What the teams said – Qualifying in Hungary

McLaren

Norris was fast on Friday, and he was even quicker when it really mattered. In the mix all the way through, the Brit nailed his final flying lap in Q3 to pip Hamilton by the narrowest of margins. He got a little lucky to avoid two sets of yellow flags, but was the only driver to properly improve as conditions began to change around the Hungaroring as the World Champion sealed his maiden Grand Prix pole of the season.

Piastri can count himself unlucky, as he was getting better and better as the session wore on but had to settle for fifth after aborting his final lap. He found the slow-moving Ferrari of Hamilton on the racing line, and gave his rival a rather sarcastic thumbs up for that moment afterwards. Hamilton was penalised post-session, promoting Piastri up the order.

Lando Norris, 1st, 1;17.207

“It's a fantastic feeling to be back on Pole - it’s been a while, but I've felt confident all weekend. The car was performing very well, and the team has done a brilliant job with the new upgrades, we certainly wouldn't be here without them. While my final laps in Q3 weren't perfect, we had the pace when it mattered, and securing Pole is a huge boost for everyone. This result is a testament to the hard work at the factory and the progress we're making.

“Looking to the race, we're in the best position we've been in all season, but I'm expecting a very tough fight tomorrow. The Ferraris have shown incredible pace, and tyre degradation will be a major factor. Starting from the front is obviously an advantage here, but we need a good start and excellent race management. Beating them tomorrow will definitely not be easy. We need a few more results like this to feel a bit more confident about our performance, but today is certainly a good start.”

Oscar Piastri, 5th, 1:17.684

“We had more in us and we had good performance in the car but were impeded by Hamilton at Turn 1, so I didn’t get to do my final flying lap. I felt like we had made good progress throughout FP3 and into each Qualifying session, especially with the new package, so it was a shame to not be able to show our full potential. It's encouraging to see Lando on Pole, so congratulations to him, and to see that we are making progress with performance, so we can take positives from that. The team have done a great job with the latest package, so we will keep pushing on that front to keeping find more and more lap time.

“Looking ahead to tomorrow, we will try and get a good start and see what we can do. Overtaking here is tricky, but we will give it everything and aim for the podium.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“Securing Pole position was a fantastic and somewhat surprising result for the whole team. The new upgrades we brought to the track performed exactly as we had anticipated, and this outcome is a testament to the months of relentless effort from everyone back at the factory in developing and delivering these parts. While we have a lot of progress to still make, today confirms that our development direction seems the right one, and I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved. My thanks go to the team, both at the factory and trackside, for their hard work and commitment.

“On Lando’s side, the team were able to maximise everything which enabled him to deliver a great final lap. On Oscar’s side, he made good progress throughout the whole of Friday after he had missed FP1 to give Leo the chance to run his second free practice of the year. Oscar ran the new upgrade package for the first time in FP3, however he was not able to show his full potential in Qualifying today as his final lap was impeded.

“While we will certainly aim for victory starting from the front, we remain realistic about the challenge ahead. Our competitors, especially Ferrari, have shown very strong pace all weekend, and we believe they are still the favourites for the race. We know we have more work to do to be in this position consistently, but the good news is that we are in the fight. We hope to capitalise on this opportunity and deliver a strong performance for both drivers.”

Ferrari

Hamilton was fast in FP3, narrowly pipped by Norris but definitely in the mix for pole. He was rapid throughout Qualifying, making it through Q1 on the mediums – as did his team mate – to open up some strategic options for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. In Q3, Hamilton grabbed provisional pole, but the grip went away from him and he could not improve on his second run, agonisingly waiting to see if someone would beat his time.

Norris did just that, by 0.012s, with Leclerc grabbing third in the session. But Hamilton was pinged for impeding Piastri, the Ferrari man caught on the racing line into Turn 1 on his cooldown lap. The stewards handed him a three-place grid drop for the Grand Prix, so he will start fifth.

