F1 Raceweek: Red Bull steals show from Mercedes but Ricciardo to start from back

Berlin, July 20: Red Bull stole some of the German Grand Prix focus away from Mercedes by topping both of Friday's practice sessions on a day of mixed news for the team.

Off track it is Mercedes who have been the talk of the paddock, announcing Valtteri Bottas' new contract on Friday, a day after defending champion Lewis Hamilton's fresh terms with the Silver Arrows were announced.

But Red Bull stole the show on track, Daniel Ricciardo 0.004 seconds quicker than Hamilton in FP1 before Max Verstappen set the pace in FP2 with a new track record at Hockenheim.

Verstappen was fastest with a time of 1:13.085 but, regardless of whether Red Bull maintain their pace in qualifying, Ricciardo is poised to start from the back of the grid.

Ricciardo will receive penalties for using too many engine parts, with Red Bull opting to take new parts and the resulting sanctions this week rather than in Hungary, where they expect to be more competitive.

"When you know in advance [about the penalty] I could prepare myself and I'm quite excited to come through and overtake, the pace seems decent," Ricciardo told Sky Sports.

Also speaking to Sky, Verstappen said: "We found we had a little oil leak but we had to go out again and it was all fine. We can still improve, I hope tomorrow we can be close."