Red Bull's Max Verstappen quickest in FP2
Sister Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo fastest in FP1 but will start race from back after engine penalties
McLaren and Williams cars struggling at back of pack
Sebastian Vettel leads the drivers' championship, Lewis Hamilton second
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer
Renault's P1 programme: "Nico is on new front wing evaluation duties for this session, Carlos is checking out an updated chassis wing. Ultrasoft tyres the plan. Aero evaluation and initial balance seeking are on the to do list."
We are live with our commentary and you can listen along to Jack Nicholls, Jolyon Palmer and Jennie Gow by pressing the play button at the top.
And away we go. Ninety minutes of session one. And Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel are among the early drivers to get out there. Vettel even has some time to wave to some of his home fans.
This is how the track looked before we got going.
Image source, .Italian Antonio Giovinazzi gets another chance to show what he can do as he will be replacing Sauber's Marcus Ericsson in first practice.
Giovinazzi, 24, raced in the first two grands prix of the 2017 season after Pascal Wehrlein was recovering following his crash in the Race of Champions.
The Italian just missed out on a points finish in his F1 debut, coming 12th at the Australian Grand Prix, but then crashed early on during the Chinese Grand Prix. Ericsson will be back in the Sauber for the second practice session later today.
For 23-year-old Canadian Nicholas Latifi, he gets a chance after normally racing in the Formula 2 Championship, where he is 13th in the standings.
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Two changes to the normal line-up, as Nicholas Latifi comes in for Esteban Ocon in the Force India, with Antonio Giovinazzi taking the place of Marcus Ericsson for Sauber.
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Your reaction to the Mercedes contracts
Tracey Pankhurst: You wait for one contract to come along then two come along at once! Who’d have believed that! Great to hear Bottas will be staying at Mercedes, seems like Ricciardo will definitely stay at Red Bull now I would assume. I’d call this not so silly season!
Dave Weston: Is Lewis Hamilton worth £40 million a year? That depends if he wins and gets the £10 million worth of bonuses. Surely the question is, is he worth £30 million? As Vettel is on similar salary one would say that's the going rate for four-time champions.
Image source, Getty ImagesSebastian Vettel was at the drivers' news conference yesterday and said he is "afraid" the 2018 German Grand Prix will be the country's last for the foreseeable future. The Hockenheim track is out of contract after this season and it is asking for a new deal that would see it pay a smaller fee. No agreement with Formula 1 is in sight.
The German said: "It would be a shame to lose one of the classic races."
Ferrari's Vettel said the problem was the cost of hosting a race and the lack of financial support from the state - the same issue threatening the future of the British Grand Prix.
"It has so much history, Germany is so well known for car manufacturers," added Vettel. "But you have to pay money to get a grand prix. Other countries are prepared to fund the grand prix and Germany is not ready to spend money to advertise F1, racing and Germany to attract people coming here.
"The people here are working very hard to get people here but it's hard for them because they have no-one backing them up from the state."
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer
Sebastian Vettel won on Lewis Hamilton’s home turf last time out, bringing to an end a run of four consecutive wins for the Mercedes driver at Silverstone.
Vettel has not been so successful at home, winning the German Grand Prix only once, in 2013, and that was at the Nurburgring, not Hockenheim. Were he to break that duck this weekend, though, it would be a very special moment for the Ferrari driver, and not just because it would mean extending his championship lead.
Vettel grew up in Heppenheim, which is less than 30 miles away. “It would absolutely mean a lot to me,” he said. “I am literally from here and it is something special - we travel the globe and to come back and race here is something great.
"I had a pole in 2010 and then in the race we weren’t quite there. For some reason in the races we were always not quite there. Hopefully we can turn it around.”
Image source, Getty ImagesRenault's Nico Hulkenberg is loving being back on his home circuit...
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Of course there are two German drivers on the grid - championship leader Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari and Renault's Nico Hulkenberg, who is seventh.
