George Russell discloses Ferrari 'fear' after 'strange' Hungarian GP twist

George Russell has divulged that what he "feared with Ferrari" at the Hungarian Grand Prix has come to fruition, with the Scuderia looking ominous in Budapest.

The Mercedes driver finished the first two free practice sessions at the Hungaroring fifth fastest, but it is the manner in which Ferrari dominated proceedings that the Briton is wary of.

Having been a second adrift of Charles Leclerc in FP1, the 28-year-old could only marginally make up ground in the second hour of running, finishing nine-tenths slower than Lewis Hamilton.

The relaid track surface across some of the circuit proved unexpectedly treacherous for the drivers, with the final corner, in particular, the most difficult to navigate.

Many experienced snaps of oversteer, including Hamilton, on the low-grip and slippery asphalt, before Franco Colapinto crashed heavily after losing control of his Alpine.

That left Russell to label the day "strange" when reflecting on the opening two hours of track action.

"It was quite a strange day out there, I think, for everybody," he said after FP2 at the Hungaroring. "Budapest is an amazing track to drive, but they've resurfaced half of the track; super bumpy.

"A lot of it is breaking up around the last couple of corners, which is making it quite strange to drive on."

Whilst Russell was unhappy with the W17's outright pace, especially compared to Ferrari, he was slightly more satisfied with the long-run prognosis.

"Our single lap didn't look great," the seven-time grand prix winner added. "The long run looked more competitive, but what I guess we potentially feared with Ferrari seemed to be the case; they look very, very strong."