After its stop at the legendary Spa circuit for the Belgian Grand Prix, Formula 1 lands in Hungary. At the Hungaroring circuit, always very difficult to overtake, qualifying takes on great importance, led by Lando Norris, who surpassed Lewis Hamilton by twelve thousandths of a second. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the young World Championship leader, seeks to make a statement to extend his 65-point lead over second-placed Lewis Hamilton. The Italian won again in Belgium after four weekends without doing so. His Mercedes teammate, George Russell, had to retire and fell 70 points behind the Italian.
Piastri picks up the pace. He pulls further and further away from Lando Norris.
Fastest lap by Oscar Piastri with a time of 1:24.840
Ferrari continues to struggle to overtake Verstappen! The two McLarens pull away at the front and are now almost 4 seconds ahead of the battle behind.
George Russell overtakes Franco Colapinto and reaches 14th place
Fastest lap by Oscar Piastri with a time of 1:25.030
Piastri stays in the lead and keeps Norris out of the overtaking zone with Verstappen unable to catch them. The Ferraris remain behind the Red Bull. The race begins to stabilize as the softs start to lose time.
Lance Stroll overtakes Alexander Albon and reaches 19th place
Fastest lap by Oscar Piastri with a time of 1:25.095
Antonelli remains conservative in sixth position. Russell climbs to 15th place and has a tough comeback ahead.
There will be no investigation into what happened between Alonso and Bearman.
Despite the battle between Max and Hamilton, the McLarens are not getting away. Antonelli, on mediums, stays close to the Ferraris to gain an advantage when their soft tire set degrades…
A possible infringement between Alonso and Bearman for forcing a driver off track is noted.
MAX DEFENDS! Hamilton goes all out!
Overtake mode activated!
Gabriel Bortoleto overtakes Franco Colapinto and reaches 12th place
Liam Lawson overtakes Nico Hulkenberg and reaches 9th place
Hamilton attacks Verstappen! He doesn’t want the McLarens to get away and needs to make the most of the soft tires!
Lewis Hamilton overtakes Charles Leclerc and reaches 4th place
Max Verstappen overtakes Charles Leclerc and reaches 3rd place
Leclerc drops to 5th position!
Oscar Piastri overtakes Lando Norris and leads the race
TERRIBLE START FOR RUSSELL! HE’S 20TH!
PIASTRI TAKES THE LEAD! Verstappen is third!
Bad start for George Russell, he has lost many positions
Blistering start for Max Verstappen
Blistering start for Oscar Piastri
Clean start, no incidents
THE LIGHTS GO OUT! THE RACE BEGINS!
Clean start, no incidents
The race has started
The drivers are already in their positions
The reconnaissance lap has begun
FORMATION LAP! Six drivers on softs: Leclerc, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Alonso, Sainz, and Stroll! The others on mediums! Objective: avoid the hard compound.
The weather forecast gives a 20% chance of rain during the race
15 minutes until the race start procedure begins in Hungary! Norris starts from pole with Leclerc, Piastri, and Verstappen looking to take advantage of the start to gain positions at the front! We’ll be waiting for you! You won’t want to miss it!
Read more Attack on freedom in Berlin
On the other hand, Sergio Pérez broke parc fermé rules and will start from the pit lane.
Both Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli received a 3-place grid penalty after yesterday’s qualifying session, making victory more difficult for both.
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) has scored a point in 2026. Only in his debut season in 2001 did he fail to score points in the competition, and he scored at least 10 points in each of the remaining 21 seasons in Formula 1.
Red Bull has not achieved any victories or pole positions so far in 2026. The last year in which the Austrian team did not achieve any wins in the first 11 races of the calendar was in 2015, which was also the last year in which they did not achieve any victories or pole positions in the competition.
George Russell (Mercedes) has suffered two retirements in the last six races, as many as in his previous 54 Formula 1 appearances. If it happens again in Hungary, he will have two consecutive retirements for the first time since the last two races of 2021 in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) has achieved six victories in Formula 1, all in 2026. He has the opportunity to surpass Riccardo Patrese (6) as the second Italian with the most wins in the history of the competition, and Alberto Ascari as the Italian with the most victories in a single year (6 in 1952).
The last five winners of the Hungarian Grand Prix have not started from pole position (8th Ocon in 2021, 10th Verstappen in 2022, 2nd the Dutchman in 2023, 2nd Oscar Piastri in 2024, and 3rd Lando Norris in 2025). The last driver to win at Hungaroring from pole was Lewis Hamilton in 2020.
The last two winners of the Hungarian Grand Prix have been McLaren drivers, with Oscar Piastri winning in 2024 and Lando Norris in 2025. The last time McLaren achieved three consecutive victories at Hungaroring was between 2007 and 2009 (2 by Lewis Hamilton and 1 by Heikki Kovalainen).
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the big day of a Formula 1 weekend! Race day and none other than at Hungaroring!
Read more Chess analysis | Gukesh’s disaster
