FP2: Ferrari maintain advantage, Leclerc fastest
The second practice session for the German GP saw Charles Leclerc go fastest overall. As he was a tenth ahead of Vettel, Ferrari continued to have both its cars ahead of the competition.
As temperatures continued to soar on Friday, Ferrari appeared unbeatable on the soft tyres. In fact, Leclerc outpaced Vettel with a lap that wasn't fastest in any of the sectors, with some minor traffic delay in S3 preventing an even better time.
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton remained in touch with the leading Ferraris, and might be looking forward to further improvements as lower temperatures on Saturday and Sunday should play into Mercedes' hand.
Valtteri Bottas was fourth fastest, but half a second off his team mate, and only marginally quicker than Max Verstappen. The latter's team mate struggled throughout the session and eventually crashed in the final corner of his 19th lap, bringing out the red flags.
Romain Grosjean was again the fastest Haas F1 Team driver, putting in a strong showing for 6th fastest with his Melbourne spec VF-19. Kevin Magnussen, with a car equipped with all latest upgrades, was considerably slower in 18th.
Lance Stroll kept Racing Point into the top 10, followed by Raikkonen, Hulkenberg and Perez.
Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:13.449 | - | 33 |
| 2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:13.573 | +0.124s | 30 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:13.595 | +0.146s | 30 |
| 4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:14.111 | +0.662s | 30 |
| 5 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:14.133 | +0.684s | 23 |
| 6 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:14.179 | +0.730s | 33 |
| 7 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point Bwt Mercedes | 1:14.268 | +0.819s | 32 |
| 8 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:14.458 | +1.009s | 33 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:14.472 | +1.023s | 26 |
| 10 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point Bwt Mercedes | 1:14.518 | +1.069s | 30 |
| 11 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren Renault | 1:14.662 | +1.213s | 34 |
| 12 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:14.800 | +1.351s | 39 |
| 13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1:15.010 | +1.561s | 33 |
| 14 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:15.062 | +1.613s | 36 |
| 15 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:15.089 | +1.640s | 19 |
| 16 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Renault | 1:15.247 | +1.798s | 29 |
| 17 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:15.406 | +1.957s | 31 |
| 18 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:15.470 | +2.021s | 28 |
| 19 | 63 | George Russell | Williams Mercedes | 1:16.900 | +3.451s | 27 |
| 20 | 88 | Robert Kubica | Williams Mercedes | 1:16.980 | +3.531s | 26 |
