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What's the story?
Formula One rookies dominated the two days of testing at the Hungaroring just like Ferrari did during free practice on Friday before Mercedes fought back during qualifying and in the final race on Sunday.
Kimi Raikkonen was initially the quickest on day two of testing in his Ferrari but ultimately succumbed to yet another Hungaroring track record after George Russell of Mercedes clocked 1:15:575 to edge out the Finn.
But the star of the show on day one of testing was relative-unknown Antonio Giovinazzi who set the unofficial track record at the Hungaroring at the time in his Ferrari with an astonishing 1:15:648 time which easily beat Sebastian Vettel's 1:16:170 during practice three and barely beat Raikkonen's 1:15:649 from today's testing.
In case you didn't know...
Giovinazzi is a Ferrari young driver who was given his opportunity to test one of the fastest cars on the track and that too on the hyper-soft compound tyres, a compound which was disallowed during the race weekend in Hungary. George Russell, on the other hand, is a reserve driver for Mercedes and currently competes in Formula Two. He too set his record time on the hyper-soft tyres.
The heart of the matter
Whichever way you look at it, Ferrari and Mercedes have emerged dominant in testing. The teams continue to set the pace with regards to lap time and have taken that good form into the actual races this season, as has been visible throughout the F1 campaign.
Even the juniors are performing at a very high level and it puts pressure on the veterans to up their game or risks losing their spot.
What's next?
Giovinazzi may have set the stage alight at Hungary on day one, but he was outdone by his British counterpart with Ferrari and Mercedes playing ping-pong with their lap times.
The F1 calendar, however, will take a break after an exhausting first half of the season and will return on August 26 with the final race of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Will Ferrari show their pace in Belgium and race to victory? Let us know in the comments below.
