Ferrari experienced a great start to the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP weekend with Charles Leclerc topping the timing sheets in FP1 and Lewis Hamilton leading Leclerc in FP2.
Despite the great result, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur didn’t get carried away when speaking to the media following the conclusion of Friday practice, noting that the team doesn’t target the top spots in practice but rather has their eyes on emerging on top in Sunday’s 2026 F1 Hungarian GP.
“Yes, but we are not looking for the best Friday, we are looking for the best Sunday.”
Ferrari focussed on emerging on top during Sundays’ 2026 F1 Hungarian GP
Ferrari brought an upgraded version of their rotating rear wing, which, according to the Frenchman, is “working”. The team is now focused on improvements for tomorrow says Vasseur.
“It went pretty well today, the balance is OK, the upgrades are working, but we are still far away from the quality. That means that we have to continue to fine-tune the car, to extract performance everywhere and to do a better job tomorrow than today, but so far so good.”
Asked whether it was important to have another upgrade before F1 heads into summer break, Vasseur explained that while the last race before the break had significance as it would stay in “mind” for the next few weeks, it was not more important than any other race.
“For sure, the last one before the break is an important one because you keep this in mind for three or four weeks, but on the other hand, you don’t score more points in Budapest than in Silverstone or Spa. But let’s try to take all the races at the same level.”
In the final stages of FP1, Leclerc, who had posted the fastest time, suffered an issue and limped back to the pit. Vasseur was unwilling to disclose the cause of the Mongasque’s issue, responding, “No,” when asked in the post-session interview.
Leclerc is satisfied with Friday’s practice but targets improvements for tomorrow
Leading the way in FP1 and just over a tenth away from the lead in FP2, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said that he felt “quite good” in the SF26, which he saw as a positive compared to other weekends where Ferrari trails the competition during practice. With FP3 and Qualifying around the corner, Leclerc says that the team will “work hard” to improve, knowing that competitors could make a “jump” overnight.
“It was a relatively strong day from the beginning. I felt quite good with the car ,and the performance seemed to be good straight away.
“So, that’s a good thing, but the weekend is still long.
“From the Friday to the Saturday, we see teams making a jump of performance. Normally we are on the back foot on the Friday, so it’s a good thing that we have a good Friday. But we still need to stay on it and work hard in order to get better for tomorrow.”
While Ferrari appears to be the team to beat after Friday practice at the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP, Leclerc believes the margins will get smaller tomorrow and will thus require “perfect” execution from the driver and team.
”It’s going to be tight tomorrow, as always. I don’t expect us to be having the gap that we’ve had today. So we’ll have to do everything perfect.
“But if the feeling is there, then I’m sure we’ll do a good job in Q3.”
Lewis Hamilton on Friday practice
In a statement released by Ferrari, Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton noted that wind and bumps on the track provided “quite a challenge” during the Hungarian GP Friday practice sessions.
“It was a solid day overall. The conditions were quite challenging, with the wind making things a bit tricky and the track feeling quite bumpy in some places.”
FP1 ended with Hamilton not entirely happy with the car. However, the feeling inside the car improved for FP2, where the Briton rose to the top to finish the session in P1. Despite the encouraging result for Ferrari, Hamilton, like Vasseur and Leclerc, is focused on improving performance for the remainder of the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP weekend.
“The car felt better in FP2, and we made some good progress between the sessions, although there are still a few areas we need to improve.
“We’ll go through all the data overnight, keep working on the balance, and hopefully find a bit more performance for tomorrow.”
