German GP - What does Friday tell us about the rest of the weekend?

F1 News

26 July 2019 at 18:40
  • Bevan Youl

It’s the end of Friday for the German Grand Prix weekend. Mercedes are running a special livery to celebrate 125 years in motorsport at their home race at the Hockenheimring and have dominated the season so far. But they found themselves stuck behind Ferrari.

Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc swapped top place in a one-two for each practice session, with Lewis Hamilton closely behind. But will this be the story going into the rest of the weekend?
 
Air and track temperatures were high on Friday and Mercedes struggled to cope with those in Austria. But the weather is meant to cool off for Saturday with some potential rain forecast which could shake things up a bit during practice and qualifying tomorrow.
 
If Ferrari can maintain their pace from today, then they look to be on for a front row lock out this time tomorrow. However, we all know how Mercedes can somehow just pull one out of the bag and should rain come down Hamilton will be a clear favourite.
 
While various Red Bull mechanics repair Pierre Gasly’s pretty damaged car Max Verstappen wasn’t too far off Mercedes and Ferrari but said himself that the pace wasn’t there to challenge them. Meaning Red Bull could be stuck between the frontrunners and the midfield.
 
Could this be a turning point for Haas? The team had a shocker of a race at Silverstone where both drivers crashed into each other, leaving them with punctures. But Romain Grosjean ended both practice session in the top 10, finishing best of the rest in FP2. Kevin Magnussen wasn’t as quick, but we could see both cars in, if not fighting for, Q3 tomorrow.
 
The Midfield seem to be getting closer and closer to each other, especially between McLaren and Renault. No doubt that will also translate into both sessions tomorrow and for the race on Sunday. Fingers crossed to see those battles.
 
Weather dependant the rest of the weekend could be very interesting! But how do you think the weekend will play out? Let us know in the comments below.

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