Daniil Kvyat admits Red Bull “is looking good on paper” after both he and team-mate Ricciardo split the Mercedes in FP2, but the Russian remains cautious for the rest of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.

The two RB11s were on pace right out of the gate, with Ricciardo and Kvyat finishing fourth and fifth respectively in the morning. The pair then swapped positions in the afternoon en route to P2 and P3, only three and five tenths behind pace setter Lewis Hamilton.

While naturally pleased with Friday’s overall performance, Kvyat feels Red Bull cannot afford to drop the ball if it wants to carry the momentum forward.

“We’ve been looking good on paper today,” he said. “Let’s see how we are able to maintain this and even improve for tomorrow.

“There was not any big issue today but we have to tidy up a few things, like I think all the other teams and drivers, and hopefully we can benefit from this in qualifying.

“It’s just Friday so hopefully we’ll do our homework well for tomorrow. Everybody will be pushing hard so we have to do the same.

“It’s better to be P2 than P12 but like I said it’s only Friday and too early to make it any conclusions.”

Although Red Bull enjoyed “one of their better” showings in free practice this year, Kvyat was nonetheless concerned to see Ricciardo’s progress being hampered by a fresh reliability problem on his Renault power unit at the end of FP2.

“For me, the engine was OK but I saw some smoke and Daniel had an issue [with his power unit]. It’s not nice to see the other side of the garage having that kind of problems.”

REPORT: Hamilton heads Red Bull pair in FP2 hit by another red flag

Click here for a gallery of Sergio Perez's crash in FP1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

McLaren unleash its IndyCar trio of 2026 contenders

Arrow McLaren has pulled the covers off its 2026 NTT IndyCar Series trio, unveiling all…

34 mins ago

The last of Grand Prix racing's privateers

Turning 70 on this day is Hector Rebaque, who was Mexico's last F1 driver for…

1 hour ago

Papaya rules reset: Piastri explains McLaren’s 2026 plan

Oscar Piastri has made one thing crystal clear ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign:…

2 hours ago

Norris says McLaren's MCL40 ‘feels like an F2 car in some ways’

Lando Norris has thrown a dash of intrigue over Formula 1’s much-hyped 2026 revolution by…

4 hours ago

Williams explain power trick that could define F1 in 2026

Formula 1’s next generation of cars will not just look different – they will sound…

5 hours ago

Williams FW48 finally hits the track at Silverstone after delay

Williams finally rolled its long-awaited FW48 onto the track at Silverstone on Wednesday, trading weeks…

20 hours ago