McLaren did not waste any time in stamping its authority on the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, but Ferrari also look in fine form. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers what drivers had to say after the opening day at the Hungaroring.

McLaren

“It’s been a good Friday. Our competitiveness has looked strong. We’ve got some things to try and tidy up overnight, but all in all, it’s been a solid first day. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow.”

“It’s been a promising day on track, the car felt good from the first couple of laps. The competition is tight, but I've got a good feel for what we need from the car, so we’ll work on that overnight and make sure we’re in the best possible position going into Qualifying tomorrow.”

Ferrari

“We went through our planned programme in both sessions. McLaren seem to be quite a bit ahead of us but we will stay focused on ourselves and try to turn things around tomorrow. I don’t think there is much we can do differently, so it will be all about reproducing the work we did today.”

“We worked through the programme and made several changes to improve the balance. I’m still chasing grip, but we’re heading in a positive direction. There’s definitely more to extract ahead of Qualifying.

"The race runs showed higher tyre degradation than we’ve seen at recent events, so we’ve got some work to do overnight. There’s plenty of data to analyse, and I’m looking forward to getting back on track tomorrow.”

Aston Martin

“I have a small injury in a muscle in my back which we are managing. We have found some solutions to help manage it and I had no pain in FP2, so that’s a positive.

"Obviously I missed FP1, but FP2 felt good in the car. The balance of the car isn’t quite in the window yet and that’s something we need to work on overnight. We’ll review all of the data and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

“I’m excited to be back in Hungary, I always enjoy coming back here. The timesheets looked positive today – the car felt good and I was happy with the car balance during both practice sessions. So a good start to the weekend, but it’s always hard to tell on a Friday where you stand compared to your competitors.”

“It was good getting behind the wheel of the AMR25. The car felt nice to drive and I felt comfortable. I only got confirmation that I would be replacing Fernando in FP1 this morning, and I’m happy with my performance today.

"I didn’t have much time to prepare, but I watched some videos of laps to get ready and I had done some laps on the sim as part of my duties as Test and Reserve Driver this weekend. It was a good session and we got through the work we needed to, which is the main thing.”

Racing Bulls

“The car is feeling really strong, and we had a solid FP1. In FP2, the top teams started to show their pace, so we dropped down the timings a bit, but the car still felt great. There are a few areas where I’m not completely comfortable yet, but it’s still quick, and we have some margin to improve. FP2 gave us a more accurate picture of our true pace this weekend. It’s a high downforce track, and driving here is a lot of fun.”

“It’s been a little bit tricky for us today, but the track has been really fun to drive. Traffic management here is quite tough, and with one more session tomorrow morning we have a little bit of work to do. We're a bit out of position right now and as always, it's very close. If we can find some small things, it will make a big difference to where we are for Qualifying.”

Mercedes

“It was a strange day today. Whilst we expected to see the McLarens looking strong, there were some surprises on the timing screens. Aston Martin seemed to have good pace on the single lap and several other cars looked competitive on the long run. Our focus has been on ourselves though.

"We’ve re-introduced the previous specification of our rear suspension to find more stability in the car. We didn’t expect to have a major breakthrough moment but overall, the car felt better to drive and gave me more confidence. It has therefore been a positive Friday and we will now keep chipping away over the rest of the weekend to secure a solid result come Sunday.”

“I’m feeling quite happy after today’s running. The car gave me more confidence than I have felt in recent races, and I feel like I was able to extract more lap-time.

"We’re still missing a bit of pace compared to those at the very front, but this is hopefully a good platform on which to build. I had a lot of traffic on my best lap on low fuel so we could have been higher up on the timing screens. The long run looked competitive though so definitely a good feeling going into the weekend. With all that said, Friday doesn’t count for anything. We know how important track position is around here so we will have to do a good job come Qualifying tomorrow afternoon.

"The field is tight, and we will have to be at our best to give ourselves a good opportunity of scoring solid points on Sunday. That is certainly our aim. We will work hard overnight and look at what improvements we can make ahead of Saturday.”

Red Bull

“Today was quite tough and it was a low grip feeling in the car and not as balanced as we would have liked. It is difficult to say what the problem was, as nothing really worked, so we will have to investigate overnight as so far it has not been our weekend.

"During the session I had a towel that you wipe your face with in the car when I went out. Instead of it potentially flying in between my feet, which would have been dangerous, I drove off the line and got rid of it in the safest way possible.

