British Grand Prix second practice & debate

Summary

Rosberg fastest in second practice, Raikkonen 2nd, Vettel 3rd
Hamilton 4th & struggling with car
Grosjean, Alonso & Merhi spin into gravel
Final practice & qualifying coverage from 09:30 BST on Saturday

Live Reporting

Jamie Strickland

Thanks and goodbyepublished at 16:02 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Image source, Getty Images
That's us just about done for the day. I don't know about you, but seeing Nico Rosberg top in both of those sessions has got me thinking: is this season actually swinging his way?
He's won three of the last four races and is just 10 points back in the title race, while Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton looked scrappy behind the wheel today - just as he did in Austria.
Tomorrow's third practice and qualifying will make for interesting viewing. We'll bring you all the action across the BBC, with our live text commentary starting at 09:30 BST.
Do please join us then.
Just to mark your card...published at 15:50 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Final positions and times...published at 15:41 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
...from our friends at Lotus.
Image source, Lotus
Stevens stands outpublished at 15:39 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Image source, Getty Images
A quick check on the British drivers after that session reveals Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button each finished around half a second down on their team-mates, but that was emphatically not the case for Will Stevens.
The man from Essex was 1.6secs faster than Manor team-mate Roberto Merhi.
Mighty impressive stuff.
Rosberg doubles up in practicepublished at 15:34 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Final order:
1 Rosberg, 2 Raikkonen, 3 Vettel, 4 Hamilton, 5 Kvyat, 6 Ricciardo, 7 Verstappen, 8 Hulkenberg, 9 Sainz, 10 Massa, 11 Maldonado, 12 Bottas, 13 Perez, 14 Grosjean, 15 Alonso, 16 Nasr, 17 Button, 18 Ericsson, 19 Stevens, 20 Merhi
Chequered flagpublished at 15:30 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
One minute to go...published at 15:29 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
and all cars are on track.
Tyres taking some punishment through Copse today...published at 15:28 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Hamilton goes outpublished at 15:26 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Strange happenings at Mercedes.
Our man Tom Clarkson reported a few minutes ago that Lewis Hamilton was out of his car, his session seemingly done.
He was away for a few minutes, in which time the mechanics did not touch the car, but suddenly re-entered the garage and hopped in the car and went out.
Allan McNish in the commentary box is speculating on computer issues.
I'm thinking comfort break.
Get involved - #BritishF1heropublished at 15:22 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Mark Haggan: Colin Chapman made British F1 successful.
Emma Jayne: All the British marshals! The unsung ladies and gents who risk their lives, for free!
Katyoun Hana: What about Murray Walker and Ross Brawn?
Image source, Getty Images
Speed trap readingspublished at 15:22 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Image source, F1
60 years since Moss became first British GP winnerpublished at 15:21 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Image source, Getty Images
We're busy talking about great British drivers today, so it would be remiss to overlook the moment of history achieved by Stirling Moss at the 1955 British Grand Prix at Aintree.
On a sunny July day on the outskirts of Liverpool, Mercedes driver Moss took the fight to his world champion team-mate Juan Manuel Fangio, the two duelling throughout before the Briton came through to win by a matter of yards from the Argentine.
The win meant Moss was crowned the first ever home winner of the British Grand Prix, a feat that has since been repeated 21 times by the likes of Jim Clark, John Watson, David Coulthard and Damon Hill among many others.
Postpublished at 15:18 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Tom Clarkson
BBC F1 pit-lane reporter
"Lewis Hamilton is getting out of his car - looks like it's game over for today."
Green lightpublished at 15:18 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
We go again.
Red flagpublished at 15:16 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Luffield claims its third victim of the daypublished at 15:15 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
I can't recall the last time I saw cars off at Luffield, but we've had three of the blighters today.
Roberto Merhi joins Grosjean and Alonso in that particular ignominy, spinning his Manor through the corner, catching a bit of gravel, and stopping.
He eventually gets going again but as he does so the red flag comes out...
Mercedes team radiopublished at 15:13 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Lewis Hamilton: "The car is all over the place - I can't go any faster than I am right now."
Red Bulls looking better than of latepublished at 15:09 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
We've not really mentioned the Red Bulls so far but they are being quietly impressive out there today.
Daniil Kvyat is the first of the non-Ferrari-Mercedes runners, his time of 1:35.009 just four tenths of Lewis Hamiton in fourth.
The sister Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo is next up in sixth place, a tenth down on his Russian team-mate.
Image source, Getty Images
Postpublished at 15:06 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Pirelli on Twitter: The gap between the medium and hard tyre is looking to be around 0.8-0.9 seconds on average so far
Coverage optionspublished at 15:02 British Summer Time 3 July 2015
Don't forget you can view extra camera streams across all sessions these days, including driver tracker, pit lane channel, on-board and timing screens.