He said: “These new power units are just exceptionally complex, and there was just something deeply embedded in the calibration and the code that was almost impossible to see unless you knew exactly what to look for. So I’m glad we have found it.
“Spa and Silverstone probably exposed the issue just because of the nature of the track. Of course it’s a bit frustrating to have what happened on Sunday, but I’m just looking forward now, and that’s how the game goes.”
The knock-on effect of the problem with energy management in Spa was that Russell wasted time chasing it which would have been better devoted to other matters.
“Coming out of Monaco, going into Barcelona and Austria, I made some changes with my driving style, and I felt I made a good step forward,” Russell said.
“And obviously I was on pole in both those races, and won in Austria, and just wanted to continue that forward momentum.
“I’m guilty that it has taken probably too much of my focus, and I’m spending a lot of time trying to change my driving style again, more for the power unit, rather than just trying to drive fast, so, again, it’s learning.
“We recognised after Spa, it wasn’t in the driving style. So that is something, at least, that is a learning that has been validated that I didn’t know pre-Spa.”
Hungary is a circuit entirely different in character to Spa and Silverstone and might be expected to favour Ferrari because of their strong cornering performance.
But both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc played down their chances, even though they have won two of the past four races.
Hamilton said: “Mercedes are still the team to beat. They’ve won almost all the races, they’re quick in all circuits, fast in slow-speed circuits, the quickest in Monaco. You have to anticipate they could be quickest this weekend as well.”
McLaren have a major upgrade for this weekend that the team hope will move them back towards the front, but Lando Norris was also cautious about his prospects.
“We want to be optimistic about it,” the world champion said. “We want to be confident and hope that it fixes some of our issues that we’re currently struggling with and limiting us with.
“There’s been a few upgrades this year that have maybe not worked exactly as we would have hoped, so I think we’re just being a little bit more cautious on waiting to see if it works exactly as we expect.”
