George Russell: What Mercedes 'feared' from Ferrari…

Although Ferrari's drivers were keen to play down expectations ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the SF-26 confirmed its superiority around slower corners on the opening day of Formula 1 track action. Charles Leclerc went fastest in FP1 while team-mate Lewis Hamilton led Leclerc in a Ferrari 1-2 in FP2.

In contrast, both Mercedes drivers reported confidence-sapping balance issues and a lack of overall grip. And they were not alone – others complained about bumps and a poor-quality surface, even though parts of the track have been recently relaid.

"It was quite a strange day out there, I think, for everybody," said George Russell after practice. "Budapest is an amazing track to drive but they've resurfaced half of the track, super bumpy, a lot of it is breaking up around the last couple of corners, which is making it quite strange to drive on.

"Our single lap [pace] didn't look great, the long run looked more competitive. But what we essentially feared with Ferrari seemed to be the case."

Ferrari's SF-26 gained a reputation for being quick around slow and medium-speed corners earlier in the season, to the extent that it was considered the runaway favourite to win the Monaco GP. That didn't come to pass, though Hamilton won in Barcelona and Leclerc at Silverstone, tracks considered less favourable to the Scuderia's technical package.

Traditionally the Hungaroring is a tricky track to read, since it is used less often than some other circuits on the F1 calendar so the surface tends to be dusty and ‘green' at the beginning of the weekend, evolving quickly through practice. This, along with its bumpiness, adds to the challenges of managing the latest generation of cars since sliding and inconsistency from lap to lap tends to be punished by the power unit control software.

Hamilton led a commanding Ferrari 1-2 in FP2 (Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Bumpiness is a relative term in F1 since all tracks have to meet certain standards to attain FIA Grade One status, but even small surface inconsistencies can be felt in cars with relatively little suspension travel.

Set-up at the Hungaroring requires a delicate balance because its configuration, with lots of corners requiring high traction at the exit, makes the rear axle a limiting factor. But dialling understeer in to protect the rear tyres exacts a toll on entry speeds.

In FP2, Russell's fastest lap was 0.933s off Hamilton's benchmark. Antonelli was 1.964s off, 13th overall, but didn't set a representative lap: he had to abort his first flier because of the red flag triggered by Franco Colapinto's crash, then a lock-up compromised his second attempt.

Mercedes remained emphatic that it wasn't out of contention for pole position.

"We've been competitive at every type of circuit this year," said deputy team principal Bradley Lord.

"I know there's a certain narrative that certain circuits favour us and others will favour them, we've seen generally other teams swing back and forth a reasonable amount. But I think we've been pretty consistently fighting up there and at the front and able to compete for pole at every race. So that has to be our target for tomorrow as well."