After Daniel Ricciardo’s top run in FP1, teammate Max Verstappen kept Red Bull Racing in charge in the second practice session in 2018 Formula 1 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
The Dutchman displaced Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m13.111s) from the top spot by a mere 0.026s with a 1m13.085s laptime – as both the drivers broke the lap record at the new layout of the Hockenheim circuit.
Despite the quickest time, Verstappen had a scare towards the end of the session with a suspected engine problem which forced him to pit for the mechanics to check. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo though didn’t put any focus on a quick laptime.
The Australian finished 13th with a 1m14.682s laptime on the soft compound as he utilised his time to do race runs on the harder tyres which he will be forced to use as he starts from the back of the field for power unit components change.
Ricciardo’s session included a spin early on as his teammate Verstappen along with Hamilton and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel all had off moments. In fact, Ricciardo also nearly collided with Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin on the right-hander.
The Russian went deep in the corner with the Australian in the inside going for the move when the Russian came back – Ricciardo braked just at the right time to avoid hitting the back of Sirotkin.
The Russian (1m15.408s) later on had a gravel moment as he finished 19th in the order. Meanwhile, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas (1m13.190s) was third leading Vettel (1m13.310s) and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen (1m13.427s) in the Top 5.
Behind the leaders, it was Haas’ Romain Grosjean (1m13.973s) again ahead in sixth with Kevin Magnussen (1m14.189s) behind as Sauber’s Charles Leclerc (1m14.374s) and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg (1m14.496s) finished in the same order as FP1.
The Top 10 was completed by Force India’s Esteban Ocon (1m14.508s), who returned to his seat after Nicholas Latifi drove in the FP1. The Frenchman led teammate Sergio Perez (1m14.552s), the Mexican again finishing just outside the Top 10.
Renault’s Carlos Sainz (1m14.592s) also covered up for the lost time in FP1 to be 12th ahead of Ricciardo with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson (1m14.783s) slotting in 14th from the two Toro Rosso drivers.
Pierre Gasly (1m14.793s) was ahead of Brendon Hartley (1m14.830s), with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso (1m14.836s) only 17th from Williams’ Lance Stroll (1m15.269s) and Sirotkin as Stoffel Vandoorne (1m15.454s) was again at the back of the field.