Vettel leads Ferrari 1-2 in opening German GP practice

Sebastian Vettel set the pace for Ferrari in opening practice for the German Grand Prix on Friday at Hockenheim, heading up a one-two finish for the Italian marque ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc.

Entering his home race weekend 12 months on from the mistake that turned the tide in the 2018 Formula 1 title race, Vettel managed to finish two-tenths of a second clear of the field in a sweltering FP1 that saw the track temperature edge toward 50C.

Vettel recorded a fastest lap time of 1m14.013s to finish 0.255s clear of Leclerc in second place as both Ferrari drivers completed a quick run on Soft tyres, allowing them to get the jump on the Medium-shod Mercedes drivers.

Lewis Hamilton led Mercedes' charge in third place, finishing less than half a tenth of a second behind Leclerc despite his tyre deficit, while Bottas was a further three-tenths of a second off the pace in P5. Max Verstappen managed to split the pair for Red Bull in fourth, with teammate Pierre Gasly taking sixth.

Bottas was fortunate to end the session without damage after locking up at the Sachs-Kurve in the final few minutes, causing him to run into the gravel and only narrowly avoid hitting the wall. Bottas got his car out of the gravel before returning to the pits without damaging his car.

Carlos Sainz was able to lead the midfield fight for McLaren in seventh place ahead of Haas driver Romain Grosjean, who continued to run the team's Australia-spec car in a bid to try and resolve its ongoing tyre struggles. Teammate Kevin Magnussen lost time early in the session after a loss of power caused him to stop on-track, sparking a red flag, but he was able to get back out later in FP1.

Racing Point's updates gave the team a boost in FP1 as Lance Stroll took P9 ahead of teammate Sergio Perez in 11th, with Daniel Ricciardo splitting the duo in P10 for Renault.