Max Verstappen maintained Red Bull’s position at the front of the Formula 1 field during a tightly-contested second practice session for the German Grand Prix.
Verstappen, third in FP1 to team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, picked up the mantle in the afternoon session by clocking a time of 1:13.085s, a new track record at Hockenheim, during the low-fuel Ultrasoft.
Photos: German GP Friday | Results: FP2 classification
Verstappen’s session was far from ideal as he returned to the garage amid a problem with his RB14 with 25 minutes left, but he was able to re-join the circuit in the final five minutes.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton once against finished runner-up, a mere 0.026s behind Verstappen, during a session that took place in hot and sunny conditions.
Valtteri Bottas ensured it was a 2-3 for Mercedes as he finished just 0.105s slower than Verstappen’s pace-setting time on the day that his 2019 seat with the team was sealed.
Sebastian Vettel continued preparations for his home Grand Prix by again taking fourth, 0.225s down on his Red Bull rival, with Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen fifth.
FP1 pacesetter Ricciardo opted out of a qualifying simulation and finished down in 13th position, the only driver to set their best lap on Softs, having also spun at Turn 8.
He is set to start last on Sunday due to the grid penalty incurred for taking on new power unit components.
Haas again led the way behind the front-runners and took sixth and seventh, with Romain Grosjean out-pacing Kevin Magnussen, as Charles Leclerc continued his and Sauber’s recent form by placing eighth.
Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Force India’s Esteban Ocon, returning to action after sitting out FP1 while Nicholas Latifi ran, completed the top 10.
Ocon’s Force India team-mate Sergio Perez edged Hulkenberg’s Renault counterpart Carlos Sainz Jr. for 11th place, ahead of the aforementioned Ricciardo.
Marcus Ericsson stepped back into his Sauber C37, following reserve Antonio Giovinazzi’s run earlier in the day, and classified 14th, ahead of Toro Rosso pair Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley.
Fernando Alonso finished a low-key 17th, albeit within half a second of eighth-placed Leclerc, once more highlighting the tightly-contested nature of the midfield group.
A similar gap separated Alonso from the Williams duo of Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin in 18th and 19th respectively, the Russian having a brief off-track excursion at the banked Sachs Kurve.
Alonso’s McLaren team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne replicated his FP1 position by bringing up the rear of the pack, 2.4s behind Verstappen.
Saturday’s one-hour third practice session will begin at 12:00 local time
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