Daniel Ricciardo clocked in with the fastest lap in Friday's first free practice session for this weekend's German Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver led the field with a 1m13.525s lap achieved on Pirelli's ultra-soft compound, edging Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton by a small 0.004s margin and team mate Max Verstappen by 0.189s.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel concluded the morning P4, 0.271s adrift, while Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen rounded off the top six.
German Grand Prix - Free Practice 1
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:13.525s | 22 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:13.529s | + 0.004s | 29 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:13.714s | + 0.189s | 34 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:13.796s | + 0.271s | 23 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:13.903s | + 0.378s | 30 |
| 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:14.267s | + 0.742s | 24 |
| 7 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:14.691s | + 1.166s | 29 |
| 8 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:14.853s | + 1.328s | 28 |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber | 1:15.097s | + 1.572s | 25 |
| 10 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:15.282s | + 1.757s | 32 |
| 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:15.415s | + 1.890s | 29 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:15.544s | + 2.019s | 13 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1:15.629s | + 2.104s | 32 |
| 14 | Carlos Sainz | Renault | 1:15.769s | + 2.244s | 10 |
| 15 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | 1:15.864s | + 2.339s | 36 |
| 16 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams | 1:15.876s | + 2.351s | 34 |
| 17 | Nicholas Latifi | Force India | 1:16.023s | + 2.498s | 27 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1:16.071s | + 2.546s | 32 |
| 19 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber | 1:16.136s | + 2.611s | 23 |
| 20 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:16.149s | + 2.624s | 14 |
The German Grand Prix's first free practice session kicked off with Antonio Giovinazzi in for Marcus Ericsson at Sauber, and Nicholas Latifi running in place of Esteban Ocon at Force India.
Needless to say, both men were among the first to venture out on to the track.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen, running on Pirelli's medium rubber, was the first driver to get down to business, the Dutchman putting a preliminary fastest time of 1m15.055s on the board.
An ultra-soft shod Daniel Ricciardo edged out his team mate after 30 minutes however, with Vettel, Bottas and Hamilton following suit.
The reigning world champion overhauled the group to go fastest with a 1m13.529s on soft tyres.
Meanwhile, McLaren's drivers lingered at the tail end of the field, running only a minimum number of laps for some reason.
With 20 minutes to go, Ricciardo positioned himself second, just 0.170s behind pacesetter Hamilton, but in front of Verstappen, Vettel, Bottas and Raikkonen.
The Aussie kept his head down however, taking advantage of his ultra-soft tyres to snatch the top spot from Hamilton by 0.004s.
Both Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso finally put flying laps on the board in the closing stages of the session, the Spaniard keeping up his good habit of knowking other drivers on the radio, calling Renault's Nico Hulkenberg an "amateur" after running behind the German in Hockenheim's stadium section.
The session concluded with a Red Bull at the top of the timesheet, with Ricciardo setting the pace from Hamilton and Verstappen.
With Grosjean, Magnussen and Leclerc following the top six, one will note that five Ferrari-powered cars figured among the top ten in FP1, confirming the Italian engine's strength.
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