Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Hockenheimring, 2019

Leclerc keeps Ferrari on top as Gasly crashes

2019 German Grand Prix second practice

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Ferrari completed a sweep of both Friday practice sessions at the Hockenheimring as their drivers led the way again.

However this time it was Charles Leclerc, not Sebastian Vettel, who headed the times. Leclerc produced a 1’13.449, just over a tenth of a second faster than Vettel managed. This was despite recurring problems with his brake pedal.

Both Ferrari drivers faded at the end of their flying runs but Lewis Hamilton, who was close behind the pair in his Mercedes, set the fastest time of all through the final sector of the lap. Valtteri Bottas was a distant fourth, over half a second off his team mate.

Max Verstappen’s afternoon running was disrupted by a technical problem, and he only narrowly pipped Romain Grosjean to fifth place. However Pierre Gasly was well outside the top 10 after his first run, then crashed towards the end of the session. He was rounding the final corner when he caught a snap of oversteer too vigorously and skidded across the grass into a barrier.

Grosjean and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll continued their encouraging runs from the morning session, each finishing two places higher than they had been in first practice. Kevin Magnussen, driving Haas’s updated car, was 12 places and 1.2 seconds behind his team mate in the team’s Australia-spec chassis.

Alfa Romeo looked in stronger shape as Kimi Raikkonen took eighth place. Nico Hulkenberg, ninth, had to end his session early due to a technical problem, while Sergio Perez completed the top 10.

Carlos Sainz Jnr, the leading McLaren driver in 11th place, also had to head for the pits with a car problem later in the session.

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Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
116Charles LeclercFerrari1’13.44933
25Sebastian VettelFerrari1’13.5730.12430
344Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’13.5950.14630
477Valtteri BottasMercedes1’14.1110.66230
533Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda1’14.1330.68423
68Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’14.1790.73033
718Lance StrollRacing Point-Mercedes1’14.2680.81932
87Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’14.4581.00933
927Nico HulkenbergRenault1’14.4721.02326
1011Sergio PerezRacing Point-Mercedes1’14.5181.06930
1155Carlos Sainz JnrMcLaren-Renault1’14.6621.21334
1226Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Honda1’14.8001.35139
133Daniel RicciardoRenault1’15.0101.56133
1423Alexander AlbonToro Rosso-Honda1’15.0621.61336
1510Pierre GaslyRed Bull-Honda1’15.0891.64019
164Lando NorrisMcLaren-Renault1’15.2471.79829
1799Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’15.4061.95731
1820Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’15.4702.02128
1963George RussellWilliams-Mercedes1’16.9003.45127
2088Robert KubicaWilliams-Mercedes1’16.9803.53126

Second practice visual gaps

Charles Leclerc – 1’13.449

+0.124 Sebastian Vettel – 1’13.573

+0.146 Lewis Hamilton – 1’13.595

+0.662 Valtteri Bottas – 1’14.111

+0.684 Max Verstappen – 1’14.133

+0.730 Romain Grosjean – 1’14.179

+0.819 Lance Stroll – 1’14.268

+1.009 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’14.458

+1.023 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’14.472

+1.069 Sergio Perez – 1’14.518

+1.213 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’14.662

+1.351 Daniil Kvyat – 1’14.800

+1.561 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’15.010

+1.613 Alexander Albon – 1’15.062

+1.640 Pierre Gasly – 1’15.089

+1.798 Lando Norris – 1’15.247

+1.957 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’15.406

+2.021 Kevin Magnussen – 1’15.470

+3.451 George Russell – 1’16.900

+3.531 Robert Kubica – 1’16.980

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

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2019 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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12 comments on “Leclerc keeps Ferrari on top as Gasly crashes”

  1. Have Williams taken the upgrades off of Kubica’s car ?

  2. Interesting that the Ferraris were also managing to match the Mercedes on the long runs aswell, both on Softs and Hards.
    I wonder how the lower temperatures on Sunday will affect the performance between the teams, especially between Mercs and Ferraris.

    If it stays dry tomorrow, Ferrari will probably lock out the front row. They usually gain more than Mercedes do between Friday and Saturday (qualy mode) and they don’t loose that much time in the final sector (between 0.1 and 0.2).

    They might just have a chance to win the race, which is extremely important for them.

    1. If it stays dry, I hope they win (preferably the German boy because I like redemption drives).
      If it becomes wet, i have no hope for the both of them

      1. On the other hand a wet race is always more spectacular.

      2. if vettel gets pole and crashes out of the lead in the rain he will just be a meme henceforth

  3. If only Ferrari can keep it up in the race too…

  4. Don’t worry, they’ll mess up the race, or qualifying.

    1. …or both.

    2. It really feels legit! 😂

  5. What a ghastly action (c by others ;)

  6. Oh dear Pierre.

  7. RocketTankski
    26th July 2019, 18:23

    Gastly learned Self Destruct

Comments are closed.