German Grand Prix: Friday Practice Recap

Event:  Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 (FP1 and FP2)

Date:  Friday, July 20

Location:  Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg

Layout:  4.574-kilometer (2.842-mile), 17-turn circuit

FP1 Weather:  Partly cloudy

FP1 Air Temps:  27-29 degrees Celsius (80.6-84.2 degrees Fahrenheit)

FP1 Track Temps:  42-44 degrees Celsius (107.6-111.2 degrees Fahrenheit)

FP2 Weather:  Sunny

FP2 Air Temps:  30-31 degrees Celsius (86-87.8 degrees Fahrenheit)

FP2 Track Temps:  46-49 degrees Celsius (114.8-120.2 degrees Fahrenheit)

Drivers:  Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen

Grosjean:  7th quick (1:14.691), 29 laps completed

Magnussen:  8th quick (1:14.853), 28 laps completed

Fastest Driver:  Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull (1:13.525)

Most Laps:  Brendon Hartley of Toro Rosso (36 laps)

Grosjean:  6th quick (1:13.973), 34 laps completed

Magnussen:  7th quick (1:14.189), 36 laps completed

Fastest Driver:  Max Verstappen of Red Bull (1:13.085)

Most Laps:  Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Ferrari (46 laps)

The 11th round of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship began with practice Friday at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg as teams prepared for the German Grand Prix Sunday.

Two 90-minute sessions – FP1 and FP2 – on the 4.574-kilometer (2.842-mile), 17-turn circuit were run under predominantly sunny conditions with Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen back at the historic venue for the first time since 2016 when the German Grand Prix last appeared on the Formula One calendar.

Both drivers began FP1 on the Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tire before transitioning to the Purple ultrasoft, utilizing one set of each compound. Grosjean’s quick time of 1:14.691 came on his 14th lap shod on ultrasofts. He ran 29 laps and was the seventh-fastest driver. Magnussen’s best time was a 1:14.853 on his 20th lap, also set on the ultrasoft compound. He ran 28 laps and posted the eighth-quickest time.

Leading the way in FP1 was Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, whose fast lap of 1:13.525 was a scant .004 of a second better than the next quickest driver, reigning series champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

Speeds picked up and lap times dropped in FP2. Grosjean wrapped FP2 as the sixth-quickest driver with a time of 1:13.973, which was .718 of a second better than his best lap in FP1. His quick time came on the 12th of his 34 laps on a set of ultrasoft tires. Magnussen shaved .664 of a second off his FP1 time with a lap of 1:14.189 to move up seventh fastest. His fast lap came on his 12th tour, also while utilizing the ultrasoft tire. He completed 36 laps.

Red Bull remained atop FP2, this time with Max Verstappen setting a mark of 1:13.085, which was .026 of a second better than his nearest pursuer, Hamilton. The Hockenheimring track record of 1:13.306, set back in 2004 by Scuderia Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher, was finally eclipsed after 14 years.

Between the two sessions, Haas F1 Team ran a total of 127 laps – 63 by Grosjean and 64 by Magnussen.

“It’s great to be back in Germany. It’s a big country for motorsport. I have some good memories from my earlier career here and it’s always good to come back. I’m pretty happy with our day. It’s not going too bad. We were the fourth fastest team again. That’s where we want to be. It’s been very warm today – that may not be the case over the weekend – so we’ll keep an eye on that, but so far the car’s been working very well. The car’s been happiest in the high-speed sections – we love high speed. The tires haven’t been having a good time in general – for everyone, I guess – but it’s hard to keep them cool. We’re hoping for a dry race as it’ll be easier for everyone, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We have to choose the right tire, at the right time. It should be a bit cooler for the race, which will help in managing those tires, and allow us to be able to push a bit more.”

“It’s a good track. I’m enjoying driving here and it went well today. We’ve been happy with our day. We need to look into finding a bit more pace on the long run, on high fuel, but low fuel looks to be very competitive. It’s a pretty low-grip track, so the car does a lot of things, like you do have a bit of understeer, and you do have a bit of oversteer. The car is moving around. That’s just how it is here, but our car seems to be working alright. Tire wear, in terms of actual wear, isn’t so bad, but degradation is high because the temperatures get very hot – you overheat the tires. We’ll work on that and, hopefully, make some steps, also I think the weather’s going to be a bit colder the next few days, so it might not be such a big problem. So far though, it all looks good.”

Drivers have one more practice session on Saturday (12:00-13:00 local time) before qualifying starts at 15:00. Qualifying consists of three rounds, with the 15 fastest drivers from Q1 moving on to Q2. Then, the 10 fastest drivers from Q2 advance to Q3 where they’ll battle for the pole.