George Russell: The update on the surface complicated everything.

      On Friday at the Hungaroring, the Mercedes drivers were unhappy with the car's behavior and for the first time this season did not make it into the top four...

      George Russell (5th): "A strange day. I think everyone will say that, regardless of their positions in the pack.

      The Hungaroring is a great track, but the recent update to the surface has complicated things significantly. There are bumps in some places where the car lost stability. As a result, tire wear was greater than expected.

      We lacked speed on the fast laps, but we showed a decent pace over the distance.

      The Ferrari cars are very fast this weekend, overtaking them will be difficult. We anticipated that things would turn out this way, and our assumptions were confirmed. They are significantly ahead of everyone else, and we need to work seriously to close the gap."

      Kimi Antonelli (13th): "The first day in Budapest was challenging for everyone. I missed the first practice, giving the cockpit to Fred, who did a great job, and when I went out in the second session, there were balance issues, especially on the fast laps.

      I had to abort my first attempt due to a red flag; I tried to set a time after the session resumed, but I didn't complete the lap due to traffic, and then I faced a problem with rear wheel locking.

      The long runs went better when the tires were in the working range. We gathered a large amount of data, which we will analyze overnight. The third practice will play an important role; I hope we find better settings tomorrow."

      Frederik Vesti (7th in the first session): "I'm happy to be back in the W17 after my last practice in Barcelona. The session went positively from my side. I felt comfortable and completed the entire program. I knew I could go faster, but that wasn't my goal. Much more important is that I learned a lot. This will be useful for our work this weekend and for comparing data with the simulator and wind tunnel back at the base in Brackley.

      I'm looking forward to helping George, Kimi, and the team in the remaining days of the weekend. We have a lot to do to get into the fight for victory; we will put in all our efforts, and next week I will return to work on the simulator to compare the results of our work here on the track with what we do there."