Briton Tom Blomqvist was quickest in the first practice session of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship event at the Nurburgring. The Jagonya Ayam with Carlin driver set a best lap time of 1:23.217s to beat current championship leader Esteban Ocon by 0.051s.
Prema Powerteam driver Ocon will be looking to get back on track after suffering a non-scoring weekend last time out in Austria, but still holds a comfortable lead in the championship over Van Amersfoort Racing’s teenage sensation Max Verstappen. Verstappen, this week announced as the latest member of the Red Bull Junior driver programme, was fourth fastest, just behind Jake Dennis of Carlin.
Jordan King was fifth in the second Carlin ahead of Antonio Fuoco of Prema Powerteam, who took his second win of the season in race two at the Red Bull Ring two weeks ago.
Gustavo Menezes was seventh for Van Amersfoort Racing, ahead of the third Carlin entry of Ed Jones, while Dennis van de Laar was ninth for Prema Powerteam.
Felix Rosenqvist was the quickest of the Mucke Motorsport drivers in tenth, but Lucas Auer and Roy Nissany were thirteenth and fifteenth respectively. Antonio Giovinazzi, who won his maiden European Formula 3 race in Austria for Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, had a dreadful session and finished down in twenty-third position, just behind series debutant Wing Chung Chang, who is making his first appearance for Team West-Tec F3 in place of Briton Hector Hurst.
The Fortec Motorsports team are absent from the event in Germany, with John Bryant-Meisner having left the team for another challenge elsewhere. Alfonso Celis Jr was scheduled to race in Germany but the team are not competing as they continue to investigate the issues that have caused them to be lacking in top speed compared to their rivals in recent races.
Nurburgring Practice 1 Times
| POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 | Tom Blomqvist | GBR | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:23.217 |
| 2 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Prema Powerteam | 1:23.268 |
| 3 | Jake Dennis | GBR | Carlin | 1:23.388 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | GBR | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:23.416 |
| 5 | Jordan King | GBR | Carlin | 1:23.655 |
| 6 | Antonio Fuoco | ITA | Prema Powerteam | 1:23.674 |
| 7 | Gustavo Menezes | USA | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:23.760 |
| 8 | Ed Jones | UAE | Carlin | 1:23.773 |
| 9 | Dennis van de Laar | NED | Prema Powerteam | 1:23.896 |
| 10 | Felix Rosenqvist | SWE | Mucke Motorsport | 1:24.068 |
| 11 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Prema Powerteam | 1:24.095 |
| 12 | Felix Serralles | PUE | Team West-Tec F3 | 1:24.113 |
| 13 | Lucas Auer | AUT | Mucke Motorsport | 1:24.119 |
| 14 | Alexander Toril | ESP | ThreeBond with T-Sport | 1:24.349 |
| 15 | Roy Nissany | ISR | Mucke Motorsport | 1:24.507 |
| 16 | Michele Beretta | ITA | EuroInternational | 1:24.567 |
| 17 | Richard Goddard | AUS | ThreeBond with T-Sport | 1:24.614 |
| 18 | Sean Galael | INO | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:24.649 |
| 19 | Jules Szymkowiak | NED | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:24.856 |
| 20 | Santino Ferrucci | USA | EuroInternational | 1:25.083 |
| 21 | Tatiana Calderon | COL | Jo Zeller Racing | 1:25.091 |
| 22 | Wing Chung Chang | MAC | Team West-Tec F3 | 1:25.934 |
| 23 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:26.424 |
| 24 | Sandro Zeller | SWI | Jo Zeller Racing | 1:32.167 |
