Russell Hamilton Eye Gains Despite Slow Start

Despite a slow start at the Hungaroring, Mercedes drivers Russell and Hamilton are optimistic about improving before the qualifying rounds.

Mercedes F1 made a solid start in Hungary, posting the 5th and 7th fastest times with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively in the second practice session.

The two Britons find themselves slightly behind McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari, yet they remain optimistic about their potential for improvement.

“It was extremely hot today! It wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated in the car, but I’m sure that will change come Sunday’s race. Everyone in the garage is doing a tremendous job under such challenging conditions, with temperatures soaring above 35°C,” noted Russell.

“We covered a lot of laps today on long runs. These are really valuable data for analysis this evening. It will help us dictate our strategy for the rest of the weekend and inform the improvements we can make to the car before tomorrow.”

“The McLarens and Red Bulls seemed very quick today, so we know we have some ground to make up. We don’t seem as competitive in these very hot conditions, so that’s something we need to get to grips with. We’re looking forward to seeing what we can achieve tomorrow and are hopeful we’ll be in contention in the top 5.”

Lewis Hamilton also remarked on the intense heat, saying, “It’s really quite hot here this weekend, which is usually the case in the beautiful city of Budapest at this time of year!”

“Today wasn’t our best day of the season so far. The car’s setup didn’t feel quite right and we weren’t at our best. We made some minor tweaks between the sessions, but nothing major. We have some ideas on why the car wasn’t performing at its best, so we’ll be working hard on that tonight, aiming to make improvements before tomorrow.”

“The standings are still very tight. Even though our one-lap pace wasn’t the best, our long run was decent. We’re still a step behind the ultimate pace at the front, but we’ll do everything we can to close that gap as much as possible for Saturday.”