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FP2 report | Ferrari complete Friday practice double in Germany!

26 July 2019 at 15:30
Last update 26 July 2019 at 15:41
  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

Charles Leclerc has topped the second practice session of the German Grand Prix weekend as Sebastian Vettel finishes in P2 to supply the Italian team with their second 1-2 of the day. The two Mercedes cars followed closely behind, with Max Verstappen finishing 5th despite a minor car issue which forced him to box. 

Leclerc's fastest time of a 1:13.449 was achieved around the middle of the session before the teams and drivers moved onto race simulations. The gap between himself and Lewis Hamilton, who finished in P3, was just 0.150. 

Romain Grosjean spent some time in the top three before the big three teams fitted the softer compound. The Haas driver, running with their old package, finished as the best of the rest driver in P6. He was followed by Lance Stroll, Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. 

With just 15 minutes of the session, Pierre Gasly gave his Red Bull mechanics some work to do overnight with a heavy shunt in the wall. He ran wide at the final corner and lost control over the gravel. Gasly finished the session in P15. 

How it happened 

The session started with Grosjean and Lando Norris exchanging fastest lap times before the big boys came out of the garage. Mercedes and Ferrari took over, but their advantage didn't last long. 

The midfield teams were the first to put on the soft tyres as both Grosjean and Lance Stroll found themselves in the top three. A good result for Grosjean who has asked the team to return to their Australian Grand Prix package for this weekend while the SportPesa Racing Point drivers have been given virtually new cars to use. 

Hamilton and Bottas regained the lead at the top of the timesheets before Ferrari put the soft tyres on themselves. With 45 minutes remaining, Verstappen was called back into the pitlane to fix an issue. 

He spent around five minutes in the pitlane before producing his best lap of the day. It lifted him into fifth place, just half-a-second away from the leading car at the time. 

Teams and drivers then committed themselves to long runs. The race simulations were interrupted by Gasly's crash but resumed after the red flags went away. 

The midfield 

The battle between the midfield teams remains close. In the last 30 minutes, there was seven different chassis within the top 10. That includes Mercedes and Ferrari. The only other team to have two drivers in the top 10 was McLaren.