Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 – Friday

The final Grand Prix weekend before the summer break kicked off on Friday at the Hungaroring in Budapest, and it was a day packed with drama, uneven tarmac, and a steep learning curve for every team. Mercedes-AMG F1’s Friday was a mixed bag: George Russell ended FP1 fifth and FP2 fifth again, while Kimi Antonelli managed 13th in FP2 after skipping FP1. Fred Vesti, stepping into Kimi Antonelli’s car for FP1, finished seventh, delivering a solid debut session in the W17. The Hungaroring’s freshly resurfaced track threw everyone a curveball—bumpy patches and inconsistent grip made life difficult, especially on the long runs where tyre degradation spiked higher than expected. Russell admitted Ferrari looked ‘a step ahead’ after Leclerc and Hamilton set the early pace, but he stressed the team’s long-run work looked ‘competitive’ despite struggling for outright speed on low-fuel runs. Antonelli described his return to the cockpit as ‘tricky,’ citing balance issues and a red-flagged lap that left him stuck in traffic and fighting locking rear wheels. Vesti, however, called his second outing in the W17 ‘positive,’ highlighting comfort in the car and progress in data collection for Brackley’s simulator and wind tunnel. Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin praised Vesti’s ‘strong’ FP1 return, noting the car’s rear grip issues were dialled in by the end of the session. The team made mechanical setup changes ahead of FP2, improving the car’s window but still chasing lap-time pace. With FP3 tomorrow looming as a critical tuning hour before Saturday’s qualifying shootout, Mercedes know they’re playing catch-up after a tough Friday that Shovlin labelled ‘probably our hardest Friday of the year’ when it comes to low-fuel pace.