A late lap from Jack Aitken saw the Arden International driver top the GP3 Series free practice. The Brit, who set a time of 1min 28.955 made the most of the rubbered-in Hockenheim surface towards the end.
As practice got underway, it was championship contender Charles Leclerc who quickly took the lead. The times soon tumbled with the track remaining dry as the session ticked away.
Leclerc and the on-form Jake Dennis were the first drivers to drop below the 1min 31sec barrier as their rivals jostled for space.
The second half of the begun with Ralph Boschung taking third. The rest of the grid would finally join Leclerc and Dennis in the one minute 30 second range before the session ended. It wasn’t long though, before Dennis himself was bumped down the order with Steijn Schothorst taking second.
Having been fairly quiet for the majority of the session, Santino Ferrucci surprised many after going top by almost a second. The field immediately responded and after a late flurry of times Leclerc worked his way back to the front.
A red flag in the dying minutes put pay to any new fastest laps, but it was too late for Leclerc who had already lost the lead to Aitken. Behind them, Antonio Fuoco saved a poor session to finish third as, like Aitken, he put in a late fast lap. Giuliano Alesi, Ferrucci and Schothorst, who caused the red flag, eventually rounded out the top six.
Hockenheimring Practice Results
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