Despite confirmation of numerous engine penalties, Daniel Ricciardo began the German Grand Prix weekend by beating Lewis Hamilton to P1 in opening practice on Friday.
The Australian is likely to start last with a 20-place grid drop but would set the quickest time at Hockenheim with a 1m13.525s on the Ultrasoft tyre, just 0.004s ahead of the world champion in his Mercedes.
Interestingly, Ricciardo’s best lap came on the second flying lap in the hot conditions but the Red Bull driver would complete two very slow laps between his initial effort and that which ultimately put him fastest.
Less surprising though was the RB14’s strength in the final sector as the 29-year-old, along with teammate Max Verstappen, regularly set new fastest times through the Stadium section.
Hamilton will still feel more than comfortable in second ahead of the Dutchman in the second Red Bull in third, as the top three all used the faster Ultrasoft compound.
Sebastian Vettel was perhaps in the best position in fourth, however, three-tenths off the leading pace but on the Soft rubber, two steps harder than those ahead, and with Ferrari known not to run particularly aggressively in practice.
The two Finn’s completed the top six as Valtteri Bottas, with a new Mercedes contract in hand, was fifth and Kimi Raikkonen sixth following some excursions through the high-speed Turn 1.
In the midfield, once again it was the two Haas cars leading the way in seventh and eighth with Romain Grosjean ahead of Kevin Magnussen. With Hockenheim sharing a lot of characteristics with the Red Bull Ring, it’s not too surprising to see the American team look strong.
Charles Leclerc was ninth for Sauber but like Ferrari, only used the yellow-striped Soft compound, meaning there is more to come from the Monegasque.
Nico Hulkenberg survived a trip across the gravel at the Mobilkurve entering the Stadium to complete the top 10 for Renault.
The German’s teammate Carlos Sainz lost much of the session to a water leak, leaving the Spaniard down in 14th as the French manufacturer tested a new front wing.
Sergio Perez was P11 for Force India with F2 driver Nicholas Latifi getting the chance to run in Practice 1 in place of Esteban Ocon. The Canadian would be some six-tenths off the pace in P17, which is actually a pretty solid performance in the circumstances.
McLaren focused predominantly on testing parts which may well be used at the high downforce Hungaroring next weekend, a circuit the British team considers as one of their strongest, that meant their drivers sat at the bottom of the timesheets for much of the session.
Fernando Alonso would improve late on to claim P12, however, while Stoffel Vandoorne spent much of the 90 minutes in the garage working on a setup change and would in fact end the session slowest overall.
Williams enjoyed a more competitive session with Lance Stroll 13th and Sergey Sirotkin 16th, with again all the focus on testing new parts that are aimed at solving the problems which have ruined their season.
Toro Rosso had a lowly session with Pierre Gasly 15th and Brendon Hartley 18th, while Sauber reserve Antonio Giovinazzi replaced Marcus Ericsson for the first practice and was 19th.
The full order can be seen below:
