Mercedes admitted it faces a significant challenge heading into the rest of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend after a difficult opening day at the Hungaroring.
George Russell was the team's leading driver in Friday practice but could manage only fifth place, finishing 0.933 seconds behind pace-setter Lewis Hamilton.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli endured an even tougher session, ending the day 13th and nearly two seconds off the fastest time.
Russell admits Ferrari have the edge in Hungary
Russell acknowledged Mercedes had expected Ferrari to be strong in Hungary and believes the Italian team currently holds a clear advantage.
"It was quite a strange day out there, I think, for everybody," Russell said.
"Budapest is an amazing track to drive, but they've resurfaced half of the track. Super bumpy, a lot of it's breaking up around the last couple of corners, which is making it quite strange to drive on.
"Our single lap didn't look great, our long run looked more competitive. But what we potentially feared with Ferrari seemed to be the case, they looked very, very strong."
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team@MercedesAMGF1Work to do overnight 🛠️
The Briton feels Mercedes still has plenty of work to do before qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
"We've got work to do as a team. Ferrari are a good step ahead of everyone right now.
"For both Kimi and I the car was far from great to be honest and I think there is room to improve."
Antonelli struggles in limited running
Antonelli's difficult day was compounded by missing the opening practice session, which allowed reserve driver Frederik Vesti to complete Mercedes' mandatory rookie outing.
The Italian then spent much of FP2 battling rear brake locking issues and was unable to complete a clean qualifying simulation on soft tyres after multiple aborted laps.
Despite the disappointing headline times, Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord believes the team's race pace offered some encouragement.
"Lack of grip, lack of balance on a single lap," Lord said when assessing the car's performance.
"Both drivers initially having to wind front-end out of it to find that nice sort of gentle understeer balance you want here.
"But then on the long runs, we looked pretty consistent and pretty competitive versus Ferrari, Verstappen and the McLarens."
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team@MercedesAMGF1Mercedes pole streak under threat at Hungaroring
Mercedes have claimed pole position at all 10 races so far this season, but Lord admitted that remarkable run could be under serious pressure this weekend.
"We've got a car that's been competitive at every track. We've been fortunate enough to be on pole at each of them so far," he said.
"I suppose at some point a run like that comes to an end, but we'll be doing everything we can to make sure it's not here in Hungary."
There was at least one positive development for the Silver Arrows, with the team confident it has finally solved the straight-line speed issue that had hampered Russell during recent races at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.
"But yes, we absolutely are confident we've found it, we've eliminated that, and that it's no longer hindering or hampering George's ultimate performance potential," Lord added.
