Nico Rosberg quickest in German Grand Prix final practice

The German Grand Prix is live across the BBC Sport website and 5 live, with qualifying from 13:00 BST on Saturday

Nico Rosberg edged Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.057 seconds in final practice before qualifying at the German Grand Prix.

And Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was only 0.099secs off the pace as tiny margins separated the top teams in the last race before F1's summer break.

Hamilton was investigated after the session for an unsafe release from the pits but received no penalty.

Instead, Mercedes were given a €10,000 (£8,450) fine.

The stewards had the option of imposing a grid penalty on Hamilton of whatever number of places they saw fit, or issuing him a reprimand which, as his third of the season, would have meant an automatic 10-place penalty.

Watch out! Hamilton faced a potential 10-place grid penalty following an unsafe release

The incident in question saw Hamilton released from the Mercedes garage as Haas' Romain Grosjean was coming into the pits, forcing the Frenchman to stop in the 'fast lane'. Grosjean complained over the radio over the incident.

Grosjean, meanwhile, will face a five-place grid drop from wherever he qualifies because Haas have to change his gearbox.

Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat was given a reprimand for a similar incident at last year's Belgian Grand Prix.

Mercedes in a fight?

Mercedes had looked totally dominant on Friday but Red Bull and Ferrari appeared much closer on Saturday morning.

With Ricciardo within 0.1secs of the silver cars, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was only 0.164secs off the pace in fourth.

The Finn's team-mate Sebastian Vettel was fifth fastest, ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who was 0.345secs slower than Ricciardo.

Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were seventh and eighth, ahead of McLaren's Fernando Alonso.

The Spaniard's team-mate Jenson Button was struggling with poor rear grip and understeer and was only 19th fastest, 1.177secs behind Alonso.

Sebastian Vettel damaged his front wing at the end of the session

German Grand Prix final practice results

German Grand Prix coverage details