"Overall today wasn’t great so we need to understand what was causing the problems and I’m sure that we can do better and turn things around. The McLarens are looking strong so we will need to look at what we can do to be better.”

“There were some positives to take from today in both of the practice sessions, we enjoyed a step up in performance from FP1 to FP2 which is always a good sign on a Friday. The issue we faced wasn't actually the balance, it was the grip that we struggled with which wasn't where we'd normally want to have it, and that's what we were lacking a little today.

"We can go into tomorrow with some positivity from both cars, but we just need to find what we're missing so far this weekend ahead of Qualifying.”

Haas

“In FP1, we had a decent car but we didn’t optimise the lap perfectly, there was a bit more in it. In FP2, I think we took a little step back as it wasn’t as clean a session and the car felt a little bit more difficult to drive.

"It didn’t exactly have the right balance and corners, so we’ll work hard tonight to fix that and get more performance out of tomorrow. In one tenth, there’s like six positions in it, so it all makes a huge difference. We need to put it all together.”

“FP1 went well and we had a clean session. The car felt good from lap one, which is always a good way to start your weekend. I had a lot of confidence in every lap I did and it was building up, the car was feeling amazing. It was similar in the car in FP2 but it was a much messier session – I had lots of traffic, and it was tough to get rhythm in the session.

"I managed to put an okay lap together but there is a lot more pace in the car, so hopefully with a cleaner session tomorrow and a good Qualifying, we can be up there.”

Kick Sauber

“It wasn’t the busiest day for me in terms of track time, with Paul taking over the car in FP1. Unfortunately, he encountered an issue early on and couldn’t complete many laps – not ideal, especially when a young driver gets the opportunity to experience an F1 car.

"I definitely feel for him. FP2 ran smoothly on my side: it was a clean session with no issues and I felt comfortable in the car right from the start.

"We were able to complete our programme and collect some valuable data. Now it’s about going through everything overnight to make sure we’re putting the best possible package together for tomorrow.”

"It was a decent day overall, although not the best feeling I’ve had with the car so far. FP2 was particularly challenging – especially on the soft compound, where I struggled a bit with balance and low-fuel performance.

"That said, race pace looked encouraging, and practice is all about testing and learning. I was able to make some improvements on the driving side, which is always positive. We have another session tomorrow to fine-tune everything ahead of qualifying, and I’m confident we can put together a strong package.

"The team has been doing a fantastic job all season, constantly improving, and I believe we’re in a good position to fight for competitive results here in Hungary."

“First of all, a big thank you to the team for the opportunity to jump back in the car. After a great weekend in Silverstone, I was really looking forward to building on that momentum and taking another step forward here. Things started off well and the first laps felt good on the hard compound.

"A technical issue after the initial run, however, meant we had to stop the car as a precaution. Of course, it’s a pity for the whole team to cut the session short, but that’s just part of the game in motorsport. In the end, even a few laps are valuable, and I’m thankful for the experience.”

Williams

“Today has been okay. Our FP1 pace was strong. We didn't do a second push, but we were looking top five pace in that session on a track that doesn't normally suit us. We've made some set-up changes to the car this weekend that feel good.

"We maybe went in the wrong direction for FP2, so we need to look at that. We knew this was going to be a tricky track for us but that allows us an opportunity to explore set-up and we have some good ideas now.”

“We had a few issues today but, ultimately, we don’t seem to have the performance we want this weekend. We did expect this track to be challenging for us, and we’ve tried to find areas of performance all day with different set-ups. We’ll take all the learnings from today, make some changes overnight and give our best shot tomorrow at the top 10 in Qualifying.”

Alpine

“It's been a tricky day for us in Budapest. The car felt generally quite difficult to drive and we really struggled to put together a complete lap. We were just sliding a lot across both sessions and we know traction is an area we have tended to struggle with so far this season. I am sure we can improve things and I know we will put in a lot of effort tonight and in the morning to be in a better position by the next session.

"At recent races, we have had a similar trend where we have lacked some performance through practice and still managed to come away with a good result so we remain positive and confident in our abilities to at least make an improvement from today.”

“It was not an easy day where both Pierre and I have faced similar limitations in the car. We're generally struggling with car balance and a big lack of grip. It was one of those days where we just did not find our way so hopefully some of the things we did try can serve us better for tomorrow.

"Fridays, recently, have not been a strength for us so we will aim to find the right changes and come back stronger ahead of Qualifying. We will focus on what we have in front of us, which, right now, is making the car more consistent and easier to drive. There are many areas to improve and I am sure we can do it and have a better one on Saturday.”