There was a sense of optimism at Ferrari after a better than expected Friday at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

After struggling as arguably the sixth fastest car in Austria, the SF1000 is showing some of its improved handling around the twisty Hungaroring, with Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc finishing sixth and seventh in the dry morning session.

“This morning it went better than we expected, to be honest,” the Monegasque admitted to Formula1.com in the paddock.

“We didn’t arrive here with lots of new pieces, actually it’s pretty much the same car, but it looks like the car is better on this track, which is a good thing.

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“This afternoon I struggled quite a bit on my side, we were trying different things and I wasn’t very happy with the car and just struggling with the confidence in the wet. But yeah, some positive signs this morning.”

It is well-known now that in their pursuit of downforce, Ferrari is struggling with a draggy car and an engine that is down on power following the FIA's technical directives from last year.

But those considerable weaknesses are being much more hidden in Budapest.

“Well, obviously there are less straights – we were struggling quite a lot in Austria in the whole first sector. Here it’s less of a problem and we are quite quick around the corners. It doesn’t make us challenge Mercedes yet but we are quicker and that’s good to see," Leclerc added on the stronger competitiveness.

“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully we can convert these positive signs in free practice to a positive result in qualifying and the race, but it’s quite a lot of work to do on my side and I’ll try to be in a good place tomorrow.”

In what was a sodden afternoon in Hungary, Sebastian Vettel actually set the quickest time as most teams limited their running.

"We did more laps than others in the wet because after the weaknesses we showed last week, we need to understand the car a bit better," he explained.

"We need laps to gain confidence in the car. It’s not a secret that there’s still a lot of homework to do, but overall we seem to be a bit more competitive."