Hamilton anticipating a "tough battle" with Red Bull in Hungary
Hamilton anticipating a "tough battle" with Red Bull in Hungary
Lewis Hamilton has no doubt Red Bull will come out fighting in Hungary this weekend despite the six-time Formula 1 champion looking ominously quick in practice.
In the only dry session of the day in the morning at the Hungaroring, Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Alex Albon could only register the eighth and 13th fastest times.
On soft-compound tyres, Verstappen finished 1.2secs behind Hamilton, whose best lap of one minute 16.003s was on the hard tyre.
The Mercedes driver, though, pointed to Red Bull's historically strong performances at the Hungaroring as a reason not to discount them from the battle for victory.
Speaking after a wet FP2, Hamilton said: "This is a Red Bull track. It's always just been strong for Red Bull, so I anticipate it's going to be a tough battle with those.
"On Sunday, I hope it's going to be dry. I want a dry race and a dry qualifying. This is such a great track to drive in the dry. It's a very tricky circuit to drive in the wet."
Despite the difference in lap time and on vastly different compounds, Hamilton warned: "I'd just say don't take too much from it.
"Everyone's doing something different out there in terms of wing, and fuel, and engine, and all this kind of thing, but we got through what we needed to get through."
After taking pole in memorable fashion last time out for the Styrian GP, demolishing the field by over a second in the extreme wet conditions, Hamilton could be forgiven for wishing for the rain to fall again.
But the Briton added: "It was great in the rain in Austria. It's a little bit different here. We have higher downforce but the track seems to be a lot more slippery, so if it is a wet qualifying, it's not going to be like last week.
"However, who knows, maybe I'll do a decent job again."
Before you go...
Unhappy Verstappen believes Red Bull has "a lot of work to do to match Mercedes"
F1 reports two positive Covid-19 cases; individuals not with a team, racing continues
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Hamilton car camera captures Verstappen's TRUE feelings toward F1 rival
- 28 minutes ago
F1 star hits back at Sky pundit with 'boring old man' jibe
- 1 hour ago
F1 champion DOUBTS passion of new fans
- 3 hours ago
F1 News Today: Horner and Red Bull saga to reignite as F1 legend OFFENDED by official statement
- Today 15:05
EXCLUSIVE: Norris and Piastri 'just like what you see on social media'
- Today 13:57
Hamilton form raises Ferrari F1 move fears
- Today 12:57
Related news
Hamilton form raises Ferrari F1 move fears
Marko reveals Vettel requirements for stunning F1 comeback
Fierce Hamilton F1 rival raises timing issue for Ferrari move
Wolff admits CHANGE of plan over Hamilton F1 replacement
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860