Ferrari were feeling “much better” after getting both cars into the top six in Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying.
The Scuderia has been much more competitive on a circuit better-suited to the aerodynamic focus they took with the SF1000, even if attempts to fully evaluate recent upgrades have been impacted by crashes and the weather.
And it showed as the team was third fastest overall behind Mercedes and Racing Point.
“I think it is much better than the previous weekend,” Sebastian Vettel, who finished just 0.043s clear of teammate Charles Leclerc in fifth, commented.
“For the first time we have both cars in Q3, so we know that Austria didn’t really suit us and we lost a lot of time in the straights, and here there are a lot more corners to make up for it.
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“The car felt better balanced as well, so we are much closer compared to the people around us, let’s say Racing Point, Red Bull and even McLaren, so that is positive.
“We need to make sure we keep that up, and now all that matters is to prepare for the race tomorrow.
“We start on the soft, people ahead of us are on the medium, people behind us on the soft again, so it is a lot of work for us tomorrow, and we will see what we can do.”
Leclerc largely echoed the four-time world champion and is confident Ferrari can be even stronger in race trim.
“It feels much better, fifth and sixth,” he said. “And I think our race pace is a bit better than our quali pace, so hopefully we can score some good points for the team tomorrow.
“This track doesn’t have many straights, and at the moment we are quite quick around the corners, so that is what makes us a bit more competitive this weekend.
“We have to see if we manage to take off a bit of drag in the car to go quick in the straights.”