Germany – Free Practice 2: Verstappen and Red Bull narrowly ahead of Hamilton
As this morning, it's a Red Bull that finds itself at the top of this second free practice session of the German Grand Prix. Max Verstappen leads the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas and the two Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen.
The weather remains consistently fine at the Hockenheim Ring, seemingly giving the Red Bulls a boost. After Daniel Ricciardo set the best time this morning, it’s now Max Verstappen’s turn to show his nose at the top of the timesheet.
But despite these celebrations, Red Bull’s situation is precarious. Indeed, the fastest time by the Australian this morning is just a flash in the pan since he will be forced to start from the last position on the grid on Sunday after changing too many elements of his power unit to avoid a 20-place penalty.
And this afternoon, during this second session, Max Verstappen experienced a technical issue with his engine half an hour before the end. Although it didn’t prevent him from getting back on track at the very end of the session, it could be problematic if not identified and repaired before tomorrow afternoon for the qualifying.
VER: “Guys, what’s going on with the engine?”
Verstappen leads FP2, but he pits with a potential issue 😕#GermanGP 🇩🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/RKGgdZs5od
— Formula 1 (@F1) 20 juillet 2018
Behind the Red Bulls, the Mercedes team, particularly its leader Lewis Hamilton, seems the strongest. The Briton fell short once again by a few thousandths, 26 this time, behind Verstappen but comfortably leads by a few tenths over the Ferraris, who are known to hide their game on Fridays. The battle for pole position promises to be very tight once again.
Behind the three untouchables, the Haas once again proved they were the best of the rest by placing Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen in 6th and 7th positions, with Ricciardo in the other Red Bull not really trying to set a lap time.
.@RGrosjean holds P6 as he’s off on his high fuel run. Getting the laps in at a blazing hot @GermanGrandPrix.#FP2 #HaasF1 🏎🇺🇸☀️🔥 pic.twitter.com/remK13xZjY
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) 20 juillet 2018
At the bottom of the standings, things are going from bad to worse for McLaren, which brings up the rear along with the two Williams, whose drivers are nonetheless satisfied with the new front wing introduced here. A glimmer of hope within the British team, lost at the back of the grid since the start of the season.
🔥 There were some red-hot lap times on a scorching afternoon at Hockenheim#GermanGP 🇩🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/WpGkQspcEz
— Formula 1 (@F1) 20 juillet 2018
The complete rankings of FP2:
Two sessions at the top in a row for @redbullracing 💪#GermanGP 🇩🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/tJVzVkVQd4
— Formula 1 (@F1) 20 juillet 2018