Lewis Hamilton, 2nd, 1:17.219

"I always enjoy this track, and I’ve felt comfortable in the car all weekend, so today’s result is frustrating. Pole felt within reach but I didn’t quite have the grip I needed on my final Q3 run, and a three-place penalty from a communication issue has left me in a starting position that isn’t ideal. We’ve been competitive from the first session, so I’m hopeful we have the pace to make up ground tomorrow. Tonight, we’ll keep working hard as a team to fine-tune everything and give ourselves the best possible chance in the race."

Charles Leclerc, 3rd, 1 :17.445

"My qualifying was about maximising the result and I think I did that today. There was quite a bit of wind change throughout the sessions, so it was tricky to find grip on certain parts of the track.

"Our long run pace looked good so far, but it’s difficult to rely on the pecking order we saw yesterday as everyone seems to have made a step forward overnight. I expect it to be much tighter in tomorrow’s race."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"The positive aspect of today is the level of competitiveness we have shown. Of course, losing pole by one hundredth of a second and then receiving a three-place grid penalty with Lewis for impeding is frustrating. Charles also had a far from straightforward session, with his lap deleted for track limits in Q1 and then having to deal with yellow flags after (Isack) Hadjar spun. That said, we've shown good pace throughout the weekend and tomorrow will be a long race where tyre management, strategy and execution will all be decisive. Charles starts from the front row and Lewis is still close enough to fight, so our objective remains the same: to maximise every opportunity and bring home the best possible result."

Mercedes

Antonelli improved hugely in FP3, and for the first time all weekend looked a contender for pole. He had to work hard to make Q3 after losing a lap time for track limits, but once there looked in the mix. The track was going away from most of the field at the end of Q3, and then disaster struck when Antonelli had to lift late on in his second flying lap for a spinning Verstappen, and could only manage fourth. Did he lift enough? The stewards had a look, and decided to impose a three-place grid drop.

As for Russell, he looked half a step behind his team mate all day. And he was not helped by a water leak on his final fast lap at the end of Qualifying, which forced him to park up down at Turn 1 after his flying run. The team believe they can repair his car without incurring any grid penalties, and Russell also inherits a place thanks to his team mate's grid drop.

Kimi Antonelli, 4th, 1:17.479

"We knew this weekend would be challenging as this track suits other teams and we've seen others bring more upgrades. We were in the ballpark to fight for pole position though, but we didn't have our cleanest qualifying session of the year. My final lap was strong, probably my best of the weekend so far. I lifted on the final corner because of the yellow flag for Max (Verstappen) and I lost just under two tenths of a second. Unfortunately, that wasn't deemed sufficient by the stewards.

"Tomorrow is not going to be easy. Overtaking is going to be difficult, and we are now starting much further back that we could have been. Our long run pace on Friday was good too so we will be doing everything we can to fight for the win."

George Russell, 7th, 1:17.760

"We expected Ferrari to be strong here this weekend and McLaren, with their upgrades, have taken a step forward. So it proved today where we couldn't quite get ourselves consistently in the mix. It certainly wasn't the easiest of sessions. We suffered a water leak on our final lap, and we stopped as a precaution once we'd finished our effort. Unfortunately, once we got the car back to the garage, we found that the damage was quite severe and we will have to take a new Power Unit ahead of tomorrow's race.

"We made progress with our pace from Friday to Saturday, but it wasn't enough to get ourselves in the fight for pole. There were clues as to why we were struggling more on the single lap yesterday as our race pace was strong. That suggested it was more tyre driven than the performance of the car itself but we will only find that out tomorrow."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"We had an underwhelming qualifying session today. Both drivers were unlucky on their final laps: Kimi with the yellow flag and George with the water leak. Our pace wasn't likely strong enough to fight for pole position today though. It's not been our smoothest weekend, and we've not managed to get the tyres working as we would want. When you are running either too hot or too cold, that is where you lose the sweet spot of the car and struggle to get the most out of it.

