I see red
1-3 Ferrari in FP1, 1-2 Ferrari in FP2. It’s only Friday, but for now, the pre-weekend predictions are being met: Ferrari was expected to be a protagonist and favorite for victory in Hungary, and Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are trying to make these predictions come true. Mercedes is forced to play defense, at least for now. George Russell finished the second free practice session in fifth position, while World Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli did not go beyond the 13th fastest time; however, the Italian appeared more convincing in the race simulation.
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Russell, at the end of the day, speaking with journalists present in Budapest, admitted that his pre-weekend concerns regarding Ferrari’s speed are proving correct: “I believe what we feared has somehow been confirmed today with Ferrari – said Russell – they are the ones ahead“.
Deployment ok
The feeling of Mercedes’ #63 on track was not ideal – also due to the track conditions that Russell himself heavily criticized – but the Briton could console himself with the absence of deployment issues with his power unit. A relief after the difficulties faced from this point of view between Silverstone and the start of the Spa GP: “The car’s basic pace this weekend doesn’t seem to be as competitive as we saw at Silverstone and Spa, but I’m confident. There’s a lot of room for improvement – Russell observed – the on-track sensations are far from optimal but I’m sure it’s the same for everyone. The wind seems to be changing direction and when there are gusts of 25-30 km/h, a 180 or 90-degree change in direction has a real impact on the car’s balance, yaw, and things like that. So I hope tomorrow will be better“.
“Deployment resolved? Yes, to be honest, I didn’t even think about it, so it’s good that the issue has somehow been resolved. In any case, even if the problem had persisted, due to the nature of the track here, it probably wouldn’t have been noticed anyway. So yes, I just need to focus on going fast as I should in the race,” Russell concluded.
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