Hungarian Grand Prix: Norris - Verstappen - Antonelli

      Sunny. Dry. Air +30…31°C, track +51...49°C

      In 2026, the Hungarian weekend did not take place in the calm and relaxed atmosphere of vacation anticipation, as usual, but turned out to be truly combative. Recent stages on fast tracks in Silverstone and Spa were easier for the teams than on the slow Hungaroring.

      All practices were interrupted by red flags, and the power dynamics looked completely different than last week in Spa – and the teams could not explain the unexpected loss of competitiveness.

      On Friday, Lewis Hamilton led, and everyone talked about Ferrari's advantage, but on Saturday, Lando Norris from McLaren set the best time in practice and qualifying. This was the first pole of the season that did not go to Mercedes.

      Aston Martin brought the AMR26 "specification B" for the first time – and Fernando Alonso made it to the second part of qualifying for the first time this season.

      Two drivers lost three places at the start. Hamilton inadvertently hindered Oscar Piastri's fast lap, while Antonelli did not slow down enough under yellow flags when Verstappen spun at the end of qualifying. Cadillac violated the closed park conditions, and Sergio Perez started from the pit lane.

      Norris and Leclerc started the race from the front row of the grid, Piastri and Verstappen from the second, Hamilton and Russell from the third. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli started seventh.

      Pirelli brought a "soft" trio of compounds for the stage – C3, C4, and C5 as Hard, Medium, and Soft.

      Sunday was the hottest day of the weekend, but fans paid no attention to the weather, as the stands were completely filled on Saturday.

      Leclerc, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Alonso, Sainz, and Stroll started on Soft, while the others chose Medium.

      At the start, Piastri overtook Leclerc and Norris, taking the lead in the race. Hamilton passed Leclerc, who lost three positions. Russell's system that prevents the engine from stalling worked, and he exited the first corner last.

      The top ten on the 2nd lap: Piastri - Norris - Verstappen - Hamilton - Leclerc - Antonelli - Hadjar - Lawson - Lindblad - Hülkenberg.

      Russell made several overtakes and climbed to 15th place by the fifth lap.

      On the 9th lap, Stroll changed tires.

      Many drivers pursued their rivals with an interval of less than a second, but overtaking in Hungary is almost impossible without a significant speed difference. Hamilton attempted to attack Verstappen several times, but the straight ended too early for overtaking.

      On the 12th lap, Albon went off in the fourth corner but continued moving.

      On the 14th lap, Hamilton was the first of the leaders to make a pit stop, returning in ninth. On the 15th, Red Bull responded with Verstappen's pit stop – and Max returned to the track right behind Lewis.

      Bottas informed his engineer that the brakes were smoking. The front left wheel was on fire. Valtteri turned into the pits but did not reach the team, stopping near the pit lane.

      On the 16th lap, Verstappen overtook Hamilton.

      On the 17th lap, Piastri, Leclerc, and Gasly changed tires, on the 18th – Norris and Ocon, on the 19th – Sainz, on the 20th – Hadjar and Hülkenberg, on the 21st – Lindblad, on the 22nd – Lawson, on the 23rd – Perez, Antonelli, and Berman, on the 27th – Albon, on the 28th – Russell.

      On the 29th, Norris made a mistake and went off the track but continued moving.

      On the 30th lap, Bortoleto changed tires.

      The top ten on the 30th lap: Piastri - Norris - Verstappen - Hamilton - Leclerc - Antonelli - Hadjar - Russell - Lawson - Lindblad.

      On the 31st lap, Hamilton made his second pit stop. Returning to the track, Lewis overtook Hadjar and increased the pace.

      On the 34th lap, Piastri changed tires, on the 36th – Alonso (only the first pit stop), on the 37th – Leclerc and Ocon.

      On the 38th lap, Alonso overtook Sainz in the battle for 16th place. Carlos became so engrossed in the battle with Alonso that he did not see and hit Piastri's car with his wheel. The stewards penalized him with a five-second penalty.

      Leclerc overtook Hadjar in the battle for sixth. Berman spun in the second corner – and he continued moving.

      On the 39th lap, Stroll and Colapinto made a pit stop, on the 40th – Norris, returning ahead of Piastri. Oscar informed the team that everything seemed fine with the car after the incident with Sainz.

      On the 42nd lap, Verstappen changed tires – Max became the only one to choose Soft tires, while the others were on Hard.

      On the 43rd lap, Hadjar and Lawson made a pit stop, on the 44th – Berman.

      On the 45th lap, Sainz served his penalty and changed tires.

      On the 46th lap, Norris overtook Antonelli, taking the lead in the race.

      On the 51st lap, Sergio Perez's car suffered a suspension failure on the curb attack of the front left wheel; he slowly returned to the pits and retired from the race.

      The top ten on the 53rd lap: Norris - Antonelli - Piastri - Hamilton - Verstappen - Leclerc - Russell - Hadjar - Lindblad - Bortoleto.

      On the 54th lap, Antonelli changed tires, on the 55th – Russell.

      On the 56th lap, Piastri's car lost speed, and Oscar stopped on the track due to gearbox problems.

      A virtual safety car mode was announced. Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc, Albon, Sainz, Gasly, and Alonso turned into the pits.

      Lewis returned to the track side by side with Antonelli and first took the racing line but then let Kimi through on the team's orders.

      Berman received a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.

      The top ten on the 60th lap: Norris - Verstappen - Antonelli - Hamilton - Leclerc - Hadjar - Russell - Lindblad - Lawson - Hülkenberg.

      On the 61st lap, Alonso overtook Colapinto in the battle for 14th place.

      On the 63rd lap, Lawson overtook Lindblad in the battle for eighth place. On the 64th lap, Hülkenberg overtook Lindblad.

      Hamilton received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

      Lewis pressured Antonelli in the battle for third place, while Leclerc tried to reduce the gap from his teammate to five seconds of penalty – and ultimately was classified ahead.

      Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix, achieving his first victory of the season and the 12th of his career. Max Verstappen climbed to the second step of the podium, Kimi Antonelli finished third, increasing his lead over rivals in the title chase.

      Finishing ninth, Nico Hülkenberg earned his first points of the season.

      A big summer break is ahead, and the battle will continue in Dutch Zandvoort at the end of August.

      Race results

      

      

       Driver

       Team

       Time

       Speed

       Pits

      

      

       1. L.Norris

       McLaren

       1:39:56.180

       184.095

       3

      

      

       2. M.Verstappen

       Red Bull

       +15.080

       183.633

       2

      

      

       3. K.Antonelli

       Mercedes

       +18.728

       183.522

       2

      

      

       4. S.Leclerc

       Ferrari

       +23.840

       183.366

       3

      

      

       5. L.Hamilton*

       Ferrari

       +24.540

       183.344

       3

      

      

       6. A.Hadjar

       Red Bull

       +55.488

       182.407

       2

      

      

       7. D.Russell

       Mercedes

       +57.503

       182.346

       2

      

      

       8. L.Lawson

       Racing Bulls

       +1 lap

       180.620

       2

      

      

       9. N.Hülkenberg

       Audi

       +1 lap

       180.550

       2

      

      

       10. A.Lindblad

       Racing Bulls

       +1 lap

       179.933

       1

      

      

       11. G.Bortoleto

       Audi

       +1 lap

       179.903

       1

      

      

       12. P.Gasly

       Alpine