(Motorsport-Total.com) – Mercedes had already expected strong Ferrari pace ahead of the Formula 1 weekend in Budapest (follow live here in the ticker). But despite a half-second lead over the competition, the Silver Arrows still see nothing that would be “alarming”. “It’s just a really good benchmark,” says deputy team principal Bradley Lord.
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Mercedes itself seemed to have big problems at the Hungaroring on Friday. Both drivers reported difficulties with the car’s balance. The consequence: George Russell was almost a second behind Ferrari in fifth place, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli ended up only in 13th position.
“It was a pretty strange day out there, I think for everyone,” says Russell after practice. “Budapest is a fantastic track to drive, but they’ve resurfaced half of it. It’s super bumpy and a lot of it is breaking up in the last few corners, which makes driving quite strange.”
“Our single-lap pace didn’t look great, the long run seemed more competitive. But what we basically feared regarding Ferrari seemed to be the case,” said the Englishman about Ferrari’s strong pace.
Ferrari’s SF-26 earned a reputation at the start of the season for being fast in slow and medium-speed corners – to the point that the team was considered the absolute favorite to win the Monaco Grand Prix. That didn’t happen, but Hamilton won in Barcelona and Leclerc in Silverstone – tracks that were considered less advantageous for the Scuderia’s technical package.
On Friday, the Scuderia took both best times in Hungary, while Mercedes remained behind expectations, but the Silver Arrows are still calm. Because they know that Antonelli’s time, in particular, was not very meaningful.
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“We didn’t really get a clear picture of our single-lap pace – simply because Kimi couldn’t finish his lap due to the red flag and had a severe oversteer moment and a flat spot on his next attempt,” emphasizes Lord. “So we’ll have to look at that tomorrow.”
“Both drivers struggled with the car’s balance, saying it was really tricky, quite nervous, oversteer, understeer, inconsistent – yes, we’re not particularly happy with our single-lap performance today. But we believe that’s probably due to the tires and not getting them into the right operating window to get the best out of them.”
“Because when it came to the long runs, George looked quite competitive and Kimi was also very consistent on the soft tire – so in a more normal position.”
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Mercedes therefore has reason for optimism for the race, but the team has not yet given up the fight for pole position on Saturday either: “We have been competitive on every type of track this year,” emphasizes Lord.
“I know there’s a certain narrative that some tracks suit us and others suit them. We’ve generally seen other teams fluctuate quite a bit. But I think we’ve consistently fought up there at the front and been able to compete for pole at every race.”
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“So that must also be our goal for tomorrow.”