Complete weekend for Norris but poor result for Sainz - driver ratings

World champion Lando Norris took victory from pole position in Hungary on Sunday to secure his and McLaren's first grand prix win of 2026. Norris was passed for the lead by team-mate Oscar Piastri at the start but the Australian later retired from the race with a gearbox failure. Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished second and title leader Kimi Antonelli claimed the final podium in place in third. Lewis Hamilton, who was given a three-place grid penalty before the race for impeding Piastri in qualifying, dropped from fourth to fifth at the chequered flag, after he was handed a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Here are my ratings for how the drivers performed across the whole weekend in Hungary. Lando Norris - 9.5/10The complete weekend McLaren and Norris have been waiting for. Pole position, outstanding pace when finally released into clear air and a controlled run to the flag earned him his first grand prix victory of the season, even if losing the lead on lap one was a minor blemish.Max Verstappen - 8.5/10Dragged a difficult Red Bull to a result that looked unlikely after qualifying. He battled constant issues with his car throughout the weekend but still put himself in the right position to inherit second when Piastri retired.Kimi Antonelli - 8/10A strong damage-limitation drive from Mercedes' championship leader. His failure to slow sufficiently for yellow flags in qualifying compromised his starting position, but recovering from seventh to the podium and holding off the Ferraris was an impressive response.Charles Leclerc - 6.5/10Ferrari looked extremely quick on Friday but Leclerc was unable to turn that promise into a podium. Lost positions to Oscar Piastri and team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the start and finished fifth on the road before Hamilton's penalty promoted him.Lewis Hamilton - 6.5/10The fastest Ferrari driver across the weekend, but two costly penalties undid much of the good work. He missed pole by just 0.012 seconds and raced strongly, yet impeding Piastri in qualifying and speeding in the pit lane turned a potential podium into fifth.Isack Hadjar - 7.5/10A quieter weekend from Hadjar. Qualified and finished comfortably inside the points and brought home sixth on a day when his more experienced team-mate demonstrated how difficult the Red Bull was to drive.George Russell - 7.5/10An excellent recovery after anti-stall dropped him from sixth to 21st at the start. Qualifying was disrupted by a water leak and his race appeared ruined within seconds, but the Mercedes driver fought his way back to seventh to rescue valuable points.Liam Lawson - 7.5/10Admitted he underperformed in qualifying but put that right with a very good race. Used his fresher tyres to pass team-mate Arvid Lindblad late on and led Racing Bulls home in eighth.Nico Hulkenberg - 8/10A deserved points finish after reaching Q3 and keeping himself at the front of the midfield battle. Passed Lindblad late on and comfortably outperformed Audi team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto across the weekend.Arvid Lindblad - 7.5/10Another strong rookie weekend. Reached Q3 despite missing most of final practice and made an ambitious one-stop strategy work well enough to claim the final point, although Lawson got the better of him.Gabriel Bortoleto - 6.5/10Recovered well from a disappointing qualifying session and came close to making his one-stop strategy pay off. Finishing just outside the points was respectable, but Hulkenberg held a clear advantage within the Audi team.Pierre Gasly - 6/10A steady weekend in an Alpine that never looked capable of challenging the leading midfield runners. Qualified and finished ahead of team-mate Franco Colapinto but there was little opportunity to achieve much more.Lance Stroll - 6.5/10Lost valuable practice time following a suspension failure and started near the back, so recovering to 13th was more than a solid result. Aston Martin's upgrade provided encouragement and Stroll made reasonable use of it on Sunday.Fernando Alonso - 7/10Reaching Q2 for the first time this season represented genuine progress for Aston Martin. Finished behind team-mate Stroll after starting four places ahead, but this was still the most competitive weekend the team has produced in 2026.Franco Colapinto - 4.5/10His crash in second practice immediately put Alpine on the back foot. Qualified a respectable 13th but slipped behind team-mate Gasly and both Aston Martins during an underwhelming race.Esteban Ocon - 6/10Out-qualified team-mate Oliver Bearman for the first time since Monaco and led Haas home. The car lacked the pace to contend for points, but Ocon at least extracted more from the difficult weekend than Bearman.Alex Albon - 5.5/10Williams expected the Hungaroring to expose the cars' weaknesses and that proved to be the case. Albon qualified behind Carlos Sainz but led his team-mate home in a race where neither car looked remotely competitive.Carlos Sainz - 4/10A difficult weekend in an unpredictable Williams ended with a penalty for his collision with Piastri while being lapped. The car's limitations were obvious, but the incident added another unnecessary complication to a poor result.Oliver Bearman - 3.5/10Out-qualified and outraced by team-mate Ocon during a painful weekend for Haas. A five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags compounded an afternoon spent near the back of the field.Oscar Piastri - 8.5/10A result that does not reflect the quality of his drive. Produced a superb move to take the lead at Turn Two and was ahead in the first half of the race. Didn't look like he could match McLaren team-mate Norris for pure pace, though, and once Norris jumped him in the pits, looked resigned to finishing behind him. A suspected gearbox failure robbed him of well-deserved points. Sergio Perez - 3.5/10Qualified last, started from the pit lane following set-up changes and retired with a problem at the front-left of the Cadillac. There was very little positive performance to assess.Valtteri Bottas - 4/10Started ahead of Perez but Cadillac's struggles meant his race was similarly shortlived. Overheating brakes forced his retirement before he had any meaningful chance to make progress.