Hungarian GP long runs: Kimi Antonelli hits back at…

At first glance, Ferrari enjoyed an impressive day of practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Scuderia dominated both Friday sessions with an advantage of around half a second over their closest challengers. However, appearances are deceptive, as the competitive order actually seems to be much closer than the timesheets suggest.

The long runs with high fuel loads at the end of the second practice session painted a completely different picture. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who had to abandon his soft-tyre qualifying simulation after a red flag and a mistake on his second attempt, comfortably produced the strongest long-run pace of the entire field.

Adjusted for different stint lengths and tyre compounds, the Italian averaged 0.46 seconds per lap faster than Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, whose race simulation was anything but consistent.

Where has Ferrari's race pace gone?

The big question now is: Why did Ferrari look so strong over a single lap while struggling so much in the long runs? That is precisely the question the Scuderia will be examining during its post-session debriefs in order to optimise the set-up for the remainder of the race weekend.

Lewis Hamilton's long run (+0.67s) was far from convincing either. Both McLaren driver Lando Norris (+0.52s) and George Russell in the second Mercedes (+0.61s) were quicker over the race distance.

The picture looked somewhat different in the first practice session. There, Hamilton's long run was around four tenths of a second per lap faster than Russell's. However, Mercedes' true benchmark in Hungary once again appears to be Antonelli, who sat out the opening session as Frederik Vesti took over his cockpit.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari (Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Like Ferrari, is Red Bull only fast over one lap?

A similar pattern also emerged at Red Bull. Max Verstappen finished second in the first practice session and fourth in the second, but once the cars were running with heavy fuel loads, the Red Bull pair also struggled to maintain their pace.

Isack Hadjar lost an average of 0.79 seconds per lap to Antonelli during the long runs, while team-mate Verstappen was 0.82 seconds slower. Unlike Ferrari, however, Red Bull's long-run pace in the first practice session had already offered little reason for optimism.

As a result, Red Bull could also be forced to shift its set-up more towards race performance from Saturday onwards, even though the Hungaroring is notoriously difficult for overtaking, making qualifying traditionally far more important.

How much is Aston Martin's update worth?

Aston Martin was also under scrutiny on Friday. The team arrived in Hungary with an extensive update package, hoping at the very least to shed the unwanted tag of being the slowest team and to reconnect with the midfield.

Based on the initial findings, however, the hoped-for major step forward appears not to have materialised. That is also because the gap to the competition had already been enormous beforehand. In the long runs during the second practice session, Fernando Alonso was the second-slowest driver in the field, trailing by 3.42 seconds per lap.

At least he managed to stay ahead of Valtteri Bottas (+3.93s). However, Aston Martin remains adrift of the front of the midfield. The team's biggest weakness continues to be top speed: particularly in the first sector, Aston Martin loses a lot of time to its rivals on the longer straights.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing (Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Midfield: Audi, Racing Bulls and then a big gap?

Nico Hulkenberg (+1.25s) once again impressed on Friday with strong long-run pace, just as he has over the past few race weekends. However, the German has so far been unable to convert that speed into points.

His main rival in Budapest is likely to be Racing Bulls (+1.46s) once again. Alpine (+2.16s), on the other hand, appears to be falling further behind in the development race.

Haas (+1.94s) delivered a solid, albeit not outstanding, long-run performance. Friday proved considerably more difficult for Williams (+3.01s): the team currently finds itself much closer to Cadillac and Aston Martin than within striking distance of the top 10.