Mercedes left the qualifying session for the Formula 1 Hungarian GP with the feeling that they could have achieved a better result. Kimi Antonelli was the fourth fastest, but will start only in seventh due to a penalty, while George Russell, who had qualified in seventh, will start from sixth position after the application of penalties for Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton.
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The team’s Saturday was marked by distinct incidents for its two drivers. Antonelli lost time on his decisive lap after encountering a yellow flag, while Russell faced a water leak that will result in the power unit being changed for Sunday’s race.
Antonelli stated that Mercedes already expected a complicated weekend in Budapest, especially due to the circuit’s profile and the updates introduced by competing teams. Still, the Italian believes there was potential to fight for pole position.
“We knew this weekend would be challenging, as this track favors other teams and we saw our competitors bring more updates. Still, we were in a position to fight for pole, but we didn’t have our cleanest qualifying of the year,” he stated.
The young driver explained that he had to reduce speed in the last corner due to the yellow flag caused by Max Verstappen: “My last lap was strong, probably the best of the weekend so far. I lost just under two tenths by easing off in the final corner because of the yellow flag, but, unfortunately, that was not considered sufficient by the stewards,” he added. Despite the penalty, Antonelli believes that the good pace shown on Friday can keep him in contention for a great result.
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Russell, in turn, highlighted the strength of Ferrari and McLaren throughout the weekend. The Briton revealed that Mercedes identified a water leak after his last attempt in the qualifying session, forcing the team to retrieve the car as a precaution.
“When the car returned to the garage, we discovered that the damage was quite severe and we will have to install a new power unit before the race,” Russell stated. The British driver added that the team found indications that their single-lap difficulties may be more related to tire behavior than to the car’s performance itself.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff described the session as disappointing and admitted that the team failed to extract the maximum from the tires during the weekend: “When the tires work too hot or too cold, you lose the car’s ideal window and have difficulty reaching your potential,” he said. Wolff concluded by predicting a complicated race, but stressed that the pace shown in race simulations offers hope: “Starting in sixth and seventh is far from ideal, but we hope to create opportunities to take advantage of our pace and move up the field,” he added.
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