Red Bull has ended the opening day’s running at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim fastest in both practice sessions thanks to Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
Ricciardo proved narrowly faster than Lewis Hamilton in the opening session before Verstappen topped the timing in Practice 2.
Verstappen’s afternoon pace came despite an oil leak that kept the Dutchman in the garage in the latter stage of the session.
It proved only a minor inconvenience as Verstappen returned to the circuit in the final minutes in a session that saw him focus on qualifying pace.
Verstappen’s best lap, a 1:13.085s, lowered the Hockenheim track record.
Across the garage, and facing a rear-of-grid start on Sunday following a host of engine component changes, Ricciardo focused on race pace to end the second session just 13th.
Like in the first session, Hamilton was less than a tenth off the pace in Practice 2 with Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas improving by 0.8s between session to progress from fifth to third.
Ferrari again looked to be keeping its powder dry, lapping 0.2s off the pace in both sessions though Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen ran without issue.
McLaren again endured a difficult day, with Stoffel Vandoorne propping up the timing sheets in both sessions.
Fernando Alonso was among the midfield runners in opening practice but tumbled down the order in Practice 2 as the two McLaren’s look at risk of being cut from the first part of qualifying on Saturday.
Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson ended the second session 19th after sitting out opening practice in deference to Antonio Giovinazzi.
Brendon Hartley ended the day with the 16th best time in Practice 2, the New Zealander finding a second from the opening 90-minute session.
Ricciardo topped the opening practice session of the day by just 0.004s over Hamilton, with Verstappen third best ahead of Vettel, Bottas, and Raikkonen.
Saturday’s qualifying is preceded by final practice, which begins at 2000 AEST.
Result: German Grand Prix, Practice 2
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Diff |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Renault | 1:13.085 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:13.111 | +0.026 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:13.190 | +0.105 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:13.310 | +0.225 |
| 5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:13.427 | +0.342 |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:13.973 | +0.888 |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:14.189 | +1.104 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber Ferrari | 1:14.374 | +1.289 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:14.496 | +1.411 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Force India Mercedes | 1:14.508 | +1.423 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:14.552 | +1.467 |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz | Renault | 1:14.592 | +1.507 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Renault | 1:14.682 | +1.597 |
| 14 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 1:14.783 | +1.698 |
| 15 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso Honda | 1:14.793 | +1.708 |
| 16 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso Honda | 1:14.830 | +1.745 |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Renault | 1:14.836 | +1.751 |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:15.269 | +2.184 |
| 19 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams Mercedes | 1:15.408 | +2.323 |
| 20 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren Renault | 1:15.454 | +2.369 |
Result: German Grand Prix, Practice 1
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Diff |
| 1 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Renault | 1:13.525 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:13.529 | +0.004 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Renault | 1:13.714 | +0.189 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:13.796 | +0.271 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:13.903 | +0.378 |
| 6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:14.267 | +0.742 |
| 7 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:14.691 | +1.166 |
| 8 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:14.853 | +1.328 |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber Ferrari | 1:15.097 | +1.572 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:15.282 | +1.757 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:15.415 | +1.890 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Renault | 1:15.544 | +2.019 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:15.629 | +2.104 |
| 14 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Renault | 1:15.769 | +2.244 |
| 15 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso Honda | 1:15.864 | +2.339 |
| 16 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams Mercedes | 1:15.876 | +2.351 |
| 17 | Nicholas Latifi | Force India Mercedes | 1:16.023 | +2.498 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso Honda | 1:16.071 | +2.546 |
| 19 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber Ferrari | 1:16.136 | +2.611 |
| 20 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren Renault | 1:16.149 | +2.624 |
Discussion about this post