Formula 1 British GP 2013: Nico Rosberg and Mercedes Dominate Final Practice at Silverstone

Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton finished top of the timesheets after the third and final practice session at Silverstone, for the 2013 Formula 1 British Grand Prix. Rosberg, who beat a slippery circuit to finish fastest in Friday's afternoon session, waited until the final seconds of this session to edge past Hamilton with 1:31.487 to the British drivers' 1:31.633.

The Red Bull Racing pair of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were third and fourth, but the Milton Keynes outfit, in their home race, were well over half a second off the pace. Lotus-Renault's Romain Grosjean continues to outperform team mate and championship contender Kimi Raikkonen this weekend; the Frenchman's 1:32.391 may have been nearly a second off Rosberg but it was crucially 0.068s faster than the Finn.

Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo started the weekend in sensational fashion, taking advantage of a thoroughly wet first practice session (and the reluctance of leading teams to risk a serious accident) to steal the fastest time on Friday morning.

Just to show it was no fluke, the 23-year-old Australian clocked 1:33.171 later that same day, to finish sixth in the second session. The third session produced his best effort yet, with a strong 1:32.440 placing him above Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Alonso, meanwhile, continues to struggle... on a track where he took pole position last year. The Spaniard chose to only run installation laps on Friday morning and looked well short of pace in the afternoon, with his 1:33.494 almost 1.3s off the pace. Saturday morning saw him improve by nearly a second - 1:32.454 - but he still remains a second off the leaders' pace.

Now, whether this is a tactical move on Ferrari's part remains to be seen. The Italians have admitted they lack outright pace compared to the Red Bull and, particularly, Mercedes. That may mean they have opted to save tyres and the machinery for the race on Sunday.

The Force India cars of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta, for whom too this is a home race, rounded out the top ten, with di Resta unable to re-create his fourth place finish from the second session.

Further down the grid, local favourite Jenson Button could do no better than 12th. The McLaren-Mercedes driver has already admitted he needs a miracle to get any significant success this weekend, let alone win the race and, based on present, form is not even the leading British driver in the race; di Resta has outpaced him in both sessions so far.

READ: Formula 1 British GP 2013: Where to Watch Final Practice and Qualifying Live and Weather Updates

READ: Formula 1 British GP 2013: Lewis Hamilton Storms to Pole at Silverstone and Mercedes Post 1-2 Finish