Germany – Free Practice 2: Hamilton ahead of Rosberg in the Hockenheim heat

Start of session in high heat, which should limit on-track action to preserve the mechanics.

Ericsson is the first on track while the pit lane is almost empty. The back of the grid seems to be the most active since after the Caterham, it’s the Sauber of Gutierrez that hits the track, but the Mexican’s lap is disrupted by a yellow flag caused by a breakdown on Ericsson’s F1 car.

After twenty minutes and a very calm start to the session, things become lively, and almost all the competitors have set a time. The leaderboard is dominated by Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes with a time of 1:19.424, which he has clocked twice. He is followed by Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo.

For an unknown reason, Fernando Alonso was stuck in the garage for a long time, and it was only after almost half an hour that the Spaniard secured the fifth spot. At the same time, Räikkönen is in seventh place. The Ferraris seem a little better this weekend, although the Scuderia is still dominated by the two Mercedes and the two Red Bulls, in that order.

A second yellow flag is waved following new troubles for the Caterham team. This time, it’s Kamui Kobayashi’s car that caught fire. The Japanese driver jumps out of his seat like a springbok. He then improvises as a firefighter by applying the extinguisher himself and guiding the track marshals to the affected areas.

After this tragicomic incident, a new wave of super-soft tire stints begins for the different teams. This is the case for Mercedes with Rosberg and Red Bull with Ricciardo.

After 45 minutes, Hamilton takes the best time with 1:18.341. He is 0.024 seconds ahead of Rosberg. Ricciardo completes the top 3 with 1:18.443.

It should be noted that the super-soft tires seem to overheat after just one full lap. This was the case on Sutil’s Sauber. This excess temperature could be significant in qualifying if a driver misses their first fast lap on this compound.

The timesheet has become rather static for a while. Could the teams already be working on race setups?

Twenty minutes before the end of the session, we still have Hamilton in first with 1:18.341, followed by Rosberg and Ricciardo.

On the French side, we’re quite far with Vergne in 15th, Grosjean in 17th, and Bianchi in 19th but still the best of the less good.

Small incident at Mercedes as Rosberg was returning to the pits, the mechanics were already busy with Hamilton’s car. The German had to park behind his teammate, and his brakes began to overheat, threatening to catch fire. Fortunately, a mechanic arrived in time to cool the brakes, but Mercedes had to send their driver back on track. More heat than harm then!

End of the session, the standings do not change. Hamilton thus sets the fastest time at 1:18.341, Rosberg is 2nd at 1:18.365. Ricciardo is 3rd in his Red Bull at 1:18.443.