“Very shocked” if Mercedes faster in race trim compared to pole lap

Russell labelled Friday at the Hungaroring as a “disastrous day” when he came away from FP2 in only eighth and 0.9s off the pace, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton was down in 11th.

The race simulations on the medium tyre were similarly adrift, with Russell’s average lap time over a 10-lap stint some 1.2s slower than the performance shown by Max Verstappen on the same compound.

Russell reckoned: “Our high fuel pace was probably the worst it’s ever been yesterday”.

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