"Tomorrow will be a challenging race. Overtaking is difficult around here and starting from P6 and P7 is far from ideal. Our race pace was strong on Friday though and hopefully we can create opportunities where we can utilise that."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"Overall it's not been an easy day here in Budapest. We made decent progress from Friday through final practice with Kimi just over one tenth adrift of the best time. By qualifying though, it was clear that we didn't have the pace to fight for pole.

"It was quite difficult to get the car in a sweet spot with the changing track temperatures. That had us changing plans between a preparation lap to bring the tyres in and going for our efforts on the first lap. In the end we settled on no preparation lap but for George, the tyres weren't really biting, and he was losing time with understeer. Kimi also had understeer but was slightly happier and would have been on for at least P3 but for a yellow flag on his final lap. Sadly, the stewards judged that he didn't lift enough for that yellow and he will now start P7 after being handed a grid drop.

"The race pace was strong on Friday which will hopefully give us opportunity to move forward tomorrow. Given the difficulty in overtaking, we expect it will be very difficult to fight for podium positions though."

Red Bull

Not to be for Red Bull, who struggled on Saturday to remain competitive with the likes of Ferrari and McLaren. Both drivers made it through Q1 with relative ease, but Hadjar then spun in Q2 and had to nail his final run to even make it into the top 10. Verstappen then repeated that trick, spinning on his second flying run as the rear end got away from him. That left the Bulls a little down the order, with Hadjar already proclaiming he needed an alternative strategy tomorrow to stand any chance of progression.

Max Verstappen, 6th, 1:17.725

“The whole weekend has been tricky for us so far. Unfortunately, from FP3 onwards, we started having problems that were out of our control and quite unexpected. We have a lot to look at overnight, and really understand what caused these problems. We saw aerodynamic losses, which is especially difficult in Qualifying, and we were struggling with degradation as well as the rear. The car was oversteering a lot and each lap it wasn’t improving. Hopefully we can fix our problems ahead of the race and see what we can improve starting from P6 tomorrow.” 

Isack Hadjar, 8th, 1:17.856

“This weekend has been a challenging one so far. We hoped we would have made a step forward going into Qualifying compared to yesterday, but we just couldn’t deliver this time around. The balance of the car has been the main issue here. It’s been tricky for us to find the sweet spot, and that makes putting a strong lap together difficult. There’s always tomorrow, but overtaking at this track is not easy. I’m starting near Max, so we can work together, and with a strong strategy, hopefully we can make up a few places.” 

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

“It was a tricky qualifying session for both Max and Isack, and in the end we just didn’t have the pace to match Ferrari and McLaren today. We have been battling since yesterday to give our drivers a well-balanced car, but we haven’t really been able to extract the sort of performance that would allow us to challenge for the top positions in Qualifying. 

“This is where we are, and you can see that it varies quite a bit from weekend to weekend. It’s also a reflection of how tight things are among the top teams. If you fail to get everything absolutely right, it’s very easy to slip back. 

“Tomorrow is a new challenge, though, and we will work hard to see how we can extract more than today in race conditions. The race will be long, and we expect to have to deal with tyre degradation and very high temperatures. Let’s see what sort of race pace we have, how the conditions play into it and, whether we can be in the fight for a podium again.” 

Racing Bulls

Lindblad had a difficult time of it in FP3, a late precautionary PU change meaning he spent most of the session on the sidelines. Crucially, Racing Bulls did get him out for a couple of laps late on, so he did not go into Qualifying completely at a loss as to how the track conditions had changed. The rookie made it all the way to Q3 and out-qualified his midfield rival once there in an impressive effort. Lawson could not quite join him today, he was a touch frustrated with his car at the end of Q2 but is not far away from the points in P11. He missed out by a tenth of a second in the end.

