FP1: Rosberg sets the pace in Germany
Nico Rosberg, the defending German GP winner, was back up into P1 in Friday’s opening practice at the Hockenheimring.
On a warm morning in Germany where the track temperature reached a high of 33’C, the Mercedes driver posted a 1:15.517 to edge Lewis Hamilton by 0.326s.
Rosberg started his day on the soft tyres, and was quickest of all, before lowering the benchmark when he swapped to Pirelli’s supersofts.
Ferrari mixed it up with Mercedes throughout the session, however, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were running the supersofts to Mercedes’ softs when Vettel split Rosberg and Hamilton.
The softest option tyres are believed to be worth around a second per lap.
Vettel finished the morning third to Raikkonen’s P4. They were 1.1 and 1.3s off the pace respectively.
Max Verstappen was fifth for Red Bull Racing, finishing a tenth up on Daniel Ricciardo, while birthday boy Fernando Alonso was seventh.
The Spaniard was not happy with Ferrari, telling his team over the radio: “We need to make a new circuit for the Ferraris. That way they can run alone.”
Jenson Button, Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz completed the top ten.
Times
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’15.517 32 laps
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’15.843 0.326 30 laps
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’16.667 1.150 29 laps
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’16.852 1.335 23 laps
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1’16.927 1.410 29 laps
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1’17.089 1.572 30 laps
7 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1’17.183 1.666 18 laps
8 Jenson Button McLaren 1’17.612 2.095 15 laps
9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1’18.008 2.491 25 laps
10 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 1’18.044 2.527 22 laps
11 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1’18.198 2.681 28 laps
12 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1’18.210 2.693 37 laps
13 Felipe Massa Williams 1’18.322 2.805 33 laps
14 Romain Grosjean Haas 1’18.589 3.072 20 laps
15 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1’18.591 3.074 35 laps
16 Sergio Perez Force India 1’18.628 3.111 29 laps
17 Charles Leclerc Haas 1’18.882 3.365 32 laps
18 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1’18.933 3.416 35 laps
19 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1’18.961 3.444 22 laps
20 Esteban Ocon Renault 1’18.981 3.464 30 laps
21 Rio Haryanto Manor 1’19.167 3.650 34 laps
22 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1’19.975 4.458 33 laps