It’s back-to-back race weekends before Formula One goes for the summer break. After Kimi Antonelli’s win in Belgium, the grid is moving to the Hungaroring for the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix as teams look to head into the month-long break with some positive momentum.
Here, we present our preview and predictions for the 2026 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Prior to the start of the Belgian race weekend, McLaren had announced that the reigning world champion, Lando Norris, would take a ten-place grid penalty for adding a new power electronics unit. The new unit delivered right away, as right from the Free Practice sessions Norris showed pace to challenge Ferrari and Mercedes.
Despite knowing that he would be taking a ten-place drop, Norris put in a stunning qualifying session, momentarily going fastest in Q3 before Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen went quicker. Norris qualified third on track, with his penalty dropping him to P13. On Sunday, he showed strong race pace right from the start, storming through the field to put himself in contention for a potential podium.
If only his team had gone with a better strategy. McLaren left Norris out for too long, most likely hoping for a Safety Car or a red flag, which saw Norris become the last of the front-runners to pit. A horrendous stop further undid Norris’ good work and the ground he had made up. McLaren could also have utilised the Virtual Safety Car, but a botched strategy saw Norris having to play catch-up late on. He ultimately finished seventh, even though his pace should’ve seen him finish much further ahead.
Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, finished P5, ahead of one Red Bull and behind the Ferrari duo. A decent haul of points in Belgium allowed McLaren to maintain a healthy gap to Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings, and given the new power unit they brought to Spa, expect them to get closer to the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari. They could even sneak in an upset, should the other teams suffer incidents.
Dark horse: Lando Norris
Not only did Kimi Antonelli return to winning ways in Belgium, he also picked up his sixth win of the season, his first after three races without one. Antonelli’s win also came along with his teammate and title rival, George Russell, having a horrible weekend, enabling him to leave Belgium with not only the win but also an increased championship lead. Russell’s retirement in Belgium saw him fall 50 points behind his young Italian teammate and drop to third in the standings, with Lewis Hamilton moving to second place.
Antonelli desperately needed the win given his luck in the last few races, two of which he finished without scoring a point. Given his ill luck, and Russell finishing runner-up twice while taking the win in Austria, the Brit had managed to bring Antonelli’s championship lead down to a mere 25 points. Now, the gap has extended to 50 points, with the young Italian having picked up some much-needed momentum.
With one race left before the summer break, Antonelli will hope to further extend his lead.
Pole prediction: Lewis Hamilton / Kimi Antonelli
Race winners prediction: Mercedes / Ferrari
Aside from the front-runners, one other side has been slowly making up ground and becoming the best of the rest in the midfield battle. Racing Bulls have been making progress throughout the season and have scored points in every single race except the Miami Grand Prix. Their rookie driver, Arvid Lindblad, is currently on a five-race points-scoring streak; only Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar have maintained a longer points-scoring streak this year.
VCARB also brought upgrades ahead of the Belgium race, and while Lindblad received the upgrades for Spa, Liam Lawson is set to get the upgrades for Hungary. While the likes of Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren remain a bit too far away to catch on Sundays, the Italian team have shown strong pace to score points regularly and move away from the likes of Alpine and Audi, whilst not being too far from McLaren.
Lindblad even out-qualified Isack Hadjar and managed to leave Spa with a couple of points, finishing ahead of both Alpine drivers. Alpine have admitted that they aren’t quite where they want to be yet in terms of race pace, making this the ideal time for Racing Bulls to move to fifth spot in the Constructors’ standings.
Lindblad’s two points in Belgium helped the sister Red Bull outfit go level with the French outfit on 61 points. Should Lawson make his upgrades count in Hungary, expect Racing Bulls to pull away from Alpine in the Constructors’ battle and make fifth spot their own.
Circuit: Hungaroring
Venue: Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary
Practice Session 1 time: 17:00 IST, July 24, 2026
Practice Session 2 time: 20:30 IST, July 24, 2026
Practice Session 3 time: 16:00 IST, July 25, 2026
Qualifying time: 19:30 IST, July 25, 2026
Main race time: 18:30 IST, July 26, 2026
Where to watch: F1 TV Pro / FanCode
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