Verstappen and Perez feeling positive on Red Bull upgrades

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were sounding upbeat after a good first day in Hungary, in which the team rolled out its most comprehensive package of upgrades to the RB20 so far this year.

It's a bid to claw back some of their performance edge over their rivals, which has been chipped away over recent races compared to their dominance last season and in the early races of 2024.

Although he's got a clear lead in the drivers championship, Verstappen has only won seven of the 12 races so far this year with Mercedes the latest to join the fray with victories for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the last two GPs.

But a new package of upgrades is being rolled out this weekend for the Hungarian Grand Prix, and so far so - good even though Verstappen was pipped to the top of the timesheets by Lando Norris on Friday, and Perez was fourth.

“I think we have had a good day with the upgrades that we have brought to this race," Verstappen reported after the end of the day's practice sessions.

• Read also: Norris leads Verstappen in FP2 as Leclerc spins out

Of course, there is still a lot to do to make sure we optimise the car, but I think it was a solid start to the weekend," he asserted.

"It's important to try to look into all the details and work to make sure we have the best set up possible for the car for qualifying," he explained.

All the teams lost a quarter of an hour of running time in FP2 after Charles Leclerc sp[un and hit the barrier, which Verstappen admitted had presented Red Bull with a headache.

"Of course, FP2 was a bit interrupted with the red flag so we didn’t manage to get the full long runs in that we wanted, but it was the same for everyone," he said. "We’ll look into things and work from there.

"All in all, it was a good start to the weekend," he added.

Perez - who has been under pressure to improve after a series of qualifying mishaps in recent races - was also feeling upbeat and confident after today's practice.

“It has been a good Friday," he confirmed. "I think we made a good step from FP1 to FP2, we made the right changes and took the right direction. This is the most comfortable I have felt with the car at this stage of the weekend in a while.

"The steps we have made throughout the day have been the best we can do, and that is really positive," he continued. "We are feeling good and the long run looked promising too.

Although their rivals including McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari were very much in the mix today, Perez felt that his team was in a position to build on today's solid performance.

"I think we can still really dial up the set-up now and at the end of the day it is just about putting everything together at the right time.

"Our time will come," he insisted. "It’s head down for now and look forward to tomorrow. Let’s see what the rest of the weekend holds for us."

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