Lando Norris secured his first win of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, driving a commanding race at the Hungaroring to beat Max Verstappen's Red Bull into second and Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes into third. The victory came after Mercedes had dominated much of the campaign, but Norris had always maintained his team would come back into contention.
McLaren upgrades prove effective
McLaren brought further upgrades to Hungary that proved effective on a track dominated by relentless cornering. Team principal Andrea Stella noted how much Norris had developed since taking his first title last year. "He hasn't really had the machinery to show it so far, but he showed it today," Stella said. "Lando is much more confident. He's much more aware of his tools he has in his driving, how to deploy these tools. He's also more in control of his emotions."
Norris recovers after early setback
Norris dropped a place to his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri on the opening corners but quickly regained the lead. Stella admired how well Norris handled the situation. "When he was behind Oscar, he said a couple of times that he had pace in hand, but he didn't get frustrated," Stella added. "The fact he wasn't overly frustrated then allowed him to use the pace at the right time and lead him to the victory. We've seen a great trajectory of development for Lando."
Russell frustrated by ongoing technical issues
Mercedes' George Russell finished seventh after a technical problem on the grid left him with a slow start that dropped him to 20th. He rallied back but has lost patience with repeated problems this season. "I'm past the point of disappointment now, because if I'm continuing to be disappointed with everything that goes on, I'll just be disappointed every day of the week," he said. "It's just unbelievable, the list of things that's happened this season. It does feel like it is happening substantially more to me than others and hopefully it swings around. I don't wish any bad luck on anyone, but I've never had a season like this in my whole career, let alone my F1 career."
