Silverstone FP3: Hamilton from Rosberg, problem for Vettel

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the final free practice of the British Grand Prix weekend, in blustery and overcast conditions, he edged his teammate Nico Rosberg by six hundredth of a second, in a session in which Sauber's Marcus Ericsson crashed heavily and Sebastian Vettel suffered with a gearbox problem on his Ferrari.

The one hour session, which started with the track damp, was red flagged on the 40 minute mark after Ericsson lost control on a wet patch of kerb as he exited Stowe, he speared at speed into the tyre wall near the entry of the pit lane.

It was a big impact and required almost 20 minutes to clear the debris. The Swede was checked on the spot by a medic, and appeared unscathed.

The session re-started with only five minutes remaining, and a late flurry of action saw lap times tumble.

But Hamilton's best time of 1:30.904 stood, with Rosberg second best followed by the Red Bull duo of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen - within a second of the world champion benchmark time.

Vettel was the lead Ferrari in fifth, but his session ended with what he reported to be a gearbox issue. Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen down in ninth.

Between the Reds, on the final timing screens, were the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India. Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz completed the top ten.