George Russell openly acknowledged that the apprehensions Mercedes had regarding Ferrari's potential speed at the Hungarian Grand Prix were justified after a Friday practice session that was clearly dominated by the Italian team, the reigning world championship contenders. Mercedes have been the benchmark in the championship so far, amassing eight victories out of the ten races contested. Yet the distinctive characteristics of the Hungaroring – a tight, twisty circuit that rewards cornering ability – sparked speculation before the weekend that Ferrari, who have already secured two wins this season and whose car excels in high‑speed cornering, might be the team to watch. Those pre‑race predictions were confirmed on Friday when Ferrari not only topped the timing sheets but did so with a comfortable margin in both free‑practice sessions.
In the second, more representative hour of running, the team achieved a one‑two finish, with Lewis Hamilton surprisingly ending the session second behind Charles Leclerc, underscoring the magnitude of Ferrari's advantage on the track. By contrast, Mercedes’ performance was underwhelming.
Their best effort in the second practice session placed them only fifth on the grid, while a further run saw them tumble to 13th – a full 0.9 seconds adrift of the leading Ferrari. The gap highlighted ongoing balance issues and a lack of single‑lap pace. Lando Norris, driving a heavily upgraded McLaren, managed to claim third place, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fourth. Russell, who recorded the fifth‑fastest time, summed up the day’s oddities: “It was quite a strange day out there, I think, for everybody.
Budapest is an amazing track to drive, but they resurfaced half the circuit, it’s super bumpy and a lot of it is breaking up around the last couple of corners, which makes it quite strange to drive on.” He added that the team’s single‑lap speed “didn't look great,” although the longer runs appeared more competitive. “What we feared with Ferrari seemed to be the case – they look very, very strong.” Ferrari’s lead driver, Antonelli, who missed the first practice session while the team complied with rookie‑driver mileage requirements with Frederik Vesti, struggled in the second session. He finished 13th after a soft‑tyre stint was interrupted by a red flag caused by Franco Colapinto’s crash, followed by a series of driver errors, including a significant lock‑up at Turn Two. Russell continued, “We’ve got work to do as a team.
Ferrari are a good step ahead of everyone right now. I think for both Kimi and me the car was far from great, to be honest, and we think there is room to improve. It was really windy today and I think the wind direction is going to be shifting, so that could change a lot.” Despite a degree of luck, Ferrari’s two victories this year have come in the last four races, and Hungary marked only the second occasion this season that they had been the outright fastest on a conventional Friday.
Leclerc topped the opening session by a sizable 0.4 seconds and then posted a 0.148‑second gap to Hamilton in the second practice. He praised the day’s performance, saying, “It was a relatively strong day. From the beginning I felt quite good with the car and the performance seemed to be good straight away.
So that’s a good thing, but the weekend is still long and from Friday to Saturday we see teams making a jump in performance.” Leclerc added that while Ferrari usually start the weekend on the back foot, this time they had a solid Friday. “It’s going to be tight in qualifying as always.
I don’t expect us to have the gap we had today, so we’ll have to do everything perfectly. But if the feeling is there I’m sure we’ll do a good job in Q3.” Hamilton, speaking after the session, echoed the mixed feelings: “It was a solid day overall. The conditions were quite challenging, with the wind making things a bit tricky and the track feeling quite bumpy in some places.
The car felt better in FP2 and we made some good progress between the sessions, although there are still a few areas we need to improve. We’ll go through all the data overnight, keep working on the balance and hopefully find a bit more performance.” Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur kept his tone measured, warning against complacency: “So far, so good, but it’s not on Friday we are doing the pole, even less that you win the race. It’s good to start the weekend like this but let’s see tomorrow, it will be another story. I think Norris didn’t finish the lap… we will see tomorrow.” Other competitors also noted Ferrari’s speed.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who was sixth quickest, said, “I knew they were going to be quick on a track like that. At the moment we are waiting for Mercedes to wake up. Like always I think it’s going to be very close with the McLarens. That’s where we are at the moment.” McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who was eighth fastest in the sole McLaren that did not carry its significant upgrade on Friday, observed, “The Ferraris have looked very quick in both sessions.
But I think Lando looked competitive in that second one especially. The Mercedes is very hard to read.
So let’s see tomorrow. If we execute a good day then it looks like there could be a lot up for grabs.” The schedule for the weekend was packed, with F3 and F2 support races, sprint events, and the main Grand Prix qualifying and race sessions spread across Saturday and Sunday.
The Hungarian Grand Prix itself was slated to start at 2 pm on Sunday, with live coverage on Sky Sports F1 and streaming options available via NOW. In summary, the Friday practice sessions in Budapest highlighted a clear shift in the competitive balance, with Ferrari demonstrating a level of pace that forced Mercedes to confront a genuine performance gap. While the British driver and his team remain optimistic about the potential to close the deficit, the data from the first day suggested that the Italian squad had found a sweet spot in the car’s setup for the unique demands of the Hungaroring. The coming qualifying and race will determine whether Mercedes can adapt quickly enough to challenge Ferrari’s newfound dominance, or if the Italian team will continue to capitalize on its cornering advantage and turn the Hungarian Grand Prix into another milestone in their championship campaign.