Red Bull fears major Ferrari threat in Hungary: 'They are way stronger'

Ferrari stood head and shoulders above the rest in both FP1 and, especially, FP2, with the Maranello outfit comfortably setting the benchmark. Lewis Hamilton led the way ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, while Lando Norris, the closest challenger, finished half a second adrift. Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar were even further back, trailing by seven tenths and a full second respectively

Speaking at the end of Friday's running, the Frenchman described it as a tricky day, admitting FP2 proved even more challenging than the opening session due to the wind. While he felt the car was working reasonably well, he conceded Ferrari held a clear advantage, with Racing Bulls still lacking one-lap pace despite encouraging long-run performance.

Hadjar admitted Ferrari's pace came as no surprise to him around a circuit like the Hungaroring, while insisting Mercedes had yet to reveal its true potential. He also expects McLaren to be firmly in the fight once the competitive sessions get underway.

In his final remarks, Hadjar labelled it one of the toughest Fridays of the season, pointing to the challenging track conditions: "One of the toughest Fridays of the season so far. Conditions are very tricky, very bumpy as well. So it's hard on the tires, on the brakes. Kind of made a step back on the feeling in the car in FP2. I think in FP1 we had a better car overall. I think long run pace looked pretty good, but we are missing on one lap."