Norris: Pressure on Antonelli After Hungary Win
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Lando Norris converted pole position into victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, delivering McLaren's first Grand Prix win of the 2026 season and moving to fifth in the Drivers' Championship.
- Norris sits 91 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli with 11 rounds remaining, but told Sky Sports F1: "There's no pressure on me. I've been feeling very confident," arguing all pressure is on Antonelli.
- Norris pointed to last year's precedent, when Max Verstappen was 104 points adrift with 10 races left and finished just two points short of the title — a championship Norris himself won.
- McLaren brought a major upgrade package to Hungary including a new floor, and team principal Andrea Stella said it has put McLaren "back in this race of upgrades" while fighting for the lead.
- Norris defended McLaren's pit priority call that initially left him behind teammate Oscar Piastri; he eventually overcut Piastri at the second stop phase, winning after radioing that he was "miles faster."
- Stella warned that the best car at season's end could add "as much as half a second" over the remaining 11 races as teams continue developing, meaning McLaren must keep iterating, not just maintain Hungary pace.
- The F1 season resumes after the summer break with a Sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix from August 21-23, with all sessions live on Sky Sports F1.
Why it matters: Norris is 91 points back with 11 races left — a deficit Verstappen nearly erased last year with an identical late-season charge. But the article makes the upgrade race the binding constraint: Stella says up to half a second of additional pace is still coming across the field, so McLaren's development pace, not just Norris's driving, will determine whether this title defense is mathematically alive by Abu Dhabi.