Arvid Lindblad, 9th, 1 :18.281

"I think today was really positive. We made a good step forward from yesterday, despite missing most of FP3 this morning. It put me on the back foot but we managed to get the car in a good place. A massive thank you to the mechanics for getting the car ready in time to give me those two laps before Qualifying, they were really valuable in helping me get back up to speed. Credit also to the engineers for giving me the confidence in the car when it mattered most. It was a real team effort. It’s a really enjoyable circuit to drive, and we’ve put ourselves in a strong position for tomorrow. We know Audi will be quick over the race distance, but we’ve done the job today to make sure we’re starting ahead, and now the focus is on converting that into a good result.”

Liam Lawson, 11th, 1:18.765

“I'm disappointed with my execution in Q2. We were pretty good in Q1, however I locked up in the first lap and didn't have a strong second lap. It's a shame as the car has been very good. Our long runs have been quick, so we should have a fast car for the race tomorrow. Points are definitely within reach, so it's all to play for."

Dan Fallows, Technical Director

"With the Hungaroring being one of the more difficult circuits for overtaking in the race, we came into today looking to maximise our starting positions and we go away pleased to be starting 9th and 11th tomorrow. We saw some minor issues on the power units for both cars yesterday and today, so we elected to change them as a precautionary measure. This meant a late night on Liam's car and a push to get Arvid's car ready for the end of P3. Despite the work involved, the garage team did a fantastic job to get the cars in great shape for Qualifying today. We allocated 5 new sets of soft tyres to use in the three Qualifying sessions, planning to keep two new sets for both Q2 and Q3. As we expected, both drivers made it safely through Q1 with one new and one used set and could enjoy new tyres for each run after that. Arvid overcame his lack of P3 running to put in a strong drive to secure 9th on the grid, with Liam also showing good pace and only missing out on Q3 by the smallest of margins. With our practice long runs looking competitive, we are aiming for a strong race tomorrow against Audi and hoping to come away with more valuable Championship points.”

Audi

Audi have been quick all weekend, and were in a tight fight with Racing Bulls for the top 10. In the end Hulkenberg was the one to make it through. With only one set of fresh softs, he could not quite fight with Lindblad and had to settle for P10. Bortoleto had a significantly harder time of it though at the Hungaroring. He lost his first lap time in Q1 to track limits, so had a highly-pressurised last lap to make it through. He then lost his first flying run in Q2 to yellow flags, as he was first on the scene as Hadjar spun. With it all to do on his second run, he could not quite stick a good time in when it mattered and thus looks a little out of position.

Nico Hulkenberg, 10th, 1:18.686

"I'm pleased to be back in Q3 after a clean qualifying. I think we maximised everything we had today. That's satisfying, even if the gap to the cars ahead was a bit bigger than we'd hoped.

"It's been very close all weekend and the windy conditions made it difficult to find consistency, especially through the middle sector. Still, we executed well when it counted and starting from P10 gives us a solid platform for tomorrow. Our long-run pace looked encouraging on Friday, so hopefully we can challenge the cars around us and fight for points."

Gabriel Bortoleto, 14th, 1:19.105

"It was a disappointing qualifying from my side. I didn't put everything together and made a few mistakes, so I didn't maximize the package we had today. We've been in the top ten throughout the weekend, so I think there was definitely more potential. Starting from P14 makes tomorrow more challenging, but we'll do our best to move forward and see what we can achieve.”

Allan McNish, Racing Director

"Overall, it was a challenging qualifying session for everyone with the wind and changing track conditions, but we have positives to take away. Reaching another small milestone on our journey, with consecutive top ten qualifying results for the team following Gabriel in Spa and now Nico here in Budapest, is something we can be pleased with.

"Nico has had a run of weekends where things haven't quite fallen his way, so it was great to see him put everything together and deliver a very strong lap today. On Gabriel's side, it was a more difficult session, and he was on the back foot for much of qualifying, but starting P10 and P14 gives us opportunities with both cars tomorrow. Budapest can be an unpredictable race, and we'll be looking to make the most of what we have."

