McLaren arrived at the Hungarian Grand Prix in a precarious position, with both of their drivers unable to collectively match championship leader Kimi Antonelli’s 204 points.
Lando Norris sat on 103 points and Oscar Piastri on 92, leaving the reigning champion looking like an unlikely contender to defend his title deep into the 2026 season.
McLaren responded with a significant upgrade package at the Hungaroring, targeting front and rear corner bodywork while also introducing a revised floor and rear wing.
The results were immediate and emphatic, with Norris winning from pole in Hungary before repeating the feat at Zandvoort with a round-the-outside move on Antonelli at Turn 1.
That double victory has pulled Norris to within 83 points of the championship lead, transforming him from an afterthought into a genuine title contender once more.
Team principal Andrea Stella is clear that the upgrades alone do not tell the full story, insisting Norris is consistently extracting levels of performance beyond what the MCL40 naturally offers.
“Lando is driving and operating at a very high level, in absolute sense, in relation to a Formula 1 world champion,” Stella said following the Dutch Grand Prix. “He’s driving at the level of a world champion.”
Stella has pointed to a shift that began after the early races of 2025, describing a specific moment in Norris’ development that has continued to compound race by race throughout his title defence.
“Something clicked, which is not only a single click, but is a way of working with Lando, for Lando, and that we are adopting also on Oscar’s side now in particular,” Stella explained. “And this approach has led Lando to continuous improvements.”
The qualifying head-to-head between the two McLaren drivers tells a striking story, with the pair evenly matched across all 2025 sessions at a perfect 15-15 split.
The balance shifted dramatically in 2026, with Norris dominating the qualifying battle 12-1 after the April break, losing out to Piastri in Monaco alone.
The average gap between them stands at 0.128 seconds, which is not enormous in isolation but has been remarkably consistent in Norris’ favour as Piastri continues to struggle.
Stella believes the most significant evolution in Norris extends beyond technical performance, pointing instead to a refined mental approach and transformed racecraft as the real differentiating factors.
“If you want to look at Lando from another angle, I would say that definitely he is now expressing a higher level of assertiveness as he drives,” Stella noted. “You know, the manoeuvre to pass Antonelli today is a really good demonstration of that.”
Stella was also keen to highlight that Norris’ growing confidence manifests not only in bold overtaking moves but also in knowing when to hold back and wait for the right moment.
“The self-confidence sometimes is not demonstrated by being the most aggressive,” Stella said. “Sometimes you are self-confident when you think like, ‘You know what? I’m not going to have a fight now because I may lose in this fight. It’s a very long race. See you at the end of the race.'”
Stella noted that Norris did not even lead after the opening lap in either of his last two victories, yet never allowed that position to affect his belief in what he could achieve during the race.
“I did not hear or perceive any decay in his confidence, as to the fact that he was fast and he was just preparing his opportunity to then cash in on his competitiveness,” Stella added.
The McLaren boss concluded that assertiveness and self-confidence are the two qualities Norris has developed most from a non-technical standpoint, separating the 2026 version of the Briton from even his championship-winning form last season.