HOCKENHEIM, Germany, July 20, 2018 (News Wires) - Daniel Ricciardo was fractionally faster than Lewis Hamilton in the first practice session for the German Grand Prix on Friday. The Red Bull driver topped the charts by just .0004 seconds ahead of Hamilton's Mercedes. His pace may count for little, however, considering Ricciardo starts Sunday's race from last because of a grid penalty for engine-part changes. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third quickest, about .2 seconds behind his teammate in hot sunshine at the Hockenheimring track. There is a second practice later Friday, and a third practice Saturday before qualifying. German driver Sebastian Vettel, who leads defending champion Hamilton by eight points in the title race, was fourth quickest. But the top three drivers were using the faster ultrasoft tire compound, while Vettel ran with softs. Valtteri Bottas momentarily lost control of his Mercedes, and Kimi Raikkonen likewise his Ferrari, and both briefly veered off track. They were fifth and sixth quickest, respectively. Nico Hulkenberg also gave the home fans a scare when he flew off the track and ploughed over some gravel, recovering control of his Renault just before a wall. In another encouraging performance, Charles Leclerc placed ninth with a considerably slower Sauber car while running on softs.
