Hot weather affecting Russell and Hamilton in Hungary
The searingly hot conditions in Budapest are throwing up some problems for Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the build-up to this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.
The track temperature at the Hungaroring was hovering around 60C in FP1, and while it dropped ten degrees before the early evening second session it was still one of the hottest sessions of the year so far.
But it wasn't just the physical demands of bring in the cockpit in the conditions so much as trying to get the W15 to perform in the heat.
Russell and Hamilton ended first practice in P4 and P10 respectively included a long run on the medium compound. They were fifth and seventh in the later session but neither driver they optimised their push lap on the softs.
"It was a very hot day out there today!" explained Russell. "It wasn't quite as bad in the car as I was expecting it to be, but I am sure that will change during the race on Sunday.
"Everyone in the garage is doing a great job working in such challenging conditions, with temperatures upwards of 35C in there.
"We got a lot of laps in today on the long run. That is really useful data for us to go through tonight. It will help dictate our strategy for the rest of the weekend and inform any improvements we can make
"We don't seem to be quite as competitive in these very hot conditions so that is something we need to understand," he admitted. "The McLarens and Red Bulls looked very quick today, so we know we've got some ground to make up.
"We're excited to see what we can do tomorrow, and hopefully we will be in the mix in the top-five," he said.
"It is definitely very hot here this weekend," agreed Hamilton, who has won eight previous races at the venue. "It typically is here in beautiful Budapest at this time of year.
Having won his home race last time out in Silverstone, Hamilton has his doubts overe whether the team can continue its momentum this week. "Today wasn't our best day of the season so far. The car set-up didn't feel great, and we weren't on our best form.
"We made a few small tweaks between the sessions but nothing major. We've got some ideas as to why the car wasn't at its best though so we will work hard on it overnight, looking to make improvements ahead of tomorrow.
"The competitive order is very close once again out there," he added. "Whilst our single lap pace wasn't the best, our long run was decent. We are still a step behind the ultimate pace at the front but will do what we can to close as much of that gap as possible for Saturday."
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin described today as a productive one for the team.
"We've got some development parts on the car and have been using the sessions to understand the effect they are having on the car balance," he said.
"he track has been very hot, which is giving the tyres a tough time, but it's a good test of whether we've improved our long run performance.
"The single lap balance isn't where we need it yet, but we've got time to work on that overnight and in FP3 tomorrow.
"There's plenty of areas where we can find a bit more pace on both the single lap and long run, so it's encouraging that if we can make a bit of progress, we should be in a strong position for the rest of the weekend."
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