Daniel Ricciardo clocked in with the fastest lap in Friday’s first free practice session for this weekend’s German Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver led the field with a 1m13.525s lap achieved on Pirelli’s ultra-soft compound, edging Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by a small 0.004s margin and team mate Max Verstappen by 0.189s.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel concluded the morning P4, 0.271s adrift, while Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen rounded off the top six.
German Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull
1:13.525s
22
2
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:13.529s
+ 0.004s
29
3
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:13.714s
+ 0.189s
34
4
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
1:13.796s
+ 0.271s
23
5
Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes
1:13.903s
+ 0.378s
30
6
Kimi Räikkönen
Ferrari
1:14.267s
+ 0.742s
24
7
Romain Grosjean
Haas
1:14.691s
+ 1.166s
29
8
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1:14.853s
+ 1.328s
28
9
Charles Leclerc
Sauber
1:15.097s
+ 1.572s
25
10
Nico Hülkenberg
Renault
1:15.282s
+ 1.757s
32
11
Sergio Pérez
Force India
1:15.415s
+ 1.890s
29
12
Fernando Alonso
McLaren
1:15.544s
+ 2.019s
13
13
Lance Stroll
Williams
1:15.629s
+ 2.104s
32
14
Carlos Sainz
Renault
1:15.769s
+ 2.244s
10
15
Brendon Hartley
Toro Rosso
1:15.864s
+ 2.339s
36
16
Sergey Sirotkin
Williams
1:15.876s
+ 2.351s
34
17
Nicholas Latifi
Force India
1:16.023s
+ 2.498s
27
18
Pierre Gasly
Toro Rosso
1:16.071s
+ 2.546s
32
19
Antonio Giovinazzi
Sauber
1:16.136s
+ 2.611s
23
20
Stoffel Vandoorne
McLaren
1:16.149s
+ 2.624s
14
The German Grand Prix’s first free practice session kicked off with Antonio Giovinazzi in for Marcus Ericsson at Sauber, and Nicholas Latifi running in place of Esteban Ocon at Force India.
Needless to say, both men were among the first to venture out on to the track.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, running on Pirelli’s medium rubber, was the first driver to get down to business, the Dutchman putting a preliminary fastest time of 1m15.055s on the board.
An ultra-soft shod Daniel Ricciardo edged out his team mate after 30 minutes however, with Vettel, Bottas and Hamilton following suit.
The reigning world champion overhauled the group to go fastest with a 1m13.529s on soft tyres.
- On the bubble Ricciardo expecting engine penalty
Meanwhile, McLaren’s drivers lingered at the tail end of the field, running only a minimum number of laps for some reason.
With 20 minutes to go, Ricciardo positioned himself second, just 0.170s behind pacesetter Hamilton, but in front of Verstappen, Vettel, Bottas and Raikkonen.
The Aussie kept his head down however, taking advantage of his ultra-soft tyres to snatch the top spot from Hamilton by 0.004s.
Both Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso finally put flying laps on the board in the closing stages of the session, the Spaniard keeping up his good habit of knowking other drivers on the radio, calling Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg an “amateur” after running behind the German in Hockenheim’s stadium section.
The session concluded with a Red Bull at the top of the timesheet, with Ricciardo setting the pace from Hamilton and Verstappen.
With Grosjean, Magnussen and Leclerc following the top six, one will note that five Ferrari-powered cars figured among the top ten in FP1, confirming the Italian engine’s strength.
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