“Don’t waste time racing him”: Mercedes told Antonelli not to defend lead from Norris | Formula 1

Mercedes looked unstoppable after they won the first six rounds of 2026 in a row.

Only Ferrari had managed to beat them to victory prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix. But in a sign of the change in the competitive situation at the front of the field, Mercedes recognised they couldn’t contain the threat from another of their rivals: McLaren.

As Lando Norris closed on race leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the second half of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Mercedes were convinced their driver, on older tyres, would not be able to keep the world champion behind.

On lap 44, two laps before Norris caught the Mercedes, race engineer Peter Bonnington told Antonelli: “Norris at 1.8 [seconds behind], we don’t want to waste time racing him.”

Two laps later, Norris cruised up to the back of Antonelli’s car. He made a bid to pass on the inside at turn one but ran wide, allowing Antonelli to accelerate back ahead as they approached turn two.

“Let’s not waste time here, Kimi,” Bonnington reminded him.

Norris’s fresher tyres appeared to make it inevitable he would pass the Mercedes. Antonelli later made another pit stop, dropping him even further behind the McLaren.

However in the cool-down room after the race Norris suggested to Antonelli he only had a limited window of opportunity to pass him.

“I honestly thought if I didn’t pass you the lap I passed I would have been stuck behind you,” said Norris. “The last few corners you were very strong, we were just terrible in the last few corners.”

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It’s doubtful whether Antonelli would have been able to hold Norris behind if he had not pitted and his tyres progressively degraded. Still, Norris’s comment does call into question whether Mercedes were too quick to capitulate. Antonelli indicated he was willing to try to complete the race without another pit stop:

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After his pit stop Antonelli was unable to recover second place partly due to the timing of a Virtual Safety Car period. He also lost a lot of time he lost lapping backmarkers, partly due to the problem with the FIA’s blue flag warning system.

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2026 Hungarian Grand Prix

• “Don’t waste time racing him”: Mercedes told Antonelli not to defend lead from Norris
• “It was the throttle pedal”: What Mercedes told Russell about his terrible start
• How Piastri’s quick thinking avoided a slow pit stop early in the race
• “Every opportunity I give those stewards…”: Hamilton laments fifth penalty in six rounds
• Second place “an over-performance compared to what we expected” – Verstappen

Browse all 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix articles