Red Bull's Max Verstappen sets the pace in second practice

The Australian is set to start tomorrow's race from the back of the grid after triggering penalties for taking on fresh power unit components and was solely focussed on honing his long-run pace in the afternoon

Max Verstappen set the fastest lap to keep Red Bull at the top of the timesheets on a close-run opening day of practice for the German Grand Prix yesterday. Max Verstappen, 20, set a one minute 13.085 second benchmark on a scorching afternoon at the Hockenheim track taking over at the top from teammate Daniel Ricciardo who had set the pace in the morning. The former champions had the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton hot on their heels, however. The Briton, fresh from having agreed a two-year contract extension with the German marque, was second in both sessions. He was only 0.004 seconds off the pace in the morning and 0.026 seconds slower in the afternoon.

The 33-year-old goes into the weekend eight points behind Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the overall standings. He is determined to strike back with a win on the German's home soil after two costly races in Austria and Britain. Vettel, a four-time champion like Hamilton, was fourth in both sessions, two-tenths of a second off the pace. The German, who won his home race in 2013 when it was held at the Nurburgring track, is hoping to chalk up a maiden win at Hockenheim, only a half hour's drive from Heppenheim where he was born. His teammate Kimi Raikkonen was fifth fastest in the afternoon session moving up one place on the time sheets from the morning.

Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen also moved up a place each to finish the afternoon session sixth and seventh as their Haas outfit once again marked themselves out as the best of the rest. Sauber rookie Charles Leclerc, linked to Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari seat for next season, was a an impressive eighth in the afternoon. Nico Hulkenberg in the Renault and Force India's Esteban Ocon rounded out the Top 10. Valtteri Bottas, whose own contract extensions keeping him at Mercedes for another two years was announced an hour before the start of practice, was third quickest in the afternoon. He had been fifth in the morning. First session pace-setter Ricciardo finished 13th on the timesheets at the end of the day.

The Australian is set to start tomorrow's race from the back of the grid after triggering penalties for taking on fresh power unit components and was solely focussed on honing his long-run pace in the afternoon. Yesterday's running was largely incident free. Verstappen lost a chunk of track time as he pitted to have his Red Bull checked after reporting hearing a strange sound while shifting down through the gears. But he was up and running before the end of the session. Hulkenberg had a wild off-track moment across the gravel in the morning while the Sauber of Antonio Giovinazzi, who was given an outing in first practice, shed its engine cover on track during the first session.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!