Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Hockenheimring, 2018

Verstappen keeps Red Bull ahead of Mercedes with record lap

2018 German Grand Prix

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Red Bull were quickest again in second practice for the German Grand Prix, but as in the morning session Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was close behind.

On a hot track, where temperatures peaked at 49C, lap times were around four tenths of a second quicker than in first practice. That was enough to topple Michael Schumacher’s 14-year-old track record, which Verstappen beat by two-tenths of a second.

The Mercedes pair were the first to dip under Schumacher’s benchmark on their qualifying runs on the ultra-soft tyres. However a superb final sector by Verstappen – the area of the track where the Red Bull is particularly strong, edged him ahead of Hamilton by less than three-hundredths of a sector.

The Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen completed the top five. Daniel Ricciardo did not do a qualifying simulation in his Red Bull as a power unit change penalty means he will start from the back of the grid.

The rest of the top 10 was much as it had been in the first session. The Haas pair were ‘best of the rest’ and led by Romain Grosjean again, and followed by Charles Leclerc’s Sauber and Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault. Ricciardo’s absence from the top 10 allowed Esteban Ocon’s Force India in, a few hundredths ahead of team mate Sergio Perez.

Stoffel Vandoorne was at the bottom of the times for the second session in a row after conducting further tests for McLaren. As in the first practice session the team said his session was “all going according to plan”.

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Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
133Max VerstappenRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’13.08518
244Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’13.1110.02639
377Valtteri BottasMercedes1’13.1900.10539
45Sebastian VettelFerrari1’13.3100.22546
57Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’13.4270.34241
68Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’13.9730.88834
720Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’14.1891.10436
816Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari1’14.3741.28941
927Nico HulkenbergRenault1’14.4961.41131
1031Esteban OconForce India-Mercedes1’14.5081.42339
1111Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’14.5521.46738
1255Carlos Sainz JnrRenault1’14.5921.50743
133Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’14.6821.59736
149Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1’14.7831.69838
1510Pierre GaslyToro Rosso-Honda1’14.7931.70844
1628Brendon HartleyToro Rosso-Honda1’14.8301.74545
1714Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Renault1’14.8361.75138
1818Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes1’15.2692.18436
1935Sergey SirotkinWilliams-Mercedes1’15.4082.32341
202Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren-Renault1’15.4542.36934

Second practice visual gaps

Max Verstappen – 1’13.085

+0.026 Lewis Hamilton – 1’13.111

+0.105 Valtteri Bottas – 1’13.190

+0.225 Sebastian Vettel – 1’13.310

+0.342 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’13.427

+0.888 Romain Grosjean – 1’13.973

+1.104 Kevin Magnussen – 1’14.189

+1.289 Charles Leclerc – 1’14.374

+1.411 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’14.496

+1.423 Esteban Ocon – 1’14.508

+1.467 Sergio Perez – 1’14.552

+1.507 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’14.592

+1.597 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’14.682

+1.698 Marcus Ericsson – 1’14.783

+1.708 Pierre Gasly – 1’14.793

+1.745 Brendon Hartley – 1’14.830

+1.751 Fernando Alonso – 1’14.836

+2.184 Lance Stroll – 1’15.269

+2.323 Sergey Sirotkin – 1’15.408

+2.369 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’15.454

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

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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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28 comments on “Verstappen keeps Red Bull ahead of Mercedes with record lap”

  1. You can really tell boullier was Holding back their Potential

    1. Will take a few days longer, @mrboerns.
      Just realise how long it takes to find a title sponsor; getting the car right will even be longer.

    2. Dont respect the company, respect the people who work there. Respect us who read this independent blog.

    3. at least they gave Stoffel all the fun work, and a hat of course, but not freddos today

    4. Sick boern there @mrboerns

  2. Maybe a great Q is coming.

    1. Hopefully, it would be great to see max on pole, he seems Quick

  3. What does paint do to an f1 car? Mercedes were testing them today.

    1. flow vis/viz paint?
      Make airFLOW VISable.

    2. Making a car fast if it’s the paint on the car the green stuf is flow vis for testing. I know McLaren uses special paint which give them a -0.2 per lap which means they are even worse then everybody thought

      1. At least they look fast in the garage.

  4. Vettel fan 17 (@)
    20th July 2018, 15:53

    Does anyone know what tyres everyone was on?

    1. Pirelli
      you’re welcome!

      1. ba dum tss

      2. Hahaha

    2. @coldfly Yeah, as if that’s very helpful…

      @vettelfan17 They were on Pirelli P Zero slicks. There.

  5. Leclerc is consistently over 3-4 tenths over Marcus in every session. Here’s hoping for another great qualifying from him.
    Marchionne, please please put him in the red car next year. Take a punt for once!

  6. That Leclerc guy is special.

  7. In the midfield, the Ferrari powered cars are ahead again… Big sign.

    1. This…

  8. Did anyone notice that Hartley was 6 kmph clear of the nearest Ferrari in the speed trap? Good signs for Red bull next year.

    1. could be TR was running less aero?

      1. +1 Exactly my thoughts. I think you can not compare top speed and conclude that the highest speed means the most powerful engine. What counts in that regard imo is acceleration because as you said you don’t how much downforce they are running in comparison.

  9. Hopefully Max can get on the 2nd row tomorrow. But I think he needs a mistake from one of the others to get there.

  10. No 2nd row for Max. Unless Mercedes or Ferrarri driver makes mistake. In Q Mercedes and Ferrari will use their party mode. Even Max doesn’t expect to be able to challenge the 2 other teams.

    1. Unless it’s wet, of course. ;-)

  11. What we’re long run paces like?

  12. I would not wait for the next year, not even for next race.

Comments are closed.