Lando Norris just sent an ominous message to Mercedes and Kimi Antonelli

When Lando Norris imagined defending his world title, it would surely never have thrown up visions of what ensued from the season opener in Australia to the Belgian Grand Prix a week ago. An electrical fault meant he didn’t even make the start of the Chinese Grand Prix and he was subsequently forced to retire in Canada and Monaco with gearbox and battery issues respectively. When he did finally make it to the chequered flag, it was hardly a cause for celebration, his last three grand prix finishes being two P7s and a fourth place. All the good work of 2025 was slowly ebbing away. What a contrast in the space of just a week as Budapest proved rather dramatically to be the antidote to a difficult season to date, the moment where the No 1 car was back on top for a first non-Mercedes or Ferrari grand prix victory of the season. "Nice to finally be able to do it all for you again. Feels like it's been a while."Lando on the radio after his first GP win this season! 📻 pic.twitter.com/vHtBQy1uMX— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 26, 2026 And it wasn’t just that Norris was first, he comfortably eclipsed the entire field around the Hungaroring. By the time he crossed the line, he had 15 seconds of breathing space to the next best in Max Verstappen in second place. Sure, the track plays to the strengths of the McLaren MCL40, which boasts the shortest wheelbase on the grid enabling it to be particularly nimble around the twisty nature of the place. But this was a hugely impressive announcement by driver and team that finally they were once more a force to be reckoned with. It begs the question how on earth have they turned it around so quickly? And then it is also worth pondering whether this is a false dawn or an indication of the rest of the season going into F1’s enforced summer break. When Norris took pole on Saturday, his team principal Andrea Stella downplayed the importance of such an eventuality and the speed of the McLaren, suggesting the Ferrari was the quickest car in Budapest. Whether or not he truly believed it at the time he proffered such words to the assembled media, his utterances proved to be utter piffle. The secret to the turnaround lies in the upgrades that have been made for this weekend, which initially played second fiddle to Adrian Newey’s complete overhaul of the Aston Martin, which has also been massive albeit towards the back of the grid. Norris crosses the line first to take the chequered flag on Sunday (Photo: Getty) The biggest change starts with a new floor on the McLaren as well as a front brake duct and rear brake duct winglets plus a variety of other smaller tweaks. Budapest also bore witness for the first time to the team’s take on the Macarena wing, although that will be more impactful at the more high-speed circuits to follow. The impact of all these changes has meant a far better balanced car, greater grip and crucially more pace. Following the victory, Norris could barely have been more effusive about the machinery at his disposal. He said: “My pace today was probably some of the best pace I’ve ever had. The car was beautiful to drive. Happy to be back and see the No 1 again. Feels like it’s been a while.” Will McLaren now be the team to beat rather than Mercedes? “I want to believe so,” he continued. “This is maybe as good as it can look for now. “I still believe we can win races. We have tough competition. The Ferraris are quick and Kimi’s there every single session. “If we want to come back we need a lot more of these… to keep putting the pressure on.” Ominously for their rivals, there is still plenty more pace to extract from McLaren. This was the first – although admittedly the biggest – of a set of upgrades which will be delivered at the races following the summer break. Read more Analysis: How George Russell’s F1 title dream unravelled Comment: One year on from Christian Horner’s exit, Max Verstappen has never been unhappier The higher-speed tracks coming on the calendar will probably be the true acid test for McLaren and his team but there is a quiet confidence emanating from the team now. A title challenge to Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes looks a stretch despite the leaps the team have clearly made. Currently, Norris is 91 points behind the teenage championship leader although he will be aware as anyone of the 104-point deficit Verstappen gobbled up in last season’s title race.