RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The Hungarian Grand Prix was an entertaining way to finish the first part of the 2026 F1 season before the summer break. The top four or five runners were often all visible in the same camera shot, and that included drivers from all four front running teams. <p>Lando Norris was on brilliant form and took both pole position and the victory, but not without a serious fight in both respects. It wasn't one of those days where a driver leads every lap from pole position and takes fastest lap. Oscar Piastri seized the lead in the second corner of the race, and Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari secured fastest lap but could only muster a fourth-place finish, and that would have been fifth had Lewis Hamilton in the sister Ferrari not attracted yet another penalty, this time for speeding in the pit-lane by 0.1kph.</p><p>It turns out Lewis did release the speed limiter a fraction early in order to beat Kimi Antonelli, who was on track, to the all-important safety car line which crosses the entire track and which decides who has the right to be in front, the driver exiting the pits, or the driver on track. It was declared that Antonelli was there a fraction earlier, and so Hamilton had to yield anyway. It was a pivotal moment for the final podium place and therefore the decision that speeding in the pitlane was a potentially competitive advantage was correct, however small the margin.</p><ul><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog/12433/12466779/f1-news-rumours-and-gossip-formula-1-latest-updates-on-teams-driver-transfer-market-and-contracts">Mercedes driver scout Gwen Lagrue to join Red Bull as Helmut Marko replacement</a></strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/standings">F1 2026 standings</a> | <a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/schedule-results">F1 2026 Calendar</a> | <a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog/12433/12466779/f1-news-rumours-and-gossip-formula-1-latest-updates-on-teams-driver-transfer-market-and-contracts">F1 Gossip Column</a></strong></li><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/ContentPromo" target="_blank"><strong>Download the Sky Sports app for expert analysis, best video & more</strong></a><strong>📱</strong></li><li><strong>Not got Sky? </strong><a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>Get Sky Sports</strong></a><strong> or </strong><a href="http://www.nowtv.com/membership/watch-sky-sports?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>stream with no contract on NOW</strong></a><strong>📺</strong></li></ul><h3>Relentless Norris and unfortunate Piastri</h3><p>Norris was on the radio saying that he was faster than team-mate Piastri in the lead, without specifically asking to be let through. Then he asked to pit first, but the pit wall rightly denied that as team protocol is that the leading of the two drivers has first option on stopping.</p><p>It was beginning to look like Norris' slide wide in Turn 2 and handing the lead to Piastri would cost him a victory. McLaren pitted Piastri on Lap 16 to cover off the pit stops from Hamilton and Verstappen, and Norris next lap around on Lap 17.</p><p>But it was the second round of stops on this high tyre wear circuit that made the difference. Piastri pitted on Lap 33 again to cover Hamilton on fresh tyres, and then Norris had his chance to prove he was indeed faster by running hard and pitting on Lap 39, giving him a decent tyre life offset to his team-mate Piastri.</p><widget id="1"></widget><p>Through the latter stages of the race lapped drivers appeared to be slow or even reluctant to clear the way for the leaders coming through, and it turns out there was an issue with the blue light warning system. That does still leave mirrors and team radio though.</p><p>On that same Lap 39, Piastri was coming up to lap Carlos Sainz's Williams who was having his own battle with fellow countryman Fernando Alonso, and after running wide in the infamous Turn 2 which had given Piastri the lead on the opening lap, and which must have looked for all the world to Piastri that he'd seen him and was letting him through, just as Sainz swung heavily back to the racing line and clashed with the race leader.</p><p>Sainz had been informed by his Williams team but his position on the outside of a 180 degree turn meant he had no mirror sight of Piastri tight on the inside, and so his penalty was mitigated down to five seconds, which was zero comfort to a rightly angry Piastri.</p> <widget id="2"></widget><p>Piastri did well not to spin out but he lost crucial time and Norris would emerge from the pits into a lead he would not relinquish. In fact, he would relentlessly increase it despite a third stop under a Virtual Safety Car for fresher soft compound tyres on Lap 56 to recover, so painfully, Piastri's McLaren which had suffered transmission failure.</p><p>The young Australian hasn't been able to catch any kind of lucky break for the best part of a year now.</p><h3>Verstappen fights off Ferraris</h3><p>Max Verstappen spent much of the race complaining about aerodynamic degradation, poor handling, and inconsistent gear shifting with his Red Bull, but would finish in a fine second place after some impressive overtakes on Hamilton's Ferrari. Max thought Lewis was a bit tough on him in the braking zone, but he wasn't.</p><p>It was explained to me that if the Red Bull has any damage on the aero parts particularly underneath the car, on an aggressive kerb for example, this has a disproportionate affect on the overall downforce and so grip. Hence Max's aero degradation comment.</p><p>Ferrari had looked the team to beat throughout practice, and most folk in the paddock thought they were favourites even though Norris pipped them to pole. Hamilton had smartly saved a brand new set of soft tyres by clearing the first stage of qualifying on medium tyres. These would have been extremely handy from his front-row grid slot, but he attracted a t...
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