgrade package for the MCL40 in Hungary. These updates included a revised floor body design, a new rear wing endplate, and updated rear corner winglets.
Resta acknowledged the upgrades were substantial and contributed to McLaren’s pace. However, he highlighted the performance gap between Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri during the event.
‘The update package was certainly significant, and it must have contributed to their performance. At the same time, if you look at the gap between their two cars, there was clearly more to it than the upgrade alone.’
Resta suggested Norris’s individual form, car setup, and tyre management could have been significant factors. He noted Norris has shown strong performances multiple times this season.
Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal, maintained that the performance improvement was entirely due to the introduced upgrades. He stated the team had not anticipated such strong race pace.
Stella also pointed to a significant step forward in power unit exploitation. McLaren, as a customer team, collaborated closely with Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains (HPP).
This collaboration focused on extracting maximum potential from the power unit. Stella credited HPP for helping McLaren ‘squeeze every single millisecond’ from the engine.
The Hungaroring circuit, known for its tight and twisty layout, places a premium on mechanical grip and downforce. This characteristic can amplify the impact of specific aerodynamic improvements.
Piastri initially led the race ahead of Norris. However, his battle was affected by a lapped Carlos Sainz, causing him to lose approximately 2.5 seconds.
Piastri later retired from the race due to a gearbox issue. Norris then extended his lead, securing a commanding victory for McLaren.
McLaren had been several months behind in aero development earlier in the season relative to competitors. Stella expressed confidence in the team’s proven track record of introducing efficient upgrades.
This victory marked McLaren’s first of the 2026 season. Mercedes had secured the majority of wins prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Ferrari also claiming victories.
Stella affirmed McLaren’s commitment to continuous development. He expects further significant upgrades across the grid in the remaining 11 races of the season.
