Lando Norris feels he is doing a better job than last year
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McLaren's Lando Norris celebrating after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BUDAPEST – Formula One champion Lando Norris feels that he is driving better than he did in 2025 even though the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 26 was McLaren’s first win of the season.
The Briton is fifth overall, a massive 91 points behind Mercedes’ championship leader Kimi Antonelli who has won six of 11 rounds, as the sport goes into its August break.
Norris also won in Hungary last season, his fifth victory by that point of the campaign although that was round 14 then, and was second overall and nine points behind teammate Oscar Piastri, who had won six and looked the more likely to win the title.
“I feel like I’m doing a better job this year than I was last year... I’ve said that for a while. It just doesn’t mean you win the races,” the Briton said after winning from pole position at the Hungaroring in his upgraded car, his first win since November 2025 in Brazil.
“I certainly want to believe that we can continue it,” he said. “This is maybe as good as it can look for now, but I certainly believe we can still win races.”
McLaren have more upgrades to come but Mercedes and Ferrari are multiple winners this season and Max Verstappen’s second place on July 26, after also finishing second in Austria in June, showed that Red Bull are knocking on the door.
The Hungarian race was only Norris’ third podium of the season, after second in Miami and third in Barcelona.
Team boss Andrea Stella said the 26-year-old had grown as a driver since winning the title.
“I’ve been quite impressed by Lando following the way he has reacted to the first one third of the season (in 2025)... there were clear learning points and he embraced the challenge,” Stella said.
“So I think what we see here is just the continuation of this trajectory.
“Lando is much more confident. I think he’s much more aware of his tools that he has in his driving. How to deploy those tools. And I think he’s also, let me say, more in control of his emotions.
“When he was behind Oscar (on July 26) he said a couple of times that he had pace in hand but he didn’t get overly frustrated. And the fact that he wasn’t overly frustrated I think then allowed him to use the pace at the right time and led him to the victory.
“So I think we’ve seen a great trajectory of development for Lando and this is honestly the same with Oscar.” REUTERS
