George Russell acknowledged that the anxieties Mercedes harboured regarding Ferrari’s potential pace at the Hungarian Grand Prix were justified after a Friday practice session that was clearly dominated by their championship rivals. Mercedes, who have been the benchmark in the title chase with eight victories out of the ten races contested so far, entered the Hungaroring with a mixture of confidence and caution. The circuit’s tight, twisty layout has long been viewed as a venue where cars that excel in cornering can thrive, and Ferrari – the winners of the two other Grand Prix this season – appeared to have the perfect recipe for success. In the lead‑up to the event, many analysts highlighted the possibility that Ferrari’s chassis, which is reputed to be especially strong in low‑speed corners, could give the Scuderia an edge on the Hungarian track.
Those predictions were borne out on Friday when the Italian team topped both free‑practice sessions. In the more representative second hour of running, Ferrari secured a one‑two finish, with Charles Leclerc clocking the fastest time and his teammate Lewis Hamilton, surprisingly, slotting in second – a result that underscored the team’s overall speed. Mercedes, by contrast, struggled to match the pace of the front‑runners. Their best effort in the second practice session placed them only fifth overall, while their slowest time was a disappointing thirteenth.
The gap to the leading cars was unusually large – nearly nine‑tenths of a second – highlighting balance issues and a lack of single‑lap speed. Lando Norris, driving a heavily upgraded McLaren, managed to claim third place, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fourth, leaving Mercedes looking out of sorts. "It was quite a strange day out there, I think, for everybody," Russell said, reflecting on his fifth‑fastest lap. "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 odd to drive on." He went on to admit that the team’s single‑lap performance was far from ideal. "Our single‑lap pace didn’t look great. The long run looked more competitive, but what we feared with Ferrari seemed to be the case.
They look very, very strong," he added. Ferrari’s championship leader, who had missed the first practice session while the team fulfilled rookie‑driver running requirements with Frederik Vesti, was forced into thirteenth place after his soft‑tyre runs were disrupted by a red‑flag caused by Franco Colapinto’s crash.
Additional mistakes, including a heavy lock‑up at Turn Two, further hampered his time. Russell summed up the team’s situation: "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 I 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." While Mercedes has benefited from a degree of luck this season, Ferrari’s two victories have both come in the last four races, indicating a late‑season surge in form. The Hungarian Grand Prix marked only the second occasion this year that Ferrari had been the outright fastest on a conventional Friday.
Leclerc led the opening session by a sizeable 0.4 seconds and then finished just 0.148 seconds behind Hamilton in the second practice, describing the day as "relatively strong." He noted, "From the beginning I felt quite good with the car and 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 of performance." Leclerc continued, "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 that we had today, so we’ll have to do everything perfect.
But if the feeling is there I’m sure we’ll do a good job in Q3." Hamilton, speaking after the session, praised the effort but highlighted the challenges: "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 Frederic Vasseur, echoing his drivers’ caution, warned against complacency. "So far, so good, but it’s not on Friday we are doing the pole, even less that you win the race," he said. "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 attention from other teams as well. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who posted the sixth‑quickest time, remarked, "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." 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 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 support races and qualifying sessions. Saturday featured an F3 sprint, the third practice for the Hungarian GP, an F2 sprint, and the qualifying session that would set the grid for the main race. Sunday’s program included an F3 feature race, the Porsche Supercup, an F2 feature race, and finally the Grand Prix itself, which kicked off at 2 p.m.
local time. All sessions were broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with streaming options available via NOW for viewers without a traditional contract. Overall, Friday’s practice painted a clear picture: Ferrari had turned the Hungaroring into a playground for their strong cornering package, while Mercedes faced a stark reminder that their dominance could be challenged on circuits that favour a different set of car characteristics. The upcoming qualifying and race would determine whether Mercedes could close the gap, adapt to the bumpy, wind‑laden conditions, and reclaim their position at the front of the grid, or if Ferrari’s momentum would continue to reshape the championship narrative.