Verstappen planning overnight changes after difficult Friday

©RedBull

Red Bull and Max Verstappen will be pouring over Friday's data to seek improvements after a difficult opening day of running at the Hungaroring.

Verstappen is a favourite to take the battle to Mercedes in Hungary but the Dutchman was anything but happy with his performance in FP1 that left him P8 and 1.4s behind pace setter Lewis Hamilton.

Today's afternoon session was washed out by the rain and therefore offered no opportunity to improve the pace of Red Bull's RB16.

2020 Hungarian Grand Prix Free Practice 1 - Results

"Plenty to look into, and of course, a little bit of a shame that it was raining in the second practice," Verstappen said.

"Otherwise I think we already could have had a look. But yeah, a lot of work to do.

"[I'm] not so happy, but luckily we have a night to look at it and make some changes and try to do better tomorrow.

"It’s still early days and we haven’t done much running, so there is no point in making any guesses about how the rest of the weekend will look yet."

Verstappen's teammate Alex Albon, who finished FP1 a lowly 13th, was troubled by his RB16's lack of predictability around the Hungaroring's twisty 4.3km layout.

"I think the car is lacking a bit of predictability, not so much in one corner or sector but just little bits everywhere," Albon explained.

"The car is not quite what we want. And just have to do some work to find out what's going on.

"The weather looks mixed for the weekend but I’d prefer it to be dry so we’re able to learn and make progress."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.