Alpine

Colapinto missed much of FP2 after crashing out, so he had a busy final practice session playing catch up. Considering that he missed FP1 as well – sitting out for Paul Aron – the fact the Argentine racer kept his team mate honest in Qualifying was impressive. Both Colapinto and Gasly left it late in the first segment, the last two to cross the line with both making Q2. But they could go no further, with Alpine now in need of some more upgrades as Racing Bulls and Audi continue to sweep up those Q3 berths.

Pierre Gasly, 12th, 1;18.844

“If you take where we started the weekend and the relative pace compared to the others, you'd have to say being two-tenths off the top-10 and beating one Audi is probably better than we expected going into the session. We managed that time only using one set of Soft tyres, so in some way we can be pleased with how we have progressed since yesterday. On the other hand, I'm struggling a lot and the feeling in the car isn't great. We're just lacking pace at the moment and we're too far back from the top of the midfield fight, which is where we need to aim for. Here on a single lap in particular, I'm not able to drive the way I like and don't have the balance right and am drifting a lot which costs lap time and also stresses the tyres. The wind is expected to increase tomorrow which might make things interesting and we have kept one fresh set of Hard tyres for the race. With the speed of those around us, we will have to make a good start and try something different if we're to beat them over a race distance. It can be quite difficult to overtake here, but we'll give it our all and see where we eventually end up.”

Franco Colapinto, 13th, 1:19.027

“I was still catching up today after yesterday and the missed track time but even then, P13 is ultimately where we are this weekend. We had a lot to do in the second session where it was windy, and the car was difficult, and I only did three or four push laps with the off in the last corner. So today, we had to recover, it felt like a Sprint weekend, and I think we had a good showing in trying to make the car better. It was a bit into the unknown, but we did a good job as a team. On my final lap, we lost some grip in the opening part of the lap but then recovered in sectors two and three. It's bit of a pity but I think it's where we should be with the car we have. We are waiting for the upgrades we have planned and hope that they can bring a big step as we are still a bit on the back foot this weekend. Hopefully tomorrow we can catch our rivals and give ourselves a shot of points as we did last time out in Spa. This is a tricky track to pass on but, in the race, we normally have a bit more pace so we will try to do our best and come away with a reward for the team before the summer break.”

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director

“You can see from today's result, and both cars being close together on the timesheets, that it's probably a fair reflection of where we are at this circuit with the package we have. It's a track that rewards downforce and with performance development coming later down the line, we knew it would probably be a venue that we could struggle at. Both Pierre and Franco have been working hard with the engineers to find more lap time, which we did from Friday to Saturday, and hopefully we can be more competitive in the race tomorrow. Credit to both drivers as they're pushing hard and doing the best with the tools they currently have available to them. In terms of the gap to the top-10, the outcome from Qualifying was closer than we probably expected. We know it's up to us as a team to give them a better car and the team is working hard back at Enstone to make that happen. Conditions are expected to shift a little bit tomorrow and could shake up the competitive order a bit. As we have done in recent races, we'll try and make a good start, position ourselves well, and be there to capitalise on any opportunities that present themselves to make up more places.”

Haas

Ocon out-qualified Bearman for the first time since Monaco in Hungary – which considering the similarities between the two tracks, perhaps should not have been a surprise. But neither could get near the top 10 as the Haas continues to fall back from their midfield rivals. They might have a tough Grand Prix from those positions, but Ocon knows well just how chaotic this race can be and he will be keen to take advantage of any opportunities that might crop up tomorrow.

Oliver Bearman, 17th, 1:20.233

“To be honest I felt like I’ve been hanging on all weekend ever since I jumped back in the car in FP2, it’s been a real struggle. The balance has been really unpredictable, and honestly it’s disappointing because all that progress I felt we made in Spa, it feels like we’re back to square one now. I’ve just been really struggling to feel any confidence with this car and it’s shown in the result today.”

