Lando Norris has made it clear that he is not ruling out the possibility of mounting a genuine challenge for the World Championship, and he believes the burden of expectation now rests squarely on the shoulders of the current points leader, Kimi Antonelli. After securing McLaren’s first Grand Prix victory of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Norris sits fifth in the Drivers’ standings, trailing Antonelli by 91 points with eleven races still to run.

The situation bears a striking resemblance to last year’s title battle when Max Verstappen found himself 104 points behind the leader with ten races left and ultimately fell short by a mere two points, allowing Norris to clinch the championship. Reflecting on his own mindset, Norris told Sky Sports F1, "The pressure is on him [Antonelli] for sure. There's no pressure on me. I've been feeling very confident." He went on to comment on the performance of the Mercedes team, noting, "They have made more mistakes as a team and we have made fewer, and we have come strong but I expect them to still win races and expect us to win more races.

We just need to be perfect from here on now for the whole year." Norris also emphasized the need for continuous development of the McLaren car. "We need to improve the car still.

We were certainly the quickest in Hungary from qualifying to the race. Not every race is going to be this simple, and we are going to be as quick, so we need to work hard to try to get the car to be this good everywhere. If we can, maybe that's a genuine question," he said.

McLaren introduced a substantial aerodynamic upgrade for the Hungarian round, featuring a new floor that delivered a noticeable boost in straight‑line speed and cornering grip. The package has allowed the team to contend at the front of the grid more regularly, a marked improvement over the early part of the season.

Team principal Andrea Stella echoed the sentiment that the season will be defined by a relentless march of upgrades. "Like it’s always been in this 2026 season, it’s a matter of a race of upgrades. The good news is that McLaren is now back in this race of upgrades, while fighting for the lead," he explained. "But I expect that the car that will be the best car at the end of the season will keep adding tenths of a second in the next 11 races, probably as much as half a second.

So definitely a lot of work ahead of everyone, not only McLaren." During the Hungarian race, Norris was initially held up by his teammate Oscar Piastri after the opening lap, despite clearly having a faster pace. He eventually turned the situation to his advantage during the second pit‑stop window by staying out longer than Piastri and executing an overcut. Prior to that, Norris had indicated over the team radio that he felt "miles faster" and wanted to pit first. When asked about his desire to win, Norris said, "I just want to win the race.

There are certain rules we have as a team, and we can’t harm each other's race by being overly aggressive and wanting to win. But I want to win, and I certainly had much better pace than him. We had a much better chance of winning the race, let's say." He added context about the race dynamics, noting that while Max Verstappen was a few seconds behind, there was no immediate threat from other competitors ahead. "When I was stuck behind Oscar, Max was three or four seconds behind, and at that point he's still a threat.

Ahead, there's no threat, and we have a lot more of a guarantee that we'll win as a team anyway." Norris explained his strategic thinking on the pit lane: "So, I wanted to box and undercut because my pace would have been so good, I could have pulled away a whole pit‑stop window, I think, on him and boxed again if I needed to. Or I get him to box early. I think we were on the fine line between boxing too early and harming both of our races.

So, it was just in the best interests of the team, which they rightly have to say back against me. But I want to do whatever I can to try and win a race, of course." In recent events, Norris has generally enjoyed the upper hand over Piastri, and many observers believe the British driver is performing at a level comparable to his championship‑winning season last year. He remains puzzled by the magnitude of his pace advantage in Hungary but hopes the feeling persists after the summer break.

"The cars are identical, and I've just been feeling very strong lately. I've worked on many areas from last year," Norris remarked.

"I feel much more confident lately with how to extract performance, and I've worked a lot with my engineers to understand this car because it's certainly not an easy car to understand and figure out how to drive on the limit consistently." He attributes his progress to hard work from both himself and his engineering team. "So, why? Just hard work. Hard work from my engineers and from myself to improve me as a driver and improve my driving.

That is the answer," he concluded. Looking ahead, the Formula 1 calendar resumes after the summer hiatus with a sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix from August 21‑23.

All sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, and fans can stream the coverage via NOW without a long‑term contract, with the option to cancel at any time. The upcoming races will be crucial for Norris and McLaren as they strive to close the gap to Antonelli and keep the championship battle alive.