Daniel Ricciardo narrowly led the way from Lewis Hamilton in first practice for the German Grand Prix, but the Ferrari drivers didn’t show their hand.
Ricciardo, who will start from the back of the grid this weekend due to a power unit change penalty, took the quickest time from Hamilton by just four-thousandths of a second. Both used the ultra-soft tyres to set their quickest times.
The Ferrari drivers spent the session on the harder soft-compound tyres, yet Sebastian Vettel ended the session within three-tenths of the Red Bull and the Mercedes. Kimi Raikkonen was almost half a second behind his team mate.That meant the quickest of the Haas drivers was within half a second of the usual top six. Romain Grosjean was seventh ahead of his team mate, and Charles Leclerc’s Sauber made it three Ferrari-powered cars in the top 10.
Nico Hulkenberg came 10th despite a dramatic moment in the Motodrom. The Renault driver understeered off at the quick corner leading into the stadium section, but kept clear of the barriers and rejoined the circuit.
McLaren spent much of the session conducting tests on their car and not setting times. A late effort from Fernando Alonso moved him up to 12th, though Stoffel Vandoorne ended the session last.
Williams were also hard at work on their FW41. Lance Stroll appeared with a huge amount of flow-vis paint on his car as the team strived to solve its aerodynamic problems. He ended up 13th.
Test drivers Nicholas Latifi and Antonio Giovinazzi appeared fro Force India and Sauber respectively. The latter suffered an early setback when a large piece of his Sauber’s engine cover detached from the car.
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| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’13.525 | 22 | |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’13.529 | 0.004 | 29 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’13.714 | 0.189 | 34 |
| 4 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’13.796 | 0.271 | 23 |
| 5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’13.903 | 0.378 | 30 |
| 6 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’14.267 | 0.742 | 24 |
| 7 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’14.691 | 1.166 | 29 |
| 8 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’14.853 | 1.328 | 28 |
| 9 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’15.097 | 1.572 | 25 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’15.282 | 1.757 | 32 |
| 11 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’15.415 | 1.890 | 29 |
| 12 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Renault | 1’15.544 | 2.019 | 13 |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1’15.629 | 2.104 | 32 |
| 14 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 1’15.769 | 2.244 | 10 |
| 15 | 28 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’15.864 | 2.339 | 36 |
| 16 | 35 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams-Mercedes | 1’15.876 | 2.351 | 34 |
| 17 | 34 | Nicholas Latifi | Force India-Mercedes | 1’16.023 | 2.498 | 27 |
| 18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’16.071 | 2.546 | 32 |
| 19 | 36 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’16.136 | 2.611 | 23 |
| 20 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Renault | 1’16.149 | 2.624 | 14 |
First practice visual gaps
Daniel Ricciardo – 1’13.525
+0.004 Lewis Hamilton – 1’13.529
+0.189 Max Verstappen – 1’13.714
+0.271 Sebastian Vettel – 1’13.796
+0.378 Valtteri Bottas – 1’13.903
+0.742 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’14.267
+1.166 Romain Grosjean – 1’14.691
+1.328 Kevin Magnussen – 1’14.853
+1.572 Charles Leclerc – 1’15.097
+1.757 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’15.282
+1.890 Sergio Perez – 1’15.415
+2.019 Fernando Alonso – 1’15.544
+2.104 Lance Stroll – 1’15.629
+2.244 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’15.769
+2.339 Brendon Hartley – 1’15.864
+2.351 Sergey Sirotkin – 1’15.876
+2.498 Nicholas Latifi – 1’16.023
+2.546 Pierre Gasly – 1’16.071
+2.611 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’16.136
+2.624 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’16.149
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
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Joao (@johnmilk)
20th July 2018, 11:44
@keithcollantine, three Ferrari-powered teams?
De
20th July 2018, 12:10
It could be 3 cars in the sense of SH71H, VF-18 and C37 I guess.
Joao (@johnmilk)
20th July 2018, 13:21
well that’s another way to look at it
Vettel fan 17 (@)
20th July 2018, 11:58
Soft tyres look like they’ve got good pace, maybe the top teams will use that for getting into Q3?
Jere (@jerejj)
20th July 2018, 12:01
Still little over two tenths off the outright lap record (1:13.306) of the current 2002-present layout.
Bram (@br444m)
20th July 2018, 12:27
Looks like Red Bull is in the mix again, after being so far off the pace at the last 2 venues. That last section, similar to Barcelona, must give them a lot of time back.
Joao (@johnmilk)
20th July 2018, 13:24
@br444m that is one of the things that is making imo this season very interesting, going to the weekend we aren’t sure who the top team will be, and the cars really have swings in performance from circuit to circuit
It would be good still if RBR could close the gap a little on the power circuits. Maybe with Honda they will have that extra boom (wink wink)
Wooolfy1
20th July 2018, 13:27
It look more like Merc and Ferrari are not running at their usual practice pace, most likely due to lower engine mode or heavy fuel.
Garns (@)
20th July 2018, 13:40
I find Ricciardo’s penalty so frustrating. FIA say its to save money, but it hasn’t, the team certainly has the new parts there that I am sure have been paid for already, its a joke.
Teams can pay what they want on guests, travel, research, hotels for staff………. everything, but this penalty taking out one of the best drivers is cost cutting?? (Not just Daniel, insert any top driver here).
Charles Leclerc- is this guy Ayrton Senna of 1985? Driving a car so far beyond its ability its mind blowing. Max needs to keep an eye on his fella, so does Ocon – great times ahead!!! These young guys are awesome!