Norris and Verstappen overdelivered in Hungary - and that's symbolic of their F1 2026 seasons

Whenever someone suggests that a driver 'outperformed their machinery', I'm put in mind of James Vowles' brief aside on Sky Sports where he was suitably pedantic in asserting that it is physically impossible to outperform your machinery. You can't drive the car any faster than its capabilities, that's just science. Vowles' Law, let's call it. 

But when a driver's had a pretty good weekend and transcended what was initially thought possible, it should be possible to laud it without invoking Vowles' Law. Let's call it "overdelivering". 

It's like this: a driver can't outperform a Mini Cooper and beat 22 F1 cars on track, that's just physically impossible, but it's not impossible to (in this hypothetical, at least) win a grand prix. You just need everyone else to retire nice and early, and hey presto, you've overdelivered. Hopefully, this new definition doesn't ring quite so many alarm bells with the physicists; one imagines "JV" is greeted with a little mental image of Breaking Bad's Hector Salamanca and his cacophonous disagreement whenever "outperform" is mentioned.

I think it would be reasonable to suggest that both Lando Norris and Max Verstappen have been worthy of the "overdelivering" epithet this year. Embroiled in last season's surprisingly intense championship battle, which looked for the world like a McLaren-dominated 'after you, sir' deal until Verstappen crashed the party, the two haven't been able to continue that as Mercedes and Ferrari have scooped the lion's share of the trophies this term. 

Hungary was the first time this year that Norris and Verstappen finished first and second, the duo occupying the top two positions simultaneously five times over 2025 (although usually the other way around). Their fortunes were altogether different at the Hungaroring; Norris suddenly had a car underneath him that was capable of delivering sucker-punch after sucker-punch in the race pace stakes, while Verstappen toiled with a Red Bull that was struggling with the usual bugbears: harsh downshifts, less-than-desirable ride characteristics, and a loose rear.

In either case, both drivers overdelivered; McLaren wasn't necessarily expecting to win, and Red Bull certainly wasn't confident of a podium.

When McLaren had the chance to win, Norris threw everything at making it his victory (Turn 2 notwithstanding)

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This wasn't a one-off, but emblematic of their seasons. Everyone knows how good Verstappen is and, although he's spent a considerable amount of the season complaining on the radio, it seems to be an outlet for him to start performing at his best. It was apparent over 2023 that, when leading a race, Verstappen could be metronomic at a step above his peers. 

Yet, he seems to reserve something special for the moments when his back is against the wall; when conditions are treacherous or when his car is truly problematic. He doesn't need those moments of adversity to show his class, of course. But in his defiance, he finds an extra level, as if to say "the world's against me, but I'm so much better". He wants the best from the people around him and, if he doesn't feel like he's getting it, he'll try to make up the difference. 

That's a characteristic that he shares with Lewis Hamilton. The difference here is that Hamilton doesn't necessarily relish that approach; if anything, the seven-time champion finds it greatly uncomfortable. See 2025, for example: when the season started to spiral out of control, Hamilton was noticeably withdrawn, as if preoccupied with attempting to mentally solve the puzzle in real time. It's not perhaps as instant a reaction on Hamilton's part; he prefers to hibernate for a bit, shake the table, and carries people along with him in his upward soar.

Aside from Antonelli and Hamilton, Verstappen and Norris have been two of the best performers throughout the season so far

Norris is slightly more the archetypal Brit; yes, he'll have a good old moan about inconsequential matters, but in times of crisis he's a batten-down-the-hatches, mustn't-grumble type, and I think that's been evident through 2026 thus far. Maybe unfairly maligned as a "bottler" in his earlier career, Norris has pretty much taken every opportunity that's come his way across the opening 11 races, and the main mitigating factors have been reliability and strategy calls. Perhaps that comes with the territory of being newly crowned as a world champion, and the need to prove oneself is replaced on the mantlepiece with the drivers' title trophy. 

One of the defining characteristics of 2026 has been the near-instant upswing that has tended to arrive with a reasonably sized update package. McLaren took a fair chunk to Miami, and Norris was immediately in with a shout of winning - it was only pitstop timing that denied victory over Kimi Antonelli, as the Italian successfully made the undercut work. Hungary presented another upswing, and Norris made the most of it.

Another criticism that has been levelled at Norris and Verstappen, usually by the more partisan crowd, is that they're mere "car merchants" - drivers who go anonymous when they don't have the best machinery. It is a bit of a fundamental misunderstanding of F1, and it's a lot more difficult to win regularly when the car isn't the best on the grid; there are also track-specific performance swings of which to be aware.

Verstappen finds an extra level when he feels the world's against him

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Verstappen has disproved that across his career several times over, although it won't stop some folks from underplaying his achievements. Regardless, perhaps 2024 is probably a better example of this than 2025; in '24, Red Bull was out-developed by McLaren and Ferrari, yet Verstappen was sensible enough to play the numbers and focus on maximising the given result at a race weekend. 

First place might not be a win condition for a driver at a race; it might be third, or fifth, and the Dutchman's relentless top-six consistency was the bedrock of his title win. Sao Paulo was arguably the nail in Norris' coffin that year, as Verstappen took the opportunity to dazzle in the torrential conditions at Interlagos.

Norris, by comparison, has spent more of his career in lesser cars - but you have to look at the value he brought in those given situations. Take the start of 2023, for instance, when McLaren was seriously in trouble with its early-season MCL60: given the baseline performance of the car, Norris had been under the radar but was on hand to pick up much-needed points whenever the slightest whiff of an opportunity presented itself.

When McLaren followed this up with its hefty Austria update package, the 2023 car was suddenly capable of mixing it at the front. Norris demonstrated that throughout the second half of the year, ultimately snowballing that form into a 2024 title tilt that fell flat - and then a 2025 effort that, as it emerged, didn't. 

And that's the bottom line: you can't outperform the machinery at your disposal. But Norris and Verstappen have, throughout 2026, been overdelivering on the results their cars have been expected to achieve. Aside from Antonelli and Hamilton, they've been two of the best performers throughout the season so far - and they're getting their just rewards for their efforts.

Three of the best? Hungary's podium finishers have perhaps been 2026's most consistent performers

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