27 July 2026 11:30 (UTC)
Lando tasted victory in Budapest for the second year in a row to head into the summer break on a high
Lando Norris hailed his win in the Hungarian Grand Prix as one of his best performances as he claimed his first victory as a World Champion for the first time.
Lando converted his Pole position in Budapest as the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team made it three wins in a row around the Hungaroring.
Oscar Piastri had been the early leader after passing Lando on the opening lap and was sitting in P3 before being forced to retire on Lap 56 with a reliability issue on the gearbox.
“I think I went a bit wide in the dirt, but Oscar did a good job to get past,” Lando said of his difficult start. “But man, I was pushing like hell. My pace was some of the best pace I have ever had, the car was beautiful to drive, and I felt very confident.
“It was a great race. I didn’t expect to go long, but the pace was strong enough to extend the stints. I’m happy to be back and to see the No.1 again.”
The victory on Sunday marked Lando’s 12th Grand Prix win and the first time he has won a Grand Prix twice at the same track.
Having also recorded a P2 in 2024 in Hungary, when Oscar triumphed for the first time in Formula 1, Lando maintained confidence in himself and the car even after being passed early on.
He added when speaking to Sky Sports F1: “The pace was pretty incredible, from me and the car. I felt very, very good out there with managing the tyres and extracting lap time.
“I knew that I could win the race today even after Lap 1, so I am very happy I did. There was a little bit of luck on my side, and sadly some misfortune on Oscar’s – it is a shame because it would have been great to have gotten double points as a team and to have had a 1-2. It would have been a beautiful thing to have another 1-2 this year, after having one here last year.
“I was very happy with how I drove my race. In terms of my pace and how managed it, it was probably one of my best races in terms of my personal performance, and that always makes me feel good.”
We now head into the summer shutdown with strong momentum to continue the positives from Budapest, but it is tempered with realism.
An upgrade package was installed on the MCL40 ahead of the race in Hungary, aimed at improving our performance at high-downforce tracks such as this, and attention will now turn to translating that to further success in the second half of the season.
Team Principal Andrea Stella said to Sky Sports F1: “It is great to see the car be competitive for Pole position, and to be competitive for a victory.
“It is great to see that our hard work has been rewarded - thank you very much to all the men and women at McLaren. They have been so committed in the design and delivery of these upgrades.
“Lando was in a position to squeeze every single millisecond off the car, which was good enough yesterday for Pole position by 12 milliseconds. Today, the pace was even more encouraging. Great news there, but obviously a lot of work to do with reliability.
“When we look at the numbers and the anticipated numbers associated with the upgrades, we thought that we would need to bring more performance to be in this condition, so in that sense, yes, it was a bit of a surprise, but it is always good to have a positive surprise.
“But this is a world of numbers, and of facts, so we remain with our feet on the ground. We know that there is more work ahead of us from a performance and also from a reliability point of view.”
