Max Verstappen set the fastest lap to keep Red Bull at the top of the timesheets on a close-run opening day of practice for the German Grand Prix yesterday. Max Verstappen, 20, set a one minute 13.085 second benchmark on a scorching afternoon at the Hockenheim track taking over at the top from teammate Daniel Ricciardo who had set the pace in the morning. The former champions had the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton hot on their heels, however. The Briton, fresh from having agreed a two-year contract extension with the German marque, was second in both sessions. He was only 0.004 seconds off the pace in the morning and 0.026 seconds slower in the afternoon.

The 33-year-old goes into the weekend eight points behind Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the overall standings. He is determined to strike back with a win on the German's home soil after two costly races in Austria and Britain. Vettel, a four-time champion like Hamilton, was fourth in both sessions, two-tenths of a second off the pace. The German, who won his home race in 2013 when it was held at the Nurburgring track, is hoping to chalk up a maiden win at Hockenheim, only a half hour's drive from Heppenheim where he was born. His teammate Kimi Raikkonen was fifth fastest in the afternoon session moving up one place on the time sheets from the morning.