Nico Rosberg outpaced Lewis Hamilton for the second successive practice session to end the opening day of the German GP at the head of the timesheet.
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However, after his most recent string of victories – he’s won every race since Monaco aside from Baku – Hamilton has not only closed the gap, but now finds himself six points ahead of Rosberg in the standings.
And although motorsport boss Toto Wolff concedes that it is a unusual move, he reckons it could also prove to be an interesting one. “I’m sure he didn’t want to back him up”. I don’t expect that to be much of a problem for us.
It was just weeks ago that the team principal had been singing a different tune. Hamilton was. 326 seconds behind in the morning and. So it was all an orderly team-by-team line-up. “But then I found out that maybe it’s an interesting option, maybe they’ll have more momentum in the previous year”. “But you know what? So definitely I significantly reduced my speed and that’s what it says you need to do and that’s why for the stewards that was completely acceptable”.
Tensions between the two drivers have been rumored – and downplayed – all season.
“In general our auto was working well out there today”, said Rosberg. “He just said something”, Lauda said. This is likely to be especially true for Hamilton, who felt that he had effectively been cheated out of pole position last weekend. You can rely upon it, he is not a peace maker.
“Nico’s getting better at Hockenheim”.
Verstappen, the only driver to win a race this season apart from Rosberg or Hamilton, was.
Hamilton and Rosberg will remain as teammates for at least another two years after the German signed a new two-year deal ahead of the Hungarian GP.
Jolyon Palmer, the British rookie who missed out on his first points finish in Formula One after spinning from 10th at the last race in Hungary, was replaced by Renault’s French reserve driver Esteban Ocon in first practice.
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The 31-year-old and the handsome blonde put on a loved-up display as they relaxed in the Mediterranean Sea, openly giving each other a smooch and an intimate embrace. It’s important we try and go from strength to strength. I wasn’t backing Nico up. “And then it turned around”, he continued.