Esteban Ocon, 15th, 1:19.734

“I’m very happy with the work we’ve done this weekend. We didn’t run into any strange issues with straight-line speed, rear downforce or weird front downforce which we’ve seen in the past – the car stayed consistent. The team did a great job taking the car apart on Friday night and putting it back to the same that it was. We could build from FP1 and have a normal weekend, fine-tuning here and there, and it’s very satisfying for all of us to have extracted the maximum from the package today. There’s nothing more we could have done in terms of positioning, we’re half a second away from the car in front, so there’s no way we could’ve done that. Now we’ll look to the next step, which is to bring more performance to the car – so we’ll see if we can do that in the near future. We’ll take today as a satisfaction for my side of the garage, and for the whole team it’s good confidence, so we need to build on that.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“Today’s similar to yesterday with a mixed result. An absolute qualifying position of P15 and P17 isn’t great, but if you look into the details, it’s positive that Esteban was happy with the car from FP1 and the car’s been consistent. Sometimes we have days like Spa where he was happy on Friday, but Saturday and Sunday he wasn’t. This weekend since FP1 to qualifying his car’s been consistent and he was happy with the characteristics, so he’s been able to build up to it. I believe he got the most out of the car in Q1 and Q2, so P15 is the reflection of the performance we’ve got – so that’s what we need to improve.

“On the flip side, you’ve got Ollie taking over the car from Ryō in FP2, and immediately he wasn’t happy with the car compared to Spa. We haven’t really been able to make progress on that today in FP3 or qualifying. It’s been a bit better than yesterday, but he’s still really struggling on that, and he was out in Q1. We all know what he’s capable of, it’s the car that’s preventing him from getting to the limit. We really need to understand that one, that’s the ongoing issue we’ve been having lately. Unfortunately, it’s nothing new, but it confirms that we’ve got this balance migration issue. For the race it’s going to be very hot, possibly 50 degrees track temperature, so I think we need to look at different tyre usage, and people may have different strategies as well, so we’ll do our best to get the most out of the car. We’ve just got to be there to take advantage if anything happens in front of us. Overnight we’ll be working on trying to get the car balance as best as possible for tomorrow, and looking to go forwards.”

Aston Martin

Progress for Aston Martin and their upgrades, with Alonso making it out of Q1 for the first time this season. Yes, he only qualified one place higher than his previous best of P17, but considering he has been on the back row for the last five events, 16th is a huge improvement. Stroll couldn’t quite match his team mate, but is on the second to last row which is also progress.

Fernando Alonso, 16th, 1:19.808

“It has been a more competitive weekend for us and getting into Q2 is a step in the right direction. We are still optimising this package and there is more potential to unlock in the car. The car seems more consistent and predictable, so it’s a bit easier to drive. We are going to keep learning about this car tomorrow and we’ll see what we can do in the race.”

Lance Stroll, 20th, 1:20.659

“The car feels like a step forward with more downforce and more grip, so that's positive. We were up on the final lap and I think Q2 was possible, but I got caught out by a tailwind into Turn 12 and the car just wouldn't turn, so I couldn't complete it. We're still missing some power and there are things to improve with the balance, especially after losing so much running yesterday. It's encouraging that we've made progress, though, and hopefully we can keep building on it tomorrow.”

Adrian Newey, Team Principal

“We came into this weekend with an objective to be in the fight with other cars, so securing our first Q2 position is an encouraging step in that direction. Fernando got everything he could out of the car today, and Lance, despite limited running yesterday, was also improving on his final run before a tailwind sent him into the gravel. We still have work to do to develop the upgrade package, and we know there is more to come.”

Williams

Williams have struggled for pace here all weekend long, so it was no surprise to see both drivers exit in Q1. Team boss James Vowles was quick to console both drivers on the radio, telling Sainz and Albon that the positions are due to the car not their driving. But as it stands, Albon in particular is set for a tricky time of it as he celebrates his 100th race as a Williams driver.

