Ricciardo says upgraded Red Bull feels like B-spec car

Ricciardo led both sessions by a margin of around two tenths, setting a benchmark of 1m18.486s in FP1 and improving to 1m18.455s in FP2.

The Hungaroring was expected to be a strong track for the Austrian team, as it is not power-dependent and is similar in characteristics to Monaco, which is a happy hunting ground for Red Bull.

But Ricciardo's hopes for Hungary were pinned on a "significant" upgrade to the car – and having now completed the first day of the weekend out in front, the Aussie says the updates have had a major impact.

"We brought some updates here and they seem to be working," he said. "I do feel like we have gained some grip in the car, and I wasn't complaining too much on the radio today.

"I do feel we have stepped in the right direction.

"We know this is a track that suits us as well, so if we can extract every bit out of the car, we may have a shot at actually fighting for big points this weekend.

"I am pretty happy and I genuinely feel we can stay at the pointy end tomorrow."

Red Bull's RB13 tweaks for Hungary are understood to be aimed at maximising downforce and are known to include changes to the sidepods, floor, mirrors and the front wing.

"Today it certainly behaved more like a B[-spec]," Ricciardo said. "Obviously, this morning looked strong out of the box.

"We were the first ones on the green track and basically we kept good pace, even the long runs were strong - and this afternoon we were able to replicate that with a hotter track."

While Ricciardo was happy with the RB13 from the very start of running, teammate Max Verstappen found the balance to be "all over the place" and spent much of the day trying to improve the situation.

"The first practice I was just not happy with the balance," he recalled. "So we were all over the place, changing a lot of parts and could not get the lap together, not happy with the car."

Verstappen was almost seven tenths down on Ricciardo in FP1 and half a second off in FP2, but the Dutchman says the result in the afternoon was not representative of his true pace.

"We changed a lot of parts on the car for second practice and then it was all looking good - but then I got interrupted with red flags, so I couldn't do a proper run on supersoft.

"The sector times are there so we are there, not on the timing, but for tomorrow it is looking good."