After an absence from the calendar last year Formula 1 once again heads back to Germany, and to the Hockenheim ring for the final race before summer break.
Though it was once again the same story of practice all year, with the Mercedes drivers dominating the time sheets. And it was German driver Nico Rosberg who finished ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton in first practice. Rosberg’s time, a 1:15.517, was three tenths of a second faster than what Hamilton could manage. And in a devastating blow to the rest of the grid, Rosberg’s time was more than one second quicker than either Ferraris or Red Bulls could manage.
Ferrari, who are dealing currently with the loss of their chief technical officer James Allison, finished the session as best of the rest. With Sebastian Vettel 3rd and Kimi Raikkonen 4th in the session. Their closest competitors in the constructor’s championship, Red Bull, finished the session behind them in 5th and 6th. With Max Verstappen beating his team mate Daniel Ricciardo.
It was a more positive session for the McLarens who continued to show some of their form from Hungary, finishing the session in the top 8 again with both cars. Birthday boy Fernando Alonso finished the session ahead of team mate Jenson Button. While the Toro Rosso’s rounded out the top 10, with Daniil Kvyat ahead of Carlos Sainz.
On the whole apart from a lovely pirouette into the run off area at turn three for the Williams of Valtteri Bottas the drivers were all relatively well behaved in the session. With the biggest issue being track limits down into turn 1. The FIA were supposed to be more lenient on track limits this weekend. Though the sensors in turn 1 went off 91 times during the session. 14 times of which can be attributed to the Red Bull of Verstappen. Following the infringements, they have once again tightened up on track limits into that particular corner.
If the teams were hoping for a change of luck in FP2 it wasn’t to be. As once again Rosberg finished the session top of the timesheet, with a 1:15:614. As was the case in FP1, team mate Hamilton was left trailing him by three tenths of a second as he finished 2nd. The team saw their gap over the field reduced in the session, but only by half a second.
Once again it was a battle to be best of the rest behind the Mercedes between Ferrari and Red Bull with some interesting results. While Vettel finished 3rd ahead of Verstappen in 4th and Riccardo in 5th, it would appear the Red Bull has better long race pace than the Ferrari’s. Which will undoubtedly help them in the fight with the Italian team on Sunday. The other Ferrari of Raikkonen finished in 6th position behind the Red Bulls.
Following a quiet free practice working on their long run pace the Force India’s began to show their speed in FP2. Nico Hulkenberg finished 7th with team mate Sergio Perez in 9th. With the McLaren of Button sandwiched between them in 8th. His team mate Alonso rounded out the top 10. The pace of the Force India’s shows once again the fight in the midfield this weekend is going to be tight between them, the Toro Rosso’s and the McLarens. Although neither of their drivers were in the top ten today it is suspected the Williams drivers will also be in this battle, owing to the fact they don’t often show their true pace on a Friday.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for McLaren today though. Button lost the final 20 minutes of the session after complaining of an eye irritation. After initially visiting the circuit’s medical centre, Button headed to the local Mannheim hospital for a precautionary check-up. He was declared fit to drive tomorrow though after getting the all clear from the hospital.
This weekend is going to be interesting coming up to summer break. Everyone will be looking to get the best possible result to carry the momentum into summer break. Between the Mercedes the battle will be which one of them will lead the drivers’ championship going into summer break. But perhaps the bigger battle is in constructors between the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari to be best of the rest behind Mercedes. Ferrari look to have fallen behind Red Bull in recent races and will be trying desperately to cling onto their 2nd place in constructors. While as previously mentioned things are heating up in the mid field battle between the Williams, Force India, and Toro Rosso’s. And with the radio restrictions lifted this weakened following a meeting of the strategy group expect a good weekend ahead of us before summer break.
Free Practice One Results
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:15.517
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:15.843
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:16.667
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:16.852
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:16.927
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:17.089
7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:17.183
8. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:17.612
9. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:18.008
10. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:18.044
11. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:18.198
12. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:18.210
13. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:18.322
14. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:18.589
15. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:18.591
16. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:18.628
17. Charles Leclerc, Haas, 1:18.882
18. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:18.933
19. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:18.961
20. Esteban Ocon, Renault, 1:18.981
21. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:19.167
22. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:19.975
Free Practice Two Results
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:15.614
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:16.008
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:16.208
4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:16.456
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:16.490
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:16.512
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:16.781
8. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:17.087
9. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:17.148
10. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:17.225
11. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:17.342
12. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:17.367
13. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:17.425
14. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:17.602
15. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:17.686
16. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:18.005
17. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:18.056
18. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:18.130
19. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:18.193
20. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:18.313
21. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:18.591
22. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:19.295
Feature Image Credit: Scudaria Ferrari Press Release