Carlos Sainz, 18th, 1:20.621

Tough weekend. The balance of the car was different in each session, and on my side of the garage, we had some issues at the rear of the car which made the car unpredictable and difficult to find the optimal setup. Even if we had optimised everything, I think this is the maximum that was possible today in terms of grid position for tomorrow.”

Alex Albon, 19th, 1:20.658

“We expected a tough weekend, but the car felt very different from yesterday and we're still struggling to pinpoint the reason for these inconsistencies between sessions. Over the last few races, we've got a better understanding of which parts aren't performing, but it's still hard to answer why. Aston have taken a big step forward this weekend, which has been something we’ve needed to factor in. Carlos and I have had different issues over the weekend, which we'll be looking into ahead of tomorrow's race, and we'll see what we can do.”

Cadillac

Perez missed nearly the entirety of FP3 as he suffered a brake issue on his way out of the pits. He managed just one corner before pulling to a halt with smoke pouring from the back of his car. As such, he was on the back foot heading into Qualifying, so it was no surprise to see him qualify last. Bottas fared better, beating his team mate by over four tenths of a second but with Aston Martin’s improvement, Cadillac find themselves as the slowest team out there.

Sergio Perez, 22nd, 1:21.322

“It was a challenging session after missing most of FP3, and everything was quite rushed going into Qualifying. The car didn’t feel as expected, particularly in the high-speed sections, so we need to understand what was affecting us today. We know there is more performance in the car, and the focus now is on putting ourselves in a stronger position tomorrow.”

Valtteri Bottas, 21st, 1:20.886

“A straightforward Qualifying for us with clean laps. We got into a decent window with the setup, and I felt good in the car. Aston Martin have taken a step forward with their car at least on one lap pace, but the positive thing is that we are pretty close to Williams. We have to focus on ourselves as we continue to improve and maximize our package. It’s going to be a test for us in the race with it set to be warmer. Let’s see how tomorrow pans out.”

Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal

“We started today with Checo having limited running in the final Free Practice session due to an issue that the team identified and rectified ahead of Qualifying. We showed that we are closer to Wiliams with Valtteri being two tenths off in Q1. However, we’ve seen that Aston Martin has made a step with their upgrades this race weekend and they are ahead of us, but they were ahead of us in Melbourne, so we will just continue our focus on trying to constantly improve. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we’ll try to make the most out of any opportunities that may come our way, especially with the characteristics of this circuit”.

Pirelli

Dario Marrafuschi, Pirelli Motorsport Director

“Our simulations show no difference in overall race time between a one-stop and a two-stop strategy for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Degradation, which has been higher than expected, has effectively brought the two strategic options into line, allowing teams to evaluate different scenarios depending on the new sets they have preserved up to this point.

"In both FP3 and qualifying, as was already the case during yesterday’s first two sessions, some teams followed a different approach from the rest by using an additional set of Medium tyres. The yellow-banded tyre is still likely to be the preferred compound for the start. Those opting for a one-stop strategy could then complete the race on the Hard compound, with the pit stop window falling between laps 26 and 32.

"In the case of a two-stop strategy, however, given that only two teams still have two new sets of C4s available, it is more likely that the final stints will be run on the Hard compound, with pit stop windows between laps 16 and 22 for the first stop and laps 40 and 46 for the second. As highlighted yesterday, traffic and the difficulty of overtaking remain key factors and could encourage several teams to favour a one-stop approach.

"The use of the Soft tyre cannot be ruled out either, as it has demonstrated good levels of grip and sufficient durability. Around ten seconds slower than the two main strategies are the Soft-Hard-Medium and Medium-Hard-Soft combinations. Drivers able to build a gap over their rivals may be able to make an additional stop without the risk of losing position, while others could use the undercut to their advantage. The situation therefore remains open and it would not be surprising to see different strategies even between drivers from the same team.”