Daniel Ricciardo believes there could still be some improvements for Aston Martin Red Bull Racing this weekend despite having both cars in the top three in both sessions.
The Australian was the quickest man out of everybody in Free Practice 1 before slipping back to third behind Sebastian Vettel and team-mate Max Verstappen in the afternoon.
“Today was a good day,” said Ricciardo. “I think this morning we started well and this afternoon we were also strong, and I think we have a good enough car to be on the front row.
“Over one lap I think we could still make some improvements, but the long run pace looks good and we’re all very close.”
Ricciardo felt the Hungaroring would bring the top six closer together and the Aussie still believes that will be the case in qualifying tomorrow.
“I predicted that the top six would be tight this weekend, I think come tomorrow this will still be the case,” said the Australian. “I feel I can still improve my lap time, but so far it was a good start.”
Both Red Bull’s looked good on short and long runs during practice and Ricciardo was pleased with how the tyres behaved and is ready for a big fight tomorrow but understands starting on the third row or below could end his chances of winning on Sunday.
“I think both of the tyres (Ultrasoft and Soft) performed quite well today and even in the long runs they were holding up alright,” he said. “I would probably say that the Ultras are my preference for tomorrow, but we’ll make a plan tonight and then we’ll see.
“Front row would be perfect, second alright, we just don’t want to be third row as it’s difficult to overtake here.”
