Max Verstappen says he needs to “drive a smoother lap” at the Hungarian Grand Prix after describing a difficult Friday for balance in his Red Bull. Verstappen said: "It was a bit of a difficult day. It was hard to find a good balance in the car. We need to manage to drive a smoother lap, also for the long runs. So there is still some work to do for tomorrow."

Racing Bulls boss Alan Permane said a late change made by Liam Lawson in second practice in Hungary “worked well” and helped the rear end, as the team ended Friday in “decent shape”. Permane said: "Liam made a change for the final lap on softs today, and that worked well, helping the rear end. It's difficult to know exactly where we sit performance-wise, but it looks like we are in decent shape and will refine things further in FP3."

Lewis Hamilton warned Ferrari still has work to do at the Hungarian Grand Prix despite the team topping both Friday practice sessions at the Hungaroring and locking out the top two in FP2. Hamilton, fastest in FP2, said: “There are still a few areas we need to improve,” after a “challenging” day with wind and a bumpy track. Charles Leclerc, quickest in FP1, predicted the gap would shrink in qualifying, adding: “It’s going to be tight… we will have to do a perfect job.”


Gabriel Bortoleto says Audi can be ahead of Racing Bulls at the Hungarian Grand Prix after what he described as a “successful” Friday in Budapest. Bortoleto said: "Things to test, things to be done and I think it was a successful day overall. I think we collected a lot of information and tomorrow we try to put things together and have a good day. It is going to be close like it is always, I think [if] we put things together, everything aligned and we can be ahead of them [Racing Bulls]."

Franco Colapinto said his crash in FP2 at the Hungarian Grand Prix was “not an ideal start” after the Alpine driver spun into the barriers at the final corner and brought out a red flag. Colapinto said: "Lost the morning, so that wasn't ideal. Lost the rear in the last corner, and hit the rear of the car with the tyres. Not a good day, not an ideal start."

Fernando Alonso says he has sometimes had different opinions with Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey over the direction of the AMR26, with those discussions often coming down to what the data shows versus what the driver feels behind the wheel. Alonso said: "I think to Adrian's comments, that it is more in the past than this year. Maybe the winner was the data in those debates, but Adrian is the type of designer that listening to both the data for sure, but also what the driver feels."

Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey said the team’s new B-spec AMR26 upgrade has made a “promising” first impression. Newey said: "Very early days in terms of understanding the new package. Provisional results are promising. It's only part of the package. We will have some more steps in Zandvoort, Monza and Baku, so it is the first part of our planned upgrade. Very short on parts so being careful with it and trying to learn all about it."







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