HOCKENHEIM, Germany – Ferrari roared to the top of the timesheets on the opening day of practice for the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring on Friday.
Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel each topped a practice session on Friday, with Leclerc setting the overall fastest lap of the day. Leclerc’s 1:13.449 gave him the top spot in the second practice and overall by .124 seconds over Vettel.
Mercedes driver and championship leader Lewis Hamilton was third fastest, only .146 seconds behind the pace set by Leclerc.
From there the pace dropped off considerably, as fourth fastest Valtteri Bottas was more than half a second slower than Leclerc’s Ferrari. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fifth fastest on the day.
Romain Grosjean gave the Haas team something to be happy about by going sixth fastest, followed by Lance Stroll, Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.
The only major incident during either practice came in the second session when Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly lost the rear of his car and crashed in the final corner to bring out the red flag.