Lando Norris won the final race before F1's summer break to reignite hope he can defend his drivers' title; watch all the remaining 2026 Formula 1 races live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Dutch GP from August 21-23
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McLaren boss Andrea Stella has issued a warning to his team's rivals for the remainder of the 2026 season as he expressed confidence in the Woking squad's ability to maintain momentum once it has been gained.
The reigning constructors' champions claimed a long-awaited first victory of the season in the final race before the summer break as reigning drivers' champion Lando Norris dominated in Hungary.
The result brought Norris back to within 91 points of championship leader Kimi Antonelli, while McLaren closed the gap on the Italian's Mercedes team to 159 points. To retain his title, Norris would also need to leapfrog Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Charles Leclerc, while Ferrari are only 72 points back from Mercedes in the team standings.
While both margins are considerable, Norris' performance following a significant upgrade package in Budapest has provided Stella with belief that McLaren can continue to perform strongly over the remaining 12 rounds of the season, starting with the Dutch Grand Prix from August 21-23.
Asked whether his team can get back into the fight for world titles, Stella said: "That's a difficult question, but there's a very clear answer.
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"If we can continue the season as we did in Budapest, we can still achieve a great deal. To do so, we must keep pushing with the development of the MCL40 and ensure we outpace our rivals – who certainly aren't standing still – in this race within the race, which is the competition over updates.
"The result will depend on how effective the solutions we bring to the track prove to be. In the first part of the season, we struggled more than we expected in this regard too, but I believe that in recent years, once we've gained some momentum, we've been able to maintain it."
McLaren were in a contrasting position this time last year, having reached the summer break with a 299-point lead in the constructors' standings, and Oscar Piastri leading team-mate Norris in what appeared to be a two-horse race for the drivers' title.
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However, Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who trailed Piastri by 104 points with nine rounds remaining, staged a remarkable fightback to ultimately finish the season just two points behind Norris and 11 ahead of Piastri.
Stella added: "There are still 12 races left on the calendar, so there are plenty of opportunities given that 546 points are up for grabs.
"Of course, the gap in both championships is significant, but we remember last year's lesson well: after all, I always tell the team that if we've set up a new display cabinet to house the new, recent trophies at the McLaren Technology Centre, then we have a duty to do our utmost to keep filling it…"