There were mixed messages coming from the Mercedes drivers on Friday night at the conclusion of the opening two practice sessions in Budapest – an upbeat George Russell sounding confident of his chances heading into qualifying, while the same couldn’t be said for his team mate Lewis Hamilton…
Hamilton came into this weekend brimming with confidence after his victory last time out at Silverstone, and while he cut a relaxed figure out of the car, his joking demeanour belied some frustration at the balance of his W15 in the searing heat – with an air temperature of 32 Degrees Celsius and the track temperature hitting 60 Degrees at one point.
FP2: Norris sets the pace while Leclerc brings out red flags during second practice in Hungary
“[The car] felt just as bad as it does normally when it’s hot,” said Hamilton, who came home seventh in FP1 and P10 in FP2.
“Today’s not been a good day really, apart from the weather’s been good and it’s been nice to be here but we’ve not really been on form today so the car hasn’t felt good set-up wise. But I think we have an idea why and we’ll just work overnight – but not the best prep so far.”
