FP2: Leclerc on top as Ferrari stays ahead, Gasly crashes

Published on 26 Jul 2019 16:30

By: Fergal Walsh

Charles Leclerc has concluded the final Friday practice session from the Hockenheimring on top of the timesheets, as Ferrari once again locked out the top two spots.

In the opening session in the morning, Sebastian Vettel was fastest with Leclerc tucked in behind, while Mercedes was behind on the medium compound.

However in the afternoon on the short-runs with low fuel, Ferrari was faster than the two Silver Arrows, with Lewis Hamilton ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Bottas struggled during his lap and was over six-tenths down on Leclerc's time, losing time in the final sector.

Max Verstappen was fifth for Red Bull, while the second energy drink-backed car of Pierre Gasly was P15, over 1.5 seconds off the pace.

Gasly's day ended in the barriers, as he lost the rear of the car at the final corner and as he corrected it, he failed to regain control and hit the outside barrier, destroying the left side of his car.

Romain Grosjean showed encouraging pace for Haas, running the old spec car as he did in Great Britain. The Frenchman was sixth, 1.3 seconds up on teammate Kevin Magnussen who was only faster than the Williams duo.

Racing Point has arrived at the Hockenheim circuit with a heavily upgraded package, and will be pleased with Lance Stroll's P7 result in FP2.

Sergio Perez also found his way into the top ten, behind Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Hulkenberg who were eighth and ninth respectively.

Renault confirmed prior to the start of FP2 that it had found damage to the right rear drum flick, which was repaired and reportedly aided the car's balance.

Action from the Hockenheim circuit resumes on Saturday, with the final practice session kicking off at 12 PM local time before qualifying gets underway at 3 PM.