On a dry and warm day at the German circuit, the teams focused on short and long runs to prepare for qualifying and the race over the next couple of days.  

The first time of the afternoon session was posted by Carlos Sainz on a 1:16.835. Following a series of laps by the midfield runners early on, Kevin Magnussen would pop into P1 with a 1:14.898 in the Haas. 

Vettel was the first of the big guns to post a time and did a 1:13.817 on mediums. Raikkonen slotted in behind to make it a Ferrari 1-2. However, Verstappen soon put himself top of the times by logging a 1:13.356; 0.300s ahead of Bottas. Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen and Ricciardo completed the top 6.  

Kevin Magnussen led the midfield runners following the opening runs. Perez, Leclerc and Grosjean rounded out the top 10. 

When the qualifying simulations began on the ultrasofts, Sebastian Vettel was the first of the big six to go and clocked a 1:13.310 to regain P1.  

The Mercedes’ of Lewis Hamilton and Bottas jumped ahead of Vettel and both men beat the old track record from 2004 set by Michael Schumacher. 

Max Verstappen ended up quickest in FP2 following a scorching lap on the ultrasofts, particularly in the final sector which plays to the strengths of the Red Bull. His 1:13.085 put him 0.026s ahead of Hamilton and 0.105s in front of Bottas in P3. Vettel and Raikkonen in the two Ferraris were 4th and 5th quickest.  

On the race simulations, Vettel, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Bottas all lapped between high 1:17s and low to high 1:18s on the ultrasofts as they showed signs of high degradation.  

Ricciardo, who will start at the back because of grid penalties, lapped consistently in the 1:18s on the mediums while the other four were on the softest tyre. Vettel and Hamilton ran in the low to mid 1:18s when they switched to the same compound as the Aussie later in the session.  

Raikkonen and Bottas went to the softs and the Finns both lapped in the low 1:18s when they had clear air. 

Max Verstappen’s FP2 was heavily compromised by an unspecified problem. It meant the Dutchman couldn’t do a proper race simulation and lost valuable time on the track. 

In the midfield group, Haas seems to be quickest. Grosjean and Magnussen led Leclerc, Hulkenberg and Ocon and they completed the top 10 at the end of the second session.  

Perez, Sainz, Ricciardo, Ericsson, Gasly, Hartley, Alonso, Stroll, Sirotkin and Vandoorne filled spots 11-20. 

German Grand Prix FP2 standings  

1) Verstappen 1:13.085 

2) Hamilton +0.026 

3) Bottas +0.105 

4) Vettel +0.225 

5) Raikkonen +0.342 

6) Grosjean +0.888 

7) Magnussen +1.104 

8) Leclerc +1.289 

9) Hulkenberg +1.411 

10) Ocon +1.427 

11) Perez +1.467 

12) Sainz +1.507  

13) Ricciardo +1.597 

14) Ericsson +1.698 

15) Gasly +1.708 

16) Hartley +1.745 

17) Alonso +1.751  

18) Stroll +2.184 

19) Sirotkin +2.323 

20) Vandoorne +2.369