Lando Norris converted pole position into victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, July 26, marking the reigning World Champion’s first win of the 2026 season, on a day that ended in frustration for Monaco’s Charles Leclerc, who narrowly missed out on a podium finish.
Leclerc crossed the line fifth on the road but was promoted to fourth after a five-second time penalty for Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton, handed down for speeding in the pit lane, shuffled the final positions. It left Leclerc just short of the podium on a day when Ferrari looked to have a genuine opportunity to fight further up the order.
Norris’s win was far from straightforward. He took pole on Saturday, ending Mercedes’ run of ten consecutive pole positions, but lost the race lead on the opening lap to his own teammate, Oscar Piastri. Piastri went on to lead the majority of the 70-lap race at the Hungaroring, in what was shaping up to be one of his strongest performances of the season, before retiring on lap 56 with a gearbox failure that triggered a Virtual Safety Car. It was in the aftermath of that VSC period that Ferrari opted to have Hamilton cede position back to Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, a precautionary move against a possible infringement penalty that ultimately proved irrelevant once the pit lane penalty was applied.
Max Verstappen took second for Red Bull, with Antonelli completing the podium in third. The result extends Antonelli’s championship lead over Hamilton to 50 points, while Leclerc’s charge up the order continues, even as Sunday added another narrow miss to his season.