Lando Norris had to wait roughly eight months to win his first race of the 2026 Formula 1 season, as he recently won this year’s Hungarian Grand Prix. On the other hand, his Papaya teammate, Oscar Piastri, didn’t have the same luck at the Hungaroring, so the summer break is timely for him to recharge his batteries.
By doing so, Norris has put himself back in the title mix with 12 races to go, but he still has a lot of catching up to do. The reigning drivers’ champion is fifth in the standings with 128 points, with Charles Leclerc (138 points), George Russell (160 points), Lewis Hamilton (169 points), and Kimi Antonelli (219 points) above him.
Speaking of Russell and Antonelli, the two drivers are responsible for Mercedes’ hot start this year. And not to be overlooked is Arvid Lindblad, who is having a solid rookie campaign with the Racing Bulls.
Here are some of the latest Formula 1 2026 updates.
Norris takes chequered flag after mid-race drama
Lando Norris was determined to win at the Hungaroring after failing to record a podium finish in his previous three races at the Red Bull Ring, Silverstone, and Spa, and the defending drivers’ champion reminded us of his class last weekend. First, he snatched pole position from Lewis Hamilton during qualifying through an impressive last-gasp effort to beat the Ferrari star by only 0.012s. What made the missed opportunity worse for Hamilton was that he received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri.
Despite having pole position, Norris spent the first half of the race behind Piastri, having been jumped at Turn 2 on the opening lap. However, the intra-team battle was flipped on its head when Piastri, who was fresh from his second pit stop, collided with Carlos Sainz Jr., who was handed a five-second time penalty for impeding the Australian.
Norris eventually caught and passed Kimi Antonelli on lap 46 to reclaim first place, after which he opened a substantial advantage over Piastri. On lap 56, Piastri retired with a gearbox failure, and after a virtual safety car period, Norris controlled the restart and won ahead of Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli.
This was the 12th Formula 1 victory for Norris, and his first since becoming world champion. During his post-race interview, Norris praised the performance of his upgraded MCL40.
Mercedes exec aims for the constructors’ championship
Mercedes are slowly breaking away from the chasing pack, as they have a 72-point cushion over second-seeded Ferrari (307 points), and only McLaren (220 points) and Red Bull (177 points) have breached the century mark thus far.
After failing to finish in Silverstone following a reliability problem with his W17, Kimi Antonelli bounced back with a timely victory in Spa before finishing third in Hungaroring. The 19-year-old Italian now has six race wins this year to become the youngest-ever championship leader heading into the summer break.
Meanwhile, his Silver Arrows teammate George Russell has two race wins this term. However, since winning at the Red Bull Ring and finishing second at Silverstone, the Briton retired in Spa before finishing seventh last time out.
During a recent interview, deputy team principal Bradley Lord said that winning this year’s constructors’ championship is Mercedes’ top priority, despite Antonelli leading the drivers’ championship. The Silver Arrows enjoyed a strong start to the campaign but have ebbed and flowed since, so they cannot afford to be complacent with 12 races remaining.
Lindblad building momentum after sluggish start
Arvid Lindblad is currently 11th in the drivers’ championship with 23 points, which is an insane achievement for an 18-year-old. The Racing Bulls youngster endured a rough start in his rookie Formula 1 campaign, having finished outside the points in four consecutive races after his P8 finish in Australia – including a DNS in Canada due to a gearbox failure – before finishing inside the Top 10 in each of the past six races.
During the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lindblad lined up in P9, with teammate Liam Lawson in P11. As both drivers had a fair chance of scoring points, the Racing Bulls opted for split strategies. Lindblad was tasked with a bold one-stop strategy, while Lawson was on a typical two-stop plan.
Lindblad had a messy start when he had a poor launch off the line, but the rookie almost overcame the SBOTOP Formula 1 2026 odds. As much as he did his best to defend his position, his VCARB 03 couldn’t hold on due to the rising track temperature and degrading tyres. Lindblad therefore settled for 10th place, while Lawson took P8.
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