Nico Müller set the pace in the first DTM practice session at the Lausitzring, with Audi’s series leader edging out the independent WRT RS5 of Ferdinand von Habsburg by less than a tenth of a second.
Müller was on top of the times for much of the session, which saw the majority of drivers put in their best lap times early on. Indeed there were no improvements in position after 20 minutes, with the order set in as drivers did their quick laps on their first runs.
Habsburg was 0.086 seconds behind Müller, with the fastest lap time being around half a second slower than the pole position time when the sprint configuration was last used in 2017.
Marco Wittmann was the leading BMW driver in third, two tenths off the pace, ahead of Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller in fourth.
Jamie Green put his RS5 in fifth, three tenths off the pace, ahead of the BMW of Philipp Eng in sixth.
Loïc Duval was seventh, with the Audi driver being investigated for speeding in the pitlane, ahead of BMW’s best performer at Spa, Sheldon van der Linde in eighth.
BMW performed slightly better than at the season-opening event, with four M4s featuring inside the top ten.
Reigning champion René Rast was just 11th, nearly nine tenths off the pace, with the Audi driver having also just been stripped of his race two win last time out at Spa.
Second practice is scheduled to get underway at 16:30 CEST (15:30 BST).
Session results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 32 | 1:16.714 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 62 | Ferdinand VON HABSBURG |  |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 1:16.800 | 0.086 |
| 3 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 27 | 1:16.931 | 0.217 |
| 4 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 1:16.959 | 0.245 |
| 5 | 53 | Jamie GREEN |  |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 1:17.031 | 0.317 |
| 6 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 29 | 1:17.043 | 0.329 |
| 7 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 29 | 1:17.069 | 0.355 |
| 8 | 31 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 30 | 1:17.217 | 0.503 |
| 9 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 1:17.331 | 0.617 |
| 10 | 22 | Lucas AUER | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 26 | 1:17.567 | 0.853 |
| 11 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 32 | 1:17.603 | 0.889 |
| 12 | 27 | Jonathan ABERDEIN | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 29 | 1:17.635 | 0.921 |
| 13 | 13 | Fabio SCHERER | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 30 | 1:17.766 | 1.052 |
| 14 | 8 | Robert KUBICA |  |
BMW Team ART | BMW M4 DTM | 23 | 1:17.878 | 1.164 |
| 15 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 26 | 1:17.981 | 1.267 |
| 16 | 10 | Harrison NEWEY | |
Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi RS5 DTM | 29 | 1:18.899 | 2.185 |