Lewis Hamilton made it three practice sessions from three as he went quickest in a red-flagged final practice on Saturday morning ahead of the British Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver posted a best time of 1:30.904 in cool conditions to beat last year’s pole time by more than a second as he pipped team-mate Nico Rosberg by just +0.063.
The session began under damp conditions with the majority venturing out on the intermediate tyre to gain an understanding of the conditions, but with a pause in the drizzle, the track dried prompting a switch to the slicks.
Although Hamilton was sat in his garage for the opening 30 minutes of the session, he immediately went top with his first effort and remained there until a red flag brought the session to a halt.
Marcus Ericsson heavily damaged his Sauber after losing the rear on the damp kerbs at the exit of Stowe, impacting the barriers at such a speed his steering wheel came loose from the column.
Although uninjured, the resultant damage took 15 minutes to clear, leaving just five minutes remaining on the clock.
With the green light given, all remaining 21 cars took to the track for a final flying lap, putting Daniel Ricciardo third ahead of Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen, whilst Sebastian Vettel was fifth, but complained of a gearbox issue on his in-lap.
Valtteri Bottas was sixth for Williams, more than 1.8 seconds down, whilst McLaren's Fernando Alonso was seventh, five placea ahead of Jenson Button in 12th.