Obviously there is one German constructor - Mercedes - so who do the home fans cheer on? The Germans or the German team?
These are the temperatures predicted today in Hockenheim. Hot, hot, hot out in Germany.
The first practice session gets going at 11:00 in Germany (10:00 BST), with the second at 15:00 (14:00 BST).
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Ten races gone. Eleven to go. Eight points in it.
Work for world champions Mercedes to do, with Lewis Hamilton second and Valtteri Bottas fifth.
Image source, .Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer
There were a couple of little nuggets from Lewis Hamilton in his news conference on Thursday and one of them was his admission that one of the other two top teams had made an approach to him while he was talking to Mercedes about his new contract. But he was very coy about whether it was Ferrari or Red Bull. “I didn’t give it any air,” was all he would say about it.
He signed for only two years because of the uncertainty over where F1 is going after that, and that none of the teams bar Renault are committed beyond 2020. “F1 is not committed to all the teams beyond 2021 yet and I am interested to see how that plays out so it didn’t make sense for me to commit beyond, into the unknown,” he said. “Even though it is easy from to imagine being with Mercedes. Commercially everything could shift. You don’t want to put yourself in a corner you can’t move from.”
Can he now match Michael Schumacher’s seven titles?
“It is an unimaginable number. It doesn’t make sense to think I will win every championship to the end of my contract, even if that is the goal.”
And will it be his last contract?
“Impossible to say how I will feel in two years time,” he replied. “There are so many reasons to remain a part of this sport but who knows?”
Your reaction to the Mercedes contracts
An easy one to start us off this weekend, and we are asking for your reactions to the news that both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have signed new contracts at Mercedes.
Is Hamilton worth £40m a year? Is Bottas the right man to be his team-mate? Is this the boost Mercedes need after a difficult couple of races? Will Mercedes now go on to win the drivers and constructors championships this season?
Whatever you think, write it down, tweet us using #bbcf1 and we will stick your words of wisdom in this page.
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer
Lewis Hamilton was the centre of attention on Thursday’s media day at the German Grand Prix. He usually is, just by virtue of his stature in the sport, but this time it was for a specific reason - the new contract he has signed to keep him at Mercedes until the end of 2020. His deal is worth between £30-40m a year, depending on results. Was he pleased with what he had got out of team boss Toto Wolff?
“Honestly, Toto is a great human being, a great manager and we have a great relationship,” Hamilton said. “We have had our ups and downs through the journey but it has been one of a lot of growth. I really appreciate Toto being so patient with me because I am not the easiest. Most people would not have been given the timeframe I chose to take. But the one thing it shows is the trust we have with each other.
"I said from day one: ‘I am not looking at anything else, I am not talking to anyone else, looking at options, I am not playing you. While there are other drivers calling you, I trust you are not looking to do anything else, so we can take our time'. It has been great. I am really happy with the process.
"I enjoy that negotiation phase. It is tense, it is a learning process, it is an interesting dynamic, but one that I have enjoyed doing. I am just really excited about the plan and what I want to achieve with this team, which I am not going to elaborate on. But I think we can do so some great things.”
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Image source, Getty ImagesOnly yesterday, this happened..
World champion Lewis Hamilton will race for Mercedes for at least a further two seasons. The 33-year-old Briton has signed a new contract with the German manufacturer that lasts until the end of 2020.
BBC Sport understands Hamilton will earn at least £30m a year, rising to a maximum of £40m, depending on bonuses. Hamilton said a new contract had been "a formality" since he sat down with Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff to begin discussions last winter.
Hamilton said: "It's good to put pen to paper, announce it and then get on with business as usual. I have been part of the Mercedes racing family for 20 years and have never been happier inside a team than right now.
"We're on the same wavelength both on and off track - and I am looking forward to winning more in the future and shining even more light on the three-pointed star. I'm very confident that Mercedes is the right place to be over the coming years."
It has certainly been a busy 24 hours at Mercedes...
And this is what Bottas has had to say on social media.
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