Lando Norris has made it clear that he is not ruling out the possibility of mounting a serious challenge for the championship, even though the current points leader, Kimi Antonelli, appears to be shouldering the bulk of the pressure. After clinching McLaren’s first Grand Prix victory of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Norris now sits fifth in the Drivers’ Championship, a full 91 points adrift of Antonelli with eleven races still to run. The British driver drew a parallel with last year’s title battle, noting that Max Verstappen found himself 104 points behind the leader with ten races remaining and ultimately fell short by just two points, allowing Norris to capture the crown. "The pressure is definitely on him [Antonelli]," Norris told Sky Sports F1.
"There’s no pressure on me – I feel very confident." Norris also commented on the performance of the Mercedes team, acknowledging that they have made more mistakes over the season, while McLaren has been more consistent. "They have made more errors as a team and we have made fewer, so we’ve been strong, but I still expect Mercedes to win races and I expect us to win more as well. From now on we need to be perfect for the rest of the year." He stressed the need to keep improving the car, pointing out that McLaren was the fastest on the grid in Hungary from qualifying through to the race.
"Not every weekend will be as straightforward as Hungary. We have to work hard to make the car this good everywhere.
If we can achieve that, maybe we’ll have a genuine chance at the title," he added. McLaren introduced a major aerodynamic upgrade for the Hungarian round, featuring a completely new floor that has given the team a significant pace advantage and allowed them to fight at the front of the pack more regularly. Team principal Andrea Stella reminded everyone that the 2026 season will continue to be a "race of upgrades" after the summer break, and McLaren must keep adding performance. "The car that ends the season as the best will have added tenths of a second each race – possibly up to half a second overall – so there is a lot of work ahead for every team, not just McLaren," Stella said.
During the Hungarian Grand Prix, Norris was initially held up by his teammate Oscar Piastri on the opening lap, despite having clearly more speed. He eventually turned the situation to his advantage during the second round of pit stops by staying out longer and executing an overcut on the Australian.
Prior to that, Norris had indicated on the radio that he felt "miles faster" and wanted to pit first. "I just want to win the race," he said in the post‑race press conference. "We have team rules that prevent us from being overly aggressive with each other, but I know I had a much better pace and a stronger chance of winning." Norris explained his strategic thinking: "When I was stuck behind Oscar, Max was only three or four seconds behind, still a threat.
Ahead there was no danger, so the team had a solid chance of winning overall. I chose to box and undercut because my pace was so strong I could have opened a whole pit‑stop window on him, or force him to pit early.
It was a fine line between pitting too early and compromising both of our races, but the decision was made in the best interest of the team." The British driver has generally enjoyed the upper hand over Piastri in recent events, and many observers believe Norris is performing at a level comparable to his world‑champion season last year. He admitted he is still trying to understand why his pace advantage in Hungary was so pronounced, but hopes the feeling will persist after the summer hiatus. "The cars are identical, yet I’ve been feeling very strong lately. I’ve worked on many areas since last season," Norris said.
"I’m more confident now in extracting performance, and I’ve spent a lot of time with my engineers to learn how to push this car to its limits consistently." He attributed his improvement to hard work from both himself and his engineering team. "It’s simply hard work – from my engineers and from me – to become a better driver and to get more out of the car. That’s the answer," he concluded. The Formula 1 calendar will resume after the summer break with a sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix from August 21‑23, with every session broadcast live on Sky Sports F1.
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