George Russell believes Mercedes will have a lot of work ahead of them at the Formula 1 Hungarian GP. After Friday’s activities in Budapest, the driver stated that Ferrari confirmed expectations and arrives at the rest of the weekend as the main reference at the Hungaroring.
Read more F1: Antonelli hopes to enter the fight for pole in Budapest
The Brit highlighted that track conditions presented a challenge for the entire grid. In addition to changes in the circuit’s asphalt, Russell pointed out that irregularities in some sections and the impact on tire wear made the day particularly complicated for drivers and teams.
According to the Mercedes competitor, the car presented difficulties mainly in fast laps. In contrast, performance in race simulations was more encouraging, giving the team some positive points to work on before the next sessions.
“It was a strange day, and I think that applied to everyone on the grid. The Hungaroring is an incredible track to drive, but the resurfacing made things quite challenging today,” he stated.
Russell explained that the team faced problems related to the car’s behavior over the circuit’s undulations: “The track was quite bumpy in some places, and we had difficulties with the car’s ride height. This also impacted tire wear, which was higher than we expected,” he said.
Read more F1: Aston Martin sees upgrade package work and team is optimistic
Despite seeing potential for improvement, the British driver did not hide his concern about Ferrari’s performance. For him, the Italian team was already internally pointed out as a favorite before the start of activities, a scenario that was confirmed throughout Friday.
“Our single-lap pace didn’t look great, but our race pace was more competitive. The Ferrari cars look very strong and will be difficult to beat this weekend,” he added.
Russell continued his assessment, reinforcing that Mercedes will need to find answers quickly: “We thought this would be the scenario even before we got here, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen so far. They (Ferrari) are a good step ahead of everyone, so we’ll have to work hard overnight if we want to close that gap,” concluded the Brit.
Read more TCR: Pernía leads first free practice at Velocitta after rain delay
