Verstappen: Ferrari in a 'different class'

Max Verstappen says Ferrari's pace advantage to Red Bull is like driving in a "different class". Red Bull are expected to compete with the Scuderia for honours at the Hungarian Grand Prix this week, although it seems their power deficit could come back to bite them yet again.

After years of Mercedes dominance, Ferrari have emerged in recent weeks as the leader in Formula 1's power stakes - an innovative method of recovering electrical energy has reportedly given them a boost of up to 40 bhp.

Red Bull remain lagging behind in straight lines as Renault continue to struggle in their attempts to close the gap. The frustrations have already prompted next season's switch to Honda power.

Although their car remains the king in terms of downforce, Red Bull have not been the dominant team in Hungary, like they were earlier this season in the similarly twisting Monaco.

With Red Bull losing up to eight tenths to Ferrari on the straights of the Hungaroring, Verstappen told Ziggo Sport: "That's just too much.

"I had hoped that we would be half a second ahead of that, which is based on the start of the season when the engines are closer together, it's just like driving in a different class."

Verstappen was second quickest, just a tenth down on Sebstian Vettel in Friday's second practice session, but Ferrari will be expected to extract more power modes, the kind of which reportedly aren't available to Red Bull, in qualifying.

Saturday's practice complete ???? Daniel's P5 in FP3 with a 1:16.803 and Max is P6 posting a 1:16.946 ???? #HungarianGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/wAdjFSQlcC — Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 28, 2018