Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, Hockenheimring, 2018

Ricciardo pips Hamilton in first practice as Ferrari hold back

2018 German Grand Prix first practice

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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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2018 German Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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9 comments on “Ricciardo pips Hamilton in first practice as Ferrari hold back”

  1. Charles Leclerc’s Sauber made it three Ferrari-powered cars

    @keithcollantine, three Ferrari-powered teams?

    1. It could be 3 cars in the sense of SH71H, VF-18 and C37 I guess.

      1. well that’s another way to look at it

  2. 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?

  3. Still little over two tenths off the outright lap record (1:13.306) of the current 2002-present layout.

  4. 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.

    1. @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)

    2. 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.

  5. 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!

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