Hungary witnessed blazing hot conditions throughout Friday over both FP1 and FP2, with the air temperature recording over 30ºC. And, unsurprisingly, the conditions caused McLaren to lose substantial performance over the practice sessions.

Most of Lando Norris’ flying laps showcased the Briton fighting hard to keep his rear stable, constantly having to make corrections while exiting a corner.

Hence, the in-form McLaren driver’s lap times were quite far off from where he would’ve wanted them to be. Of course, the struggles applied to his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, as well, who is yet to carry his British GP success into the ongoing race weekend.

However, the Australian hasn’t given up already, as he reckoned that conditions will turn favorable as they move into the weekend.

Ricciardo hoping McLaren’s prospects with change with rain

Following the FP2 session at Hungaroring, the Honey Badger opined that temperatures will probably come down over Saturday and Sunday, which will play into McLaren’s strengths. What’s more, he reckoned wet weather will help the team even more, as Ferrari have often struggled on such cool tracks.

“It will probably help. I think, today was the hottest day of the weekend. And yeah, if it’s not wet, it’s probably gonna be cool anyway in the next day or two,” the Australian said.

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“So, that should change. Hopefully, it allows the track to maybe come to us and put us in the fight tomorrow,” Ricciardo continued.

Watch Story: When F1 Drivers Had a Blast on Top Gear Featuring Hamilton, Vettel & Ricciardo

How did McLaren look during FP1 and FP2?

In one word, uncomfortable. Neither of the drivers looked like they had their cars under control, as they lacked confidence through entry and exit of turns.

Hence, their overall lap times never matched with their mid-field rivals. And McLaren’s biggest threat of all at the moment are Ferrari. The Reds are the only outfit that are closely following the Woking squad in the championship.

And they have hardly shown struggles this weekend, constantly lapping quicker than McLaren through both FP1 and FP2.

Hence, a bad weekend at Hungaroring could spell danger for the British outfit. Who knows, they could even lose the P3 to their rivals, Ferrari. So, will McLaren up their game ahead of Saturday’s qualifying to increase their stakes on securing P3 in the constructor’s championship?

Hungarian Grand Prix F1 Qualifying Schedule: Where to Watch, Timings, Live Stream & Weather Forecast