Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen a fairly uneventful Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix and then a fairly eventful Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix …
The Belgian event is a favourite amongst many in the Formula 1 community. The famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit is the longest track in the contemporary Formula 1 calendar, running for just over 7 km and taking modern Formula 1 cars close to two minutes to complete (most circuits take around one and a half minutes). It incorporates some long straights and high-speed corners, making for an interesting course. For this year’s race, pole position went to Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), followed by Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Lando Norris (McLaren).
The race start was clean, but then Sir Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) and George Russell (Mercedes) came into contact with each other, and Mr. Russell went into the gravel near the end of the long straight, and that saw him out of the race. (Sir Lewis later received a 5-second time penalty for the contact.) Near the end of the first lap, under safety car conditions, Mr. Antonelli kept the lead, with Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) second, Mr. Verstappen third, Oscar Piastri (McLaren) fourth, and Sir Lewis fifth. On lap 8, Mr. Leclerc contacted Mr. Piastri, causing part of the McLaren car’s front wing to fly off. Mr. Norris made good progress from his penalised starting position (due to a breach of a parts cap) to make it to sixth position by lap 12.
With some pitstops under a virtual safety car, Mr. Leclerc made it into the lead in the middle phase of the race. On lap 34, however, Mr. Antonelli retook the lead. The finishing positions had Mr. Antonelli as the winner of the race, followed by Mr. Leclerc, Mr. Verstappen, Sir Lewis, and Mr. Piastri.
The Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix in 2024 was the occasion that marked Mr. Piastri’s first Formula 1 race victory—under controversial circumstances, as he had been leading the race, the team opted to pit teammate Mr. Norris first, which gave an advantage to the British driver, then ordered him to yield the place back to the Australian driver.
For this year’s event, pole position went to Mr. Norris (McLaren), with Sir Lewis (Ferrari), Mr. Leclerc (Ferrari), Mr. Antonelli (Mercedes), Mr. Piastri (McLaren), and Mr. Verstappen (Red Bull) following. Both Sir Lewis and Mr. Antonelli received three-place grid penalties for infringements during qualifying, which saw the starting grid have Mr. Norris, Mr. Leclerc, and Mr. Piastri in the first three places—strong positioning for the McLaren team.
Mr. Piastri had a good start, overtaking Mr. Leclerc and then taking the lead from Mr. Norris (who made a slight error) before the halfway point of the first lap. Mr. Verstappen also had a good start. Mr. Russell ran into technical problems at the start, and fell far down the order. Both McLarens maintained their lead over the rest of the field in the first few laps, ahead of Messrs. Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, and Antonelli.
As the race progressed, Mr. Piastri was held up by backmarkers, including contact from Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams). This helped Mr. Norris take the lead after the first round of pitstops, and he drove smoothly and consistently thereafter to maintain the lead. While Mr. Piastri had a strong performance in the first phase of the race, Mr. Norris drove faster and more consistently in the latter phases.
Circumstances continued to go against Mr. Piastri when, on lap 56, his car experienced a gearbox failure and he quickly dropped down the order and then out of the race. In the end, it was a well-deserved win for Mr. Norris, with Mr. Verstappen finishing an unlikely second (with a long last stint on soft tyres) and Mr. Antonelli finishing third. Mr. Leclerc finished fourth, thanks in part to a five-second penalty to Sir Lewis for speeding in the pitlane.
At one point in the early stages of the race, several drivers were in contention to take the race win. From that respect, this year’s Hungarian race was a much more interesting competition than many others under the 2026 regulations so far.