Norris ends McLaren's shaky start with commanding Hungary triumph

The 2025 season marked one of the strongest in McLaren's illustrious history, but the Woking-based outfit's title defence got off to a rocky start in 2026. The reigning champions have, however, shown clear signs of progress across recent rounds, with Lando Norris claiming the team's first victory of the campaign just prior to the summer break.

A difficult opening to the title defence

McLaren faced a tricky start to the campaign. Oscar Piastri was unable to take the start at the season opener in Australia, while both cars did not participate in the Chinese Grand Prix, leaving the papaya outfit with an early deficit to their rivals. The team fought back with podium finishes across the rounds that followed, including a 2-3 result in Miami where the squad appeared in contention for a win.

They ultimately had to wait until Round 11 in Hungary for a Grand Prix victory courtesy of Norris. It was made all the sweeter by the fact that the triumph was a commanding one, with the Briton converting his pole position into a maiden win as World Champion at the wheel of an upgraded MCL40 – a promising way for the team to sign off from the first half of the season.

Driver head-to-heads

Norris is currently leading the qualifying head-to-head statistics, claiming a higher grid slot than his team-mate on seven occasions, including his aforementioned Hungaroring pole position. Piastri has not been far behind, though, with his best Saturday result being a P3 achieved in Japan and Hungary.

It is equal footing when it comes to race-day results, however, with the duo holding five higher finishes apiece. The pair are also on even terms for non-finishes, with Norris recording two DNFs while Piastri has suffered one retirement as well as a DNS in Australia, and with neither driver able to participate on race day in China.

Best moment: Budapest glory

There were various moments of optimism for McLaren during the first half, from a solid showing after delivering their first significant upgrades in Miami – a weekend in which Norris won the Sprint – to another podium for Norris in Barcelona. Inevitably, though, Norris' return to the top step on Sunday in Budapest ranks as the team's finest moment of 2026 so far.

After the British driver's eye-catching pole position on Saturday, Team Principal Andrea Stella was keen to downplay the idea that the squad had an advantage over their rivals. But Norris' speed was clear on Sunday as the World Champion claimed his first victory since the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, commenting afterwards: “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.”

It was a performance that left Norris hopeful about what might be possible when the season resumes, as the 26-year-old added: “Considering how good it felt today, I certainly want to believe that we can continue it.”

Worst moment: the double DNS in China

Just as there have been a number of high points so far in 2026, the season has also brought more than one challenging moment. Norris' back-to-back retirements in Canada and Monaco – each due to separate mechanical issues – marked a tough run for the Briton. Additionally, Piastri's DNF owing to a gearbox failure in Hungary, in the aftermath of contact with Williams' Carlos Sainz, showed the team still have work to do on reliability.

But perhaps the worst moment was the squad's double DNS in China. Norris was unable to leave the garage after running into issues during the build-up to the race, and soon afterwards Piastri had to be wheeled back to the pits when a problem was also detected on his car. Stella later confirmed the issues related to the “same power unit component on the electrical side”, before conceding that the most detrimental aspect of the failure to participate was the significant loss of points, adding: “These points could have been important at the end of the season”.

Looking ahead

Ending the season on a high note before the summer break is always a positive – and for McLaren, that is something they achieved in style via Norris' victory at the Hungaroring. Reflecting on the team's prospects, Norris voiced his belief that they can “still win races” – but also cautioned: “If we want to come back, we need a lot more of these and we need to continue to put pressure on our competition. It's tough, but we'll keep pushing.”

The margins amongst the top four teams have become increasingly fine across recent rounds, and Stella warned after Budapest that there would be a “race of development until the end of the season”. The Italian reiterated that the papaya outfit would continue to work on “reliability and future upgrades” ahead of the second half, saying their focus is on “delivering more performance to fight for victories consistently”.

The target for McLaren will be to ensure that Norris' Hungary triumph does not become a one-off in 2026 – something they appear well-placed to achieve, given the team's previous track record of delivering significant development as a season progresses.