Vettel: Return to action helping Ferrari cope with Marchionne loss

Sebastian Vettel said resuming on-track action would help "focus" Ferrari as they return to work following the death of their former president Sergio Marchionne. Marchionne passed away at the age of 66 on Wednesday after suffering complications in shoulder surgery.

Marchionne died just five days after officially stepping down from his role as Scuderia chief, with the Formula 1 world paying tribute as a whole when his death was confirmed.

Ferrari honoured their former president by flying flags at half-mats from their motorhome at the Hungaroring, wearing black armbands, and carrying a black stripe on Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen's cars - customer teams Haas and Sauber have made similar tributes.

Hopes of an emotional victory were raised when Vettel went quickest in Friday practice and the German - also looking to bounce back from a DNF on home turf in Germany a week ago - was happy to get back to business.

"I think it is probably best to get in the car because everybody knows what to do, obviously it was not easy but I think today the work has been okay," Vettel said.

"Having a lot of work in front of you is probably the best thing to get your head away and focus on the job we have to do here.

"It is probably quite good to have a race straight away to get your head away and focus on the next thing to do.

"I think qualifying is very important here for the start as overtaking is very difficult. Whoever is ahead after the first couple of corners that will probably be very crucial but to get there, there is a lot of things to do and some work ahead.

"I was pretty happy this afternoon, happier than this morning, and I think the car is pretty good for one lap. We can still improve but it has been one of the better Fridays as they’ve been a little bit up and down for us lately."