Ferrari are still wary of the potential threat posed by Red Bull in the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez both starting from the midfield. It was a difficult qualifying for the Milton Keynes-based team, with Verstappen unable to set a representative lap time in the Q3 phase after a mistake on his first run and a loss of power on his second. This left him down in 10th on the grid, while Sergio Perez starts from 11th following a messy session. As for the Scuderia, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will line up in P2 and P3 respectively behind surprise pole-sitter George Russell.
Ferrari expected Mercedes to join battle at front
Speaking after qualifying, Ferrari's Racing Director, Laurent Mekies, acknowledged that the team had anticipated that Mercedes would eventually join the fight at the front. "First things first, well done to George," Mekies told Viaplay . "It's his first pole, he deserves it fully, so well done to him and Mercedes for the job they've done today. "We have been saying for quite a while now that it was always going to become a threeway fight sooner or later. They were getting closer. "It was a fairly strange session today. With the rain this morning that washed out the track, they did a good job this afternoon, so that's what it is."
Red Bull will be "strong" in race, according to Ferrari
The fact that their main title rivals are further back on the grid may be seen as an advantage for Ferrari. However, Mekies believes that Red Bull have the potential to still be in the battle at the Hungaroring. "For sure, we are going to be very focused on where the Red Bulls are," Mekies continued. "[I'm] not sure what happened to them today, but we know it's difficult for everyone, either on the mechanical side or on the pace side. "It's very easy [to fall back]. You lose a little bit of pace here, you have small problems and and you fall back. We know that very well. "[In the race], they will start a bit further back, but we are under no illusions. They will be strong in the race. It's enough that we see a Safety Car in any phase and they could be right back with us. "What is important on our side is to concentrate on where we are, to try to extract a bit more out of the car. "[We saw in] FP3, we still are adjusting, we still are improving, with both drivers. We know there is more to come, so we need to work on that tonight with them."
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