Prema Racing’s Mick Schumacher topped the European Formula 3 combined practice timesheet, edging Red Bull young driver Daniel Ticktum by 0.132 seconds at the Nurburgring.

After having finished sixth on the timesheet in the first of two 40-minute practice sessions, Schumacher was the early pace-setter in FP2, (as the sessions were run back-to-back).

Despite being edged off of top spot by Robert Shvartzman halfway through the second session, it was Schumacher’s closest challenger was Ticktum as the times fell further in the session’s closing stages.

Ticktum, who leads the championship by 12 points heading into this weekend, set a session-best time through sector one – the longest of the three splits – to head into the closing minutes at the top of the times.

However, Schumacher’s 1m20.179s beat Ticktum’s benchmark by 0.132s and remained fastest at the chequered flag.

Schumacher and Ticktum were the only two drivers able to dip into the 1m20s lap time bracket.

Hitech’s Alex Palou set the session-best sector three time en route to third place on the timesheet, beating Ticktum’s Motopark team-mate Jonathan Aberdein by a slender 0.004s.

Enaam Ahmed followed in fifth place and Shvartzman slipped down the times in the latter stages of the session to an eventual sixth place. However, he was only 0.033s adrift of Palou in third as times were close behind the top two.

Carlin’s Ferdinand Habsburg was seventh ahead of his team-mate and FP1 timesheet-topper Sasha Fenestraz in eighth.

Despite Schumacher and Shvartzman placing in the top six, their Prema team-mates comparatively struggled.

Guan Yu Zhou ended the session in ninth, while Marcus Armstrong – who currently sits third in the drivers’ standings – ended up slowest of all after not setting a representative time in FP2 and only recording four laps in total.