Mercedes: More to Norris’ Hungary win than McLaren upgrade

Lando Norris’s breakthrough victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix may have ended McLaren’s win drought, but Mercedes are not convinced that team papaya’s new upgrade package for its MCL40 tells the whole story.

After introducing fresh parts in Budapest, McLaren suddenly looked capable of challenging the previously dominant Silver Arrows.

Norris converted pole position into victory and delivered the team’s first win of the 2026 season, a result that immediately raised questions about whether the balance of power in Formula 1 is beginning to shift.

Mercedes deputy technical director Simone Resta accepts that McLaren made a genuine step forward, but he believes Norris himself was a major part of the equation.

“For sure, it's a sizeable update and it must have had an impact on their performance,” Resta said on the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show.

“But also, if you look at the gap between their two cars, it's significant as well.”

That observation is difficult to ignore. While Norris dominated the weekend, team-mate Oscar Piastri was unable to match his pace, suggesting the performance gain was not purely down to hardware.

Norris’ execution made the difference

Resta pointed to a pattern that Mercedes have noticed throughout the season: McLaren have often been competitive, but the identity of the quicker driver has varied from race to race.

“We have seen, in general, McLaren as a team that has performed well on many occasions this year with a bit of up and down between the two drivers in terms of who is the fastest one,” he explained.

For the Italian engineer, Budapest looked like a weekend in which Norris found an especially strong connection with the car.

“We have seen some strong performances from Norris already every time this year,” he added. “And maybe he was in a very good place with the car and the set-up in these conditions and tyre management and he executed very well.

“So I think it's probably a combination of both aspects.”

In other words, Mercedes see the Hungarian result as the product of both McLaren’s upgrade package and a near-flawless performance from Norris.

Mercedes still leading, but feeling the pressure

The timing of McLaren’s surge is significant. Mercedes continue to lead both championships, yet their once-comfortable advantage has begun to shrink as rivals close in.

A major factor has been reliability. Power-unit issues and other mechanical problems have cost the Brackley squad valuable points during the opening half of the season, forcing the team into an increasingly aggressive recovery effort.

Resta insists Mercedes are approaching those problems with discipline rather than panic.

“I think this is as a result of the level being higher in Formula 1,” he said. “You really need to squeeze out everything in every single aspect, and we are lucky we got a lot of experience in the team.”

“We've got good processes, good tools. We just have to really keep our relentless effort in just nailing them one by one with the right prioritisation.”

Read also:

• Mercedes: ‘The hard part’ now begins, but team vows to remain 'calm'

The message from Mercedes is clear: the competition has become fiercer, the margins have become smaller, and every weakness is now being exposed.

“Nothing emotional, just simply rationally analyse all of them, make sure we have the right fix at the right time and speed up this process,” Resta concluded.

“We'll be a better team after we sort out all of this.”

For now, Mercedes are refusing to treat Norris’ Hungarian victory as a simple upgrade story. In their view, the Budapest winner did not just have a faster McLaren – he drove it exceptionally well.

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