Vettel fastest in final practice
Sebastian Vettel led a Red Bull one-two in a rain-effected third practice ahead of qualifying for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone as Mercedes limited their wet-weather running.
With many teams opting to run a minimal number of laps throughout the final hour of practice on Saturday morning, it was the Red Bull duo who found themselves in the now unfamiliar position at the top of the timesheets.
Championship leader Nico Rosberg and his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton did not set a competitive time between them as they looked to save tyres for the remainder of the weekend.
It will be a worry for Hamilton, who missed the final 30 minutes of Friday’s running due to an engine problem, as he looks to win his home Grand Prix and close the gap to Rosberg in the drivers’ championship.
With the intensity of rain increasing as the session wore on, no-one could beat Vettel’s time of one minute 52.522 seconds, with team-mate Daniel Ricciarrdo the only man to get within half a second of the reigning champion.
The Lotus pair of Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean finished third and fourth fastest, with Adrian Sutil fifth for Sauber, ahead of Dani Kvyat’s Toro Rosso and the McLaren’s of Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button.
Fernando Alonso was another driver who opted against setting a competitive time, only appearing on track for an installation run while the sister Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen finished 10th.
Marussia endured a miserable session as Max Chilton was forced into a gearbox change, collecting a five-place grid penalty in the process, while Jules Bianchi’s run came to an end when he ended up in the barriers have run wide at Stowe.
