Verstappen sets new lap record

HOCKENHEIM, Germany — Max Verstappen set a new lap record in leading the second practice for the German Grand Prix on Friday.

The 20-year-old Dutch driver clocked 1 minute, 13.085 seconds to eclipse veteran Kimi Raikkonen's time of 1:13.78 from 2004.

"We have a good balance in the car, short and long run (speed)," Verstappen said. "It was a nice surprise to start so competitively. The others will be quicker for qualifying, but certainly a better-than-expected start."

Verstappen also made it a Red Bull 1-2, after teammate Daniel Ricciardo was best in the first practice before drifting back in the afternoon.

"We seem to be in the ballpark and that's encouraging," said Ricciardo, who has won two races this season.

Lewis Hamilton was second quickest in both sessions. His Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finished third in the second practice, with championship leader Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari in fourth.

After a rocky start to the season, Verstappen has hit a rich vein of form, securing four podium finishes in the past six races.

He briefly had cause for worry ahead of Saturday's third practice and qualifying.

"What's going on with the engine?" he said worriedly, before returning to the garage near the end of P2. "I'm hearing a lot of noise."

Verstappen explained it was a minor oil leak which was soon resolved.

Both sessions were bathed in hot sunshine at the Hockenheimring track in southwest Germany's Baden-Wuerttemberg region bordering France. The circuit has several fast straights on the 4.6-kilometer (2.8-mile) track, meaning fans can hope for an exciting race.

Ricciardo, however, is unlikely to be on the podium, let alone win. He starts from last on Sunday because of a grid penalty. He incurred it because his team made changes to the hybrid system, the energy store and the electronics unit for a combined total of 20 grid positions.

Still, Ricciardo plans to entertain the crowd with some trademark overtaking moves.