The 2026 F1 Hungarian GP kicks off with McLaren’s Lando Norris, after securing pole position by 0.012 seconds in Qualifying, in the best spot on the grid for the 70-lap race around the Hungaroring.
Lining up with Norris on the front row is Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was promoted to second after Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton received a 3-place grid drop. Rounding out the Top 10 at the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP are Oscar Piastri, promoted to third after grid penalties for both Hamilton and Antonelli, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, with a new PU in the back of his W17, F1 Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Arvid Lindblad, and Nico Hülkenberg.
Sergio Pérez starts the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP from the pit lane after changes to his suspension were made under parc fermé without the FIA’s technical director’s approval.
Tyre choices
With the tyre blankets coming off right before the start of the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP, we see most of the drivers on the medium compound Pirelli’s. Only Leclerc, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Sainz, Alonso and Stroll opted to start the Hungarian GP on the soft compound.
Most top teams all have two sets of the hard compound tyre left, hinting at a potential 2-stop strategy.
2026 F1 Hungarian GP start
At lights out, Lando Norris gets off to a lightning start, but so does teammate Oscar Piastri, who charges to second before taking the lead from Norris into Turn 2. Also off to a great start is Max Verstappen, who charges into third, as Leclerc is the big loser of the start, as he loses position to Piastri, Verstappen, and Hamilton to slot into P5.
Equally bad start for Mercedes driver George Russell, who tumbles down the order to P19 at the start.
Piastri settles into the lead as Russell charges through the field
After taking the lead of the Hungarian GP, Piastri settles into the lead with a gap of over a second separating him from reigning Champion Lando Norris. Behind the McLaren duo are Max Verstappen, closely followed by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli is in sixth.
After catching a poor start due to anti-stall problems and dropping to P19, Russell is making his way through the field, having fought his way back to P12 by Lap 10.
First round of pit stops
On Lap 14, Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton, who started the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP on a fresh set of the soft tyres and closely chased Max Verstappen for P3, dashed into the pits to mount the hard tyre. A lap later, Verstappen pits to make the switch to the hard tyre as well. By pitting a lap earlier, Hamilton crucially gets ahead of Verstappen, who keeps it close to Hamilton and launches an overtake on the Briton on Lap 16 and gets ahead as they had been fighting Liam Lawson through the final sector.
As the battle between Hamilton and Verstappen heats up, Bottas retires from the race. Race leader Oscar Piastri pits on lap 17, as does Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Norris pitting a lap later.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes drivers stayed out, with Antonelli waiting until Lap 23 for his first stop. The Italian rejoins the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP in P6 ahead of George Russell. The McLaren duo is back in the lead, with Piastri ahead of Norris. Rounding out the Top 5 after 25 laps are Verstappen, Hamilton, and Leclerc.
Battle for positions and second round of pit stops
As the race nears the halfway mark, George Russell comes in for his first and possibly final stop of the Hungarian GP. He rejoins in P9 ahead of Liam Lawson.
At the front, the McLaren drivers are fighting a tight battle with Norris eager to retake the lead. However, a mistake on Lap 29 sees the reigning Champion lose a bit of time, but he quickly catches up again, and by Lap 30, he is back within a second of his teammate.
Behind the McLaren duo, Verstappen has settled into P3, with Hamilton and Leclerc, who is quickly closing in on the 7-time Champion, pushed by a fast approaching Kimi Antonello in sixth. Surprisingly, Hamilton, who had only made the switch to hard tyres on Lap 14, pits again on Lap 31 for a second set of hards. He comes back out in P6 ahead of Isack Hadjar. On Lap 34, race leader Oscar Piastri pits, handing the lead to teammate Lando Norris, who believes he has a better pace.
Order at the halfway point of the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP:
- Lando Norris
- Max Verstappen
- Charles Leclerc
- Kimi Antonelli
- Oscar Piastri
Contact between Piastri and Sainz hands Norris the lead
On Lap 39, Williams driver Carlos Sainz makes contact with Oscar Piastri out of Turn 2; he was clearing backmarkers after his stop. Both cars continue, but the incident costs Piastri enough time for Norris to rejoin ahead after his pit stop. Norris quickly catches up to Antonelli, who has yet to pit, and takes the lead of the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP on Lap 46 in Turn 2 following a tight battle with the Italian into Turn 1. In the span of one lap, the reigning F1 Champion quickly puts 3 seconds between himself and the Mercedes driver; he is now comfortably in the lead, with Piastri 8 seconds behind.
Norris extends lead, as Pérez retires and Antonelli finally pits
With only 20 laps to go, Norris extends his lead over Antonelli, who has yet to pit, and Piastri, who is slowly getting caught by the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton.
Sergio Pérez limps back to the pit lane with a suspension issue, making it a double retirement for Cadillac on Lap 51 of the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP.
Only 16 laps left in the race, and Championship leader Kimi Antonelli his second and final pit stop.
Piastri retires from the Hungarian GP
Chaos ensues when McLaren’s Oscar Piastri slows on Lap 56 with a suspected gearbox failure, prompting a Virtual Safety car, prompting drivers including race leader Norris, Verstappen, and the Ferrari duo to dash into the pits. Antonelli, who had just served his second stop, stayed out, which promoted him to P3 ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
After the dust from the late 2026 F1 Hungarian GP chaos settles, Norris is leading ahead of Verstappen and Antonelli with only 10 laps left. Rounding out the top 5 are the Ferrari drivers Hamilton and Leclerc.
Final stages of the race
While Norris steadily extends his lead and Max Verstappen settles into P2, Antonelli and Hamilton are in a tight battle for the final podium position. The Ferrari driver is under investigation for speeding in the pit lane during his stop under the VSC.
Further down the grid, Bortoletto is chasing Lindblad for a place in the Top 10.
As the drivers head into the penultimate lap of the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP, Hamilton, in the midst of his battle for P3 with Antonelli, is informed that he was slapped with a 5-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
After 70 laps, Lando Norris crosses the finish line, taking his first victory as an F1 Champion, with Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli rounding out the podium at the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP. Hamilton’s late penalty demotes him to fifth behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
