Ricciardo's upgraded Red Bull on top in both practice sessions
Monday 31 July 2017 11:29, UK
Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are anticipating a "very close" three-way battle at the Hungarian GP, after Red Bull stole a march on their rivals on the first day of practice.
Daniel Ricciardo topped both Friday sessions as Red Bull dominated Ferrari and Mercedes, throwing themselves into contention for a first pole position of the season at the Hungaroring.
And though qualifying may yet be a different story, championship leader Vettel admits he is expecting his former team to join the battle at the front on Saturday.
"I think it looks very close," the Ferrari driver told Sky F1's Simon Lazenby. "It's always difficult what to expect and Friday is always a different story, but I think overall it should be quite close so it should be good fun."
And that stance was echoed by closest title-rival Hamilton, with the Hungarian GP's five-time winner claiming: "I think this weekend you will see one of the closest battles time wise. I think it's very close between us top three teams."
Red Bull on the charge
Red Bull arrived in Budapest with several new parts on their RB13 - upgrades team boss Christian Horner described as a "few bits and pieces aerodynamically, and a few little bits mechanically".
But while Formula 1's four-time champions' only win of the season came at an action-packed Azerbaijan GP, there is optimism around the camp that they can match their rivals on pace alone this weekend.
"We look good, we look comfortable and strong," Ricciardo said. "I'm sure the others will bring a bit more tomorrow, but we look in a good position. The upgrades are [working well] and to replicate the same pace as this morning in the afternoon is positive.
"You don't know what Ferrari and Mercedes are going to come up with and it looked like Ferrari found a bit more pace this afternoon but we're still ahead. We'll see tomorrow, but definitely a positive day."
But can Red Bull really convert their impressive Friday into a crucial qualifying performance? For all their improvements, their only pole in the last four years was Ricciardo's at last season's Monaco GP.
"We know Mercedes are very strong in qualifying and have more power to use," Ricciardo added to Sky F1's Natalie Pinkham. "Coming into qualifying tomorrow we'll still need to be a few tenths ahead of them to feel we have a chance of pole, but today was good. Long runs as well don't seem too bad."
Friday was the second time this season Red Bull topped both practice sessions on the opening day of a grand prix weekend. The first came in Azerbaijan last month, but the team then qualified over a second adrift of pole a day later.
However, on a far slower circuit in which their Renault engine is less of a handicap, a confident-looking Ricciardo said the situation was "definitely looking positive".
Max Verstappen only managed sixth place in Practice Two as his flying laps on the supersoft tyre were disrupted by red flags - but he could still take positives from an encouraging day.
"We worked quite a lot on the car, changed a lot of parts, and in the end of the second practice I was feeling quite okay with the car," he said.
"Maybe in terms of lap time, not yet, but I could never really finish my lap time on the supersoft. It was good."
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