Lewis Hamilton remains confident he can compete for a sixth victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, believing it is up to him and Mercedes to "unlock" the pace in the W08.

The three-time world champion was only fifth fastest in the afternoon in Budapest, but his position was somewhat distorted due to having not posted a representative time on the supersoft tyres.

Regardless the Briton would suggest it was "one of the harder Fridays" he had faced at the race but the current deficit is sure the current deficit can be overcome.

"It wasn't the easiest start to the weekend, with the conditions very gusty," he explained. "There's some more work to do overnight to fine-tune the balance to get the car just where we want it.

"I believe the pace is in there," he insisted. "We just need to unlock it ahead of qualifying because every tenth is going to be crucial with three teams in the mix.

"It's super tight between Ferrari, Red Bull and ourselves at the top of the leaderboard, so it's looking like it will be an exciting weekend. That should be good for the fans!"

With Daniel Ricciardo having led both Friday sessions in a heavily updated Red Bull, Hamilton was asked if he thought three-team battles for the win would soon become the norm.

“I definitely think so. Particularly here, as we come here it’s not a power circuit so it’s very close between us all," he said.

“I think this weekend we will probably see one of the closest battles time-wise but it’s very difficult to overtake here, so it might not be the most exciting race certainly but qualifying should be exciting.

“The Red Bulls may have a little bit more downforce may be, Ferraris are very, very quick, I’d say we’re definitely not as quick as we have been, [certainly] not as quick as in Silverstone here.

“So, this brings us all closer and I think tomorrow is going to be a very tight battle.”

As for teammate Valtteri Bottas, though he ended the day in third place between the two Ferraris and just two tenths slower than the Australian at the front, he revealed oversteer was hurting his performance through the twisty middle sector.

"I was not quite happy with the balance of the car today," he admitted. "I was especially struggling with the rear end.

"The temperatures are expected to rise tomorrow, which means that we really need to get the rear end of the car more stable. I think that will be the main area for us to focus on."