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Lando Norris admits it “hurts” to say he is driving better in 2026 than during the title-winning campaign of 2025, because the results have rarely reflected that progress.
The reigning Formula 1 drivers’ champion finally claimed his first victory of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Starting from pole, Norris led every lap and finished more than 15 seconds clear of Max Verstappen in a performance that offered a stark contrast to his championship position.
After 11 rounds, Norris is fifth in the standings with 128 points—91 behind leader Kimi Antonelli. At the same stage last year, he had scored 201 points and was already firmly involved in the title fight he would eventually win by two points from Verstappen.
“Honestly, although it kind of hurts me saying it because it doesn’t mean that you just win, I feel like I’m doing a better job this year than I was last year, and I have done for a little while,” Norris told media, after his Budapest victory. “I’ve said that for a while. It just doesn’t mean you win the races.”
The central issue is not a lack of confidence in Norris’s driving. The MCL40 has generally been the third-fastest car on the grid, around three to four tenths per lap behind the dominant Mercedes W17 in race trim. Mercedes and Ferrari have established themselves ahead in the competitive order, leaving Norris with less opportunity to convert strong individual performances into regular victories.
Two DNFs, in Canada and Monaco, along with a DNS in China, have also reduced his points haul. The result is an unusual season for a defending champion: Norris believes his execution has improved while the championship moves further out of reach. McLaren’s broader development picture has also come under scrutiny in its missed opportunity with Ferrari’s rotating rear-wing concept.
Still, the available evidence is significant. Norris has recorded three podiums from eight classified finishes, including a sprint victory, and the Hungarian Grand Prix was the clearest demonstration of his current level.
“Right now, today, I would probably say it was up there with one of my best performances, in terms of extracting performance out of the car and being so close to the limit every single lap,” he said. The team even asked him to “peg it back a little bit”.
Norris attributed the result to sustained work in several areas, both away from the track with his team and at the circuit. “A lot of small differences add up, and you see the result,” he explained.
The Hungarian victory did not repair the points deficit, but it strengthened Norris’s argument that his driving is not the limiting factor in his title defence.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.