Germany – Free Practice 2: Ferraris at the forefront, Gasly in the wall
The two Ferraris continued to monopolize the top of the timesheet during the second free practice session in Germany. This time, it was Charles Leclerc who led the way. At the end of the session, Pierre Gasly crashed his Red Bull into the wall at the start of the pit straight.
The heatwave hasn’t yet left Germany as the thermometer was showing no less than 50°C on the track and nearly 37°C in the air. Under these conditions, it was not surprising to see teams multiplying cooling systems on the cars.
Lando Norris was the first driver to take to the track in his McLaren. He wasn’t the only one braving the heat as the Briton was followed by the two Haas cars. The heatwave caused many drivers to make mistakes during this session, such as Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly who were forced to overuse the curbs.
On soft tires, Romain Grosjean impressed at the beginning of the session with the second fastest time. This proves that the Melbourne aerodynamic package is working very well. The Frenchman even managed to put 1.7 seconds on his garage neighbor, Kevin Magnussen. Driver number 8 ended the session as the best of the rest, just 0.7 seconds behind the leader.
With 53 minutes remaining, Lance Stroll proved that the second version of the RP19 was working very well with the fourth fastest time. This also showed that the track was evolving very quickly and the laps were getting faster and faster as the drivers began their qualifying simulations.
In addition to showing a poor pace throughout the session, trailing Max Verstappen by 8 tenths, Pierre Gasly went off the track approaching the final corner. A small mistake sent him straight into the wall and triggered a red flag. The Norman wasn’t the only one facing difficulties. Indeed, at the end of the session, Nico Hülkenberg experienced a gearbox failure just as he was leaving the pits. Stuck at the pit lane exit, he also blocked Lando Norris, who had positioned himself behind for a practice start.
The third and fourth place were certainly not the ideal gift for Mercedes on their 125th anniversary in motorsport. However, the German team should not worry too much. Lewis Hamilton is only a tenth and a half behind Charles Leclerc and two hundredths behind Sebastian Vettel. The warm temperatures particularly handicap the Silver Arrow, but rain is forecasted for both the qualifying and the race.
