George Russell acknowledged that the anxieties Mercedes harbored regarding Ferrari's potential dominance at the Hungarian Grand Prix were justified after a Friday practice session that was clearly ruled by their title‑challenging rivals. Mercedes have been the benchmark in the championship so far, boasting eight victories out of ten races, yet the distinctive, twisty layout of the Hungaroring sparked speculation that Ferrari—who have already claimed the season's other two wins and whose car excels in cornering—might be the team to beat this weekend. Those pre‑race predictions were confirmed on Friday when the Italian squad topped both free‑practice sessions, even sweeping the top two spots in the more representative second hour of running with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc posting the fastest times.
By contrast, Mercedes struggled to keep pace, slipping to fifth and thirteenth in the two sessions respectively, a surprising 0.9‑second deficit to their main rivals that highlighted ongoing balance issues and a lack of single‑lap speed. Lando Norris, driving a heavily upgraded McLaren, managed third place, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fourth. "It was a rather odd day for everyone," said Russell, who recorded the fifth‑fastest time. "Budapest is a fantastic circuit, but they resurfaced half of it, making it extremely bumpy, especially around the final corners where the surface is breaking up.
That made the car feel quite unusual. "Our one‑lap pace didn’t look great.
The longer runs were more competitive, but what we feared about Ferrari seems to have materialised. They look incredibly strong." Ferrari’s championship leader, Charles Leclerc, who missed the first practice session while the team fulfilled rookie‑driver running requirements with Frederik Vesti, found himself down in thirteenth after his soft‑tyre runs were disrupted by a red flag caused by Franco Colapinto’s crash and a series of driver errors, including a significant lock‑up at Turn Two.
Russell added, "We have a lot of work to do as a team. Ferrari are clearly a step ahead of everyone right now.
Both Kimi and I felt the car was far from ideal, and there is definitely room for improvement. It was very windy today, and I think the wind direction will keep shifting, which could change things a lot." Despite benefiting from a degree of luck, Ferrari’s two victories this season have both come in the last four races. Hungary marked only the second occasion this year that they have been the outright fastest on a conventional Friday. Leclerc led the opening session by a massive 0.4 seconds and then finished just 0.148 seconds behind Hamilton in the second practice, describing the day as "relatively strong".
"From the start I felt good with the car and the performance was immediately apparent, which is encouraging. The weekend is still long, and we usually see a jump in performance between Friday and Saturday as teams fine‑tune their setups.
Normally we are on the back foot on Fridays, so a solid showing is positive, but we must keep working hard to improve. "Qualifying will be tight as always. I don’t expect the gap we saw today to stay, so we’ll have to be perfect in Q3. If the feeling persists, I’m confident we’ll do well." Lewis Hamilton, speaking in Ferrari’s end‑of‑day press release, echoed a similar sentiment: "It was a solid day overall.
The conditions were challenging, with wind making things tricky and the track feeling bumpy in places. The car improved in FP2 and we made progress between the sessions, but there are still areas to develop. We’ll review the data overnight, keep working on balance, and hopefully extract a little more performance." Team principal Frederic Vasseur, however, cautioned against getting carried away by Friday’s results. "So far, so good, but a strong Friday doesn’t guarantee pole position, let alone a race win," he warned.
"It’s nice to start the weekend like this, but tomorrow will be a different story. I think Norris didn’t finish his lap, so we’ll see what happens on Saturday." Ferrari’s speed caught the attention of other competitors as well. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who was sixth quickest, remarked, "I knew they would be quick on a circuit like this. Right now we’re waiting for Mercedes to wake up.
As always, I expect a close fight with the McLarens. That’s where we stand at the moment." Oscar Piastri, eighth fastest in the lone McLaren that did not carry its major upgrade on Friday, added, "The Ferraris have looked very quick in both sessions, but Lando looked competitive in the second one especially.
The Mercedes is very hard to read, so let’s see tomorrow. If we execute a good day, there could be a lot up for grabs." The weekend schedule is packed: Saturday July 25 features an F3 Sprint at 9 am, Hungarian GP Practice Three at 11:15 am (session starts at 11:30 am), an F2 Sprint at 1:10 pm, qualifying build‑up at 2:15 pm, the official Hungarian GP Qualifying at 3 pm, and Ted’s Qualifying Notebook at 5 pm.
Sunday July 26 includes an F3 Feature Race at 7:35 am, Porsche Supercup at 9:05 am, F2 Feature Race at 10:20 am, the Grand Prix build‑up at 12:30 pm, the Hungarian Grand Prix itself at 2 pm, a post‑race reaction segment at 4 pm, and Ted’s Notebook at 5 pm. All sessions are broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with the race streamed via NOW without a contract and cancellable at any time.
In summary, Russell’s comments underline Mercedes’ growing concern that Ferrari’s corner‑heavy package may be the decisive factor at the Hungaroring. While Mercedes still leads the championship, the practice results suggest that the Italian team has found a rhythm that could challenge the status quo. The upcoming qualifying and race will determine whether Mercedes can close the performance gap or if Ferrari will continue to capitalize on its recent momentum.