Lando Norris believes McLaren’s true MCL40 potential is still waiting to be unlocked after his Hungarian Grand Prix victory transformed the mood inside the Woking team. Following several difficult months, McLaren’s first major upgrade package of 2026 brought the car back into contention at the front and helped the reigning world champion secure his first win of the season.
The result arrived at perhaps the most important moment of McLaren’s campaign, just before the summer break. However, neither Lando Norris nor team principal Andrea Stella is treating the Hungaroring success as definitive proof that the team has solved all its problems. Budapest represented an unusual test because of the circuit’s distinctive layout, meaning McLaren must now confirm its progress at very different venues during the second half of the championship.
Lando Norris believes he is driving better than in 2025
Despite a position in the Formula 1 driver standings that does not reflect his expectations, Lando Norris has taken considerable satisfaction from his personal performances during the opening half of the season.
“From a driving point of view, I’m very satisfied. I think I’ve done a good job of maximising the potential of the car. I believe I’ve driven better than I had at the same point last season, but unfortunately I’m not leading the championship,” Lando Norris said.
“Obviously, I would like a better car that would allow me to turn these performances into more significant results, but this is Formula 1.”
His assessment accurately reflects McLaren’s situation during the first half of 2026. The team frequently had to limit the damage with a car that remained difficult to understand, particularly after Formula 1’s radical regulatory overhaul. The Hungarian Grand Prix finally offered a glimpse of what could be possible, with Lando Norris emerging as the team’s leading force following his victory at the Hungaroring.
McLaren’s MCL40 upgrades changed the direction of its season
The victory in Hungary is not being considered an end point. Instead, it represents the first tangible result from a development programme scheduled to continue until the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. In Budapest, McLaren introduced MCL40 components based on a different aerodynamic concept from the philosophy followed during the first part of the season.
The new direction was also influenced by the solutions adopted by McLaren’s leading rivals. The scale of the changes even caught Mercedes by surprise in Hungary, while the development process behind the package revealed how several connected projects contributed to the breakthrough.
The revised philosophy immediately delivered positive results. However, Andrea Stella urged the team to remain cautious, stressing that the Hungaroring represents a particularly unusual circuit on the Formula 1 calendar. Lando Norris nevertheless accepts that something has genuinely changed.
“As a team, we are not yet at the level where we want to be, or even at the level we reached last year. We have achieved some good results, but we know we are not where we should be,” the McLaren driver explained.
“We are not satisfied and we have been disappointed by our performances, but we are working hard to improve. We are beginning to see the benefits of that work. The victory in Hungary came thanks to the strong upgrades introduced on the car, but we must continue developing it if we want to fight consistently for victories.”
The team’s progress was not the result of a single component. McLaren’s inter/mconnected MCL40 development programme helped deliver the overall step forward, while crucial floor modifications improved the car’s performance around the Hungaroring.
Understanding the 2026 F1 regulations remains McLaren’s biggest challenge
Beyond the aerodynamic changes, Formula 1’s 2026 regulations have forced drivers to make a fundamental adjustment to their driving styles. The removal of the MGU-H and the increased importance of electrical power have made battery management essential, significantly changing the approach required on every lap.
“The car is completely different and the power unit has also changed considerably. You have to adapt, especially to the way the battery is managed,” Lando Norris said.
“There are situations in which you have to change your driving style specifically to help the electrical system. It is a completely different approach compared with the past.”
The new tyres have created another major challenge. Drivers can no longer attack them as aggressively as they did under the previous regulations, making tyre preparation and degradation management important areas of learning throughout the season.
“The tyres are different and you can no longer be as aggressive as in previous years. Every race teaches us something new and, now that we have reached the middle of the season, we understand much better how to extract performance from these cars,” Lando Norris continued.
“The victory in Hungary demonstrates that, although as a team we still have work to do.”
Those comments reflect what emerged during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, where Andrea Stella also highlighted the significant progress achieved alongside Mercedes High Performance Powertrains in extracting performance from the power unit. Hybrid-system management had been one of McLaren’s main weaknesses during the opening months of the season, but Budapest was probably the strongest weekend of its entire partnership with the German engine manufacturer.
Lando Norris sees major untapped potential in the MCL40
Despite returning to the top step of the podium, Lando Norris remains convinced that McLaren is operating well below its ultimate limit. The floor changes that unlocked the MCL40 provided an encouraging first step, but further improvements will be necessary if the team is to challenge regularly for victories.
“We still see a lot of potential in the car and we believe we can change our situation. The problem is that time is always your enemy in Formula 1, and we need to introduce the developments as soon as possible,” Lando Norris said.
“We have not yet achieved a complete understanding of this car. We know what happens when we truly manage to maximise a technical package because we have seen it over the last few years. At the moment, we are still nowhere near that level, and that makes us optimistic.”
The collaboration between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri is particularly valuable in this respect. The reigning world champion believes their similar feedback gives McLaren’s engineers a clear direction as they work to improve the car.
“Oscar and I often give the engineers very similar feedback. When you are not at the front, you have to work together to help the team develop the car and bring it back into contention for victories.”
McLaren remain optimistic without getting carried away
The Hungaroring victory restored enthusiasm throughout McLaren, but Lando Norris is determined to maintain a pragmatic approach. The complete 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix result demonstrated how far the team has progressed, although questions remain about whether that performance can be reproduced elsewhere.
“The most important thing I have learned is not to have expectations about the future and to concentrate on the present. That is exactly what we did in Hungary,” Lando Norris explained.
“I’m optimistic and I think we can win again, but there are still circuits where I’m not particularly confident because the car is not competitive enough in certain areas. However, I have complete faith in the team. I thought we would return to winning and we managed it even earlier than expected. Now we have to keep improving.”
That view is shared within McLaren, where Budapest is being treated primarily as a new starting point. The development direction finally appears to be correct, and further upgrades are planned through to Baku. Andrea Stella has already warned that McLaren must find another half-second if it wants to challenge the leading teams consistently.
Only after the coming races will it become clear whether Lando Norris’s Hungarian Grand Prix victory was an isolated success aided by the characteristics of the Hungaroring or the first sign that McLaren has established itself as a regular contender at the front once again.
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