Audi leads Racing Bulls in Hungary midfield fight

Gabriel Bortoleto said Audi can be “best of the rest” at the Hungarian Grand Prix after Friday practice, with Audi and Racing Bulls emerging as the teams most likely to fight for the places just behind Formula 1’s leading group.

Audi gave that claim substance across both sessions at the Hungaroring. Bortoleto was sixth in FP1 and 11th in FP2, while Nico Hülkenberg finished eighth and ninth. One report placed Hülkenberg ninth at the end of Friday, less than a tenth behind Liam Lawson in seventh and around half a second from the top five.

Bortoleto, the Audi driver, said the pace was there even if the second session was less straightforward. “It is going to be close like it is always, I think [if] we put things together, everything aligned and we can be ahead of them [Racing Bulls],” he said after calling it a “successful day overall” despite FP2 being “a bit more tricky with the soft [tyre].”

That did not leave Racing Bulls discouraged. The team still came away believing both cars could reach Q3, even after team principal Alan Permane said the car was “quite complicated in FP1” before the engineers “managed to solve that for FP2.” Lawson ended the day 10th in FP1 and seventh in FP2, while Arvid Lindblad was ninth and 10th.

Lindblad was direct about where Racing Bulls stood on this circuit. The Racing Bulls driver said, “We expected Audi to be a step ahead this weekend, because this circuit suits their car,” but added that “if we execute everything correctly in qualifying, I believe Q3 is definitely within our reach.”

The shape of the contest was influenced by the conditions as much as the raw pace. Audi technical director James Key said the “tight and twisty” Hungaroring is “reasonable for our car” and that its long-run pace “looked okay.” Both teams also dealt with low grip, stronger wind and an evolving track that made soft-tyre running and Friday’s comparisons harder to read.

That leaves Saturday pointing toward a direct Audi-Racing Bulls fight in qualifying, with both teams openly talking about Q3 but Audi appearing to hold the slight edge in the battle to become Hungary’s midfield leader.