Just two weeks after finally appearing to come good, following a strong performance at Silverstone which saw him deliver his best result for Red Bull, Pierre Gasly blotted his copybook when he lost the rear end of his car and hit the barriers, badly damaging the left-hand side of the RB15 in FP2.

"I lost the car exiting the final corner during a long run and hit the barrier," explained the Frenchman. "Fortunately I wasn’t using my race engine or gearbox, but more importantly I’m really sorry for the boys in the garage and I want to apologise to them as the repairs will make for a long night."

"It's frustrating to lose a car at that point in the session," team boss, Christian Horner told Sky Sports. "Off the back of a good result in Silverstone it's not the start to the weekend you want.

"It's an annoying accident," he added.

The incident is sure to put even more pressure on Gasly, who for the most part has not delivered this season, and certainly hasn't posed any threat to teammate Max Verstappen, who has won 136 of the team's 191 points.

While some are pondering who the Milton Keynes outfit might bring in for 2020, some are already wondering if the Austrian team might act over the summer break.

The once flourishing Red Bull Driver Programme appears to have run dry, with sections of the media linking Nico Hulkenberg with the second seat, and Sky's pundits opining that Fernando Alonso could be a surprise recruit.

While the mere suggestion would no doubt horrify Honda, having the Spaniard back on the grid and in the same team as Verstappen would have F1 bosses salivating.

Check out our Friday gallery from Hockenheim, here.