Lando Norris has made it clear that he is not shutting the door on the possibility of fighting for the championship again, and he believes the weight of expectation now rests squarely on the shoulders of the current points leader, Kimi Antonelli. The British driver celebrated McLaren's first Grand Prix victory of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, a performance that highlighted both his skill and the team's recent progress. After the win, Norris finds himself sitting fifth in the Drivers' Championship, trailing Antonelli by 91 points with eleven races still to run. To put the situation into perspective, Norris recalled the 2023 title battle when Max Verstappen was 104 points behind the leader with ten races left and ultimately fell short by just two points, allowing Norris to clinch the championship.
"The pressure is on him [Antonelli] for sure. There's no pressure on me.
I've been feeling very confident," Norris told Sky Sports F1, underscoring his belief that the champion ahead of him must now fend off the mounting scrutiny. Norris also commented on the performance of the rival Mercedes team, noting that they have made more mistakes over the season while McLaren has been comparatively consistent. "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," he said.
The driver emphasized that perfection will be essential if McLaren hopes to maintain momentum. The Hungarian race also demonstrated the impact of a significant technical upgrade that McLaren introduced for that event. The team fitted a new floor to the car, a change that immediately translated into a noticeable pace advantage.
Norris praised the upgrade, saying, "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 admitted that while the car felt superb in Hungary, the challenge will be to replicate that performance on a variety of circuits with different characteristics. Team principal Andrea Stella echoed the sentiment that the season will be defined by a continuous race 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," Stella explained.
He added that the car that ends the season as the fastest will likely have accumulated tenths of a second of improvement at each of the remaining eleven events, potentially as much as half a second overall. This projection underscores the massive development work that lies ahead for every team, not just McLaren.
During the Hungarian Grand Prix, Norris experienced a brief setback when he was held up by his teammate Oscar Piastri on the opening lap. Despite having a clear pace advantage, Norris was forced to stay behind Piastri for several laps. He later turned the situation to his benefit by staying out longer on the second pit‑stop window, effectively overcutting the Australian driver.
Prior to that strategic move, Norris had indicated on the radio that he was "miles faster" than his teammate and wanted to pit first. In the post‑race press conference, Norris explained his approach to team orders and the delicate balance between personal ambition and collective success. "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," he said. "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 further described the tactical decision to undercut Piastri, noting that his superior pace could have allowed him to gain an entire pit‑stop window on his teammate. "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 added.
He stressed that the choice to pit early was made in the best interest of the team, even though it risked compromising both drivers' strategies if mis‑timed. Norris has generally enjoyed the upper hand over Piastri in recent outings, and many observers believe the British driver is performing at a level comparable to his world‑championship‑winning season last year. He admitted that he does not fully understand why his advantage in Hungary was so pronounced, but he hopes to retain the same confidence and feel for the car after the summer hiatus.
"The cars are identical, and I've just been feeling very strong lately. I've worked on many areas from last year," Norris said.
He highlighted the collaborative effort with his engineering team, noting that extracting performance from a car that is "certainly not an easy car to understand and figure out how to drive on the limit consistently" requires hard work from both driver and engineers. "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 break with a Sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix, scheduled for 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. The upcoming races will test whether McLaren can sustain the performance gains seen in Hungary, whether Antonelli can handle the pressure of leading the championship, and whether Norris can translate his confidence and pace into a genuine title challenge as the season reaches its decisive phase.