Lando Norris has just won the Hungarian Grand Prix convincingly, sits fifth in the championship, and is somehow telling everyone he’s driving better than when he won the title. Remarkably, he might actually be right.
Better Driver, Worse Car
The uncomfortable truth for Lando Norris in 2026 is that improved personal form and a disappointing car have largely cancelled each other out. The MCL40 has been a clear step back from the MCL39 that powered him to last year’s championship, struggling to match Mercedes and Ferrari under the new regulations. Norris sits on 128 points, a hefty 91 adrift of leader Kimi Antonelli.
Yet his Hungary performance had team boss Andrea Stella reaching for the superlatives. The Hungaroring win was dominant enough that McLaren’s engineers reportedly had to ask Norris to ease off. Not exactly a sign of someone struggling for confidence.
“I feel like I’m doing a better job this year than I was last year. It just doesn’t mean you win the races, so today when we had a car, I proved exactly that.” – Lando Norris
What Changed After Abu Dhabi
Stella’s reading of Norris is worth taking seriously. Last season, Norris openly admitted to self-doubt, eventually clinching the title by just two points over Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi finale. That kind of near-miss tends to either break a driver or sharpen them considerably. It appears to have done the latter.
Stella credits Norris’s reaction to his rocky first third of 2025 for the transformation. He adapted his driving style, worked on his mental approach, and appears to have arrived in 2026 with a clarity and composure that outpaces his championship-winning self. His head-to-head qualifying record against Oscar Piastri now stands at 11-4, a reversal of early 2025.
“Lando is much more confident. I think he’s much more aware of his tools that he has in his driving and how to deploy these tools.” – Andrea Stella
Hungary as the Launchpad
McLaren’s upgrade package in Budapest centred on a redesigned floor to improve diffuser airflow, plus aerodynamic tweaks around the front and rear corners. It addressed a structural weakness that had haunted the MCL40 all season. The Hungary win was the immediate dividend.
The caveat, as always with regulation changes, is that one circuit does not confirm a trend. Monza will tell a very different story about whether the floor upgrade has genuine breadth. McLaren also received the latest Mercedes power unit specification only before Belgium, two races behind the works team. Customer status has its costs.
A Warning Shot for the Second Half
Stella believes Piastri is still finding his feet with the 2026 machinery, and Hamilton has already warned rivals that Ferrari will be stronger in the second half too. The field is not standing still. But a more confident Norris with an improving car is a different proposition entirely from the one that has been treading water since January.
With twelve races remaining, 91 points is a mountain. But in 2025, Verstappen clawed back 104 points on Piastri and still only missed the title by two. In this championship, nothing is settled yet.
