Sebastian Vettel on where Ferrari stands against Mercedes and Red Bull in Hungary. Seb on where Ferrari stands against Mercedes and Red Bull in Hungary.

Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel concedes it is “hard to say” where the Maranello team stacks up against Formula 1 rivals Mercedes and Red Bull after Hungarian Grand Prix practice.

Scuderia Ferrari headed to the Hungaroring expecting the circuit’s twisty nature to play to the strengths of Mercedes’ 2019 challenger, which appeared to be the case as Lewis Hamilton topped the opening practice session. 

But Sebastian Vettel ended FP1 just 0.166s adrift in third place in what was an encouraging session for Ferrari, before rain disrupted running in an unrepresentative FP2.

“It was not bad,” Vettel said. “I think we have some room to improve, struggling a bit to get everything out of the car on that particular lap. Hard to say where we are compared to the others, we will see tomorrow. I had plenty of margin. I think it’s more important in these conditions that I get the answer for the car rather than the ultimate laptime.”

Asked if he is hoping for conditions to be wet for Scuderia Ferrari to be competitive, Sebastian Vettel replied: “No I think in both conditions we should be thereabouts.

“How close, we will see. I think Mercedes look very strong out of the box straight away.”

Charles Leclerc struggled to match his teammate’s pace throughout Friday as he ended up nearly a second off the pace in dry conditions during FP1. The Monegasque reported balance issues with his car and is hoping for rain to boost the team’s chances.