George Russell acknowledged that the anxieties Mercedes harboured 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, who have amassed eight victories from the first ten rounds of the season and currently sit atop the championship standings, entered the Hungaroring with a degree of confidence. Yet the circuit’s tight, twisty layout – a track that rewards strong cornering ability – had sparked speculation that Ferrari, fresh off wins at the two other Grand Prix this year, might be the team to beat in Budapest.
That speculation proved well‑founded on Friday. Ferrari comfortably topped both free‑practice sessions, posting a one‑two finish in the more representative second hour of running, with Lewis Hamilton surprisingly ending the session ahead of Charles Leclerc. By contrast, Mercedes struggled to find the right balance. Their best lap placed them fifth in the second practice, while their slowest was 13th, leaving a staggering 0.9 seconds to the front‑running Ferraris.
The gap highlighted Mercedes’ ongoing challenges with single‑lap pace and overall car equilibrium. Lando Norris, driving a heavily upgraded McLaren, managed third, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fourth. Russell, who recorded the fifth‑fastest time, described the day as “quite a strange one for everybody.” He noted that Budapest is a fantastic circuit but the recent resurfacing had left half the track extremely bumpy, especially around the final corners where the surface was breaking up. “Our single‑lap speed didn’t look great,” he said, adding that the longer runs appeared more competitive but that the feared Ferrari advantage was indeed materialising.
“They look very, very strong,” he concluded. Ferrari’s championship leader, Antonelli, missed the first practice session while the team met rookie‑driver running requirements with Frederik Vesti. When he finally took to the track, his soft‑tyre laps were compromised by a red‑flag caused by Franco Colapinto’s crash and by his own mistakes, including a significant lock‑up at Turn Two, leaving him 13th overall. Russell admitted the team has work to do: “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 be changing a lot.” Although Ferrari have benefitted from a bit of luck, their two victories this season have come in the last four races, and Hungary marked only the second occasion this year that they had been the outright fastest on a conventional Friday. Leclerc topped the opening session by a sizable 0.4 seconds and was just 0.148 seconds slower than Hamilton in the second practice. He described the day as “relatively strong,” saying the car felt good from the start and that the performance looked promising.
However, he cautioned that the weekend was long and that teams often improve dramatically between Friday and Saturday. “Normally we are on the back foot on Friday so it’s a good thing we have a good Friday, but we still need to stay on it and work hard in order to get better. 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 perfect.
If the feeling is there I’m sure we’ll do a good job in Q3,” he added. Hamilton, speaking in Ferrari’s end‑of‑day press release, echoed a similar sentiment: “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.” Team principal Frédéric Vasseur kept his optimism in check, reminding everyone that a strong Friday does not guarantee pole position or race victory. “So far, so good, but it’s not on Friday we are doing the pole, even less that you win the race,” he warned. “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.” Ferrari’s speed attracted comments from other teams as well.
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 posted the eighth‑quickest time in a car that had not yet received its major upgrade, added: “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, practice sessions, qualifying and the main Grand Prix all slated across Saturday and Sunday. The Hungarian Grand Prix itself began at 2 pm on Sunday, with live coverage on Sky Sports F1 and streaming options available via NOW.
As the teams head into qualifying, the narrative is clear: Mercedes must close the performance gap quickly, Ferrari will look to consolidate their momentum, and the rest of the field will be watching closely to see if the windy, bumpy conditions at the Hungaroring can be turned to their advantage.