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
Having missed FP1 while Jolyon Palmer had a hoon in his motor, Romain Grosjean has gone and binned his Lotus after just eight laps this afternoon.
The Frenchman sails straight on at Luffield and is beached in the gravel.
Game over, my friend.
A slow start to the session but suddenly most drivers have punched in some hot laps.
Unsurprisingly it's the Mercedes out from, Hamilton first with a 1:34.877. That's around six tenths off Rosberg's benchmark this morning.
Rosberg is second at present, then it's Hulkenberg from Sainz and Verstappen in sixth.
Richard Bishop: For me the #britishf1hero is Johnny Herbert. Winner of several GPs & Le Mans after a remarkable comeback from a horrific accident at Brands.
Matt Claypole: Who else but Coulthard. He was often capable of matching the great Schumi. Plus he had some great radio messages.
Roeland Meijer: Must surely be John Surtees. By the way, I'm too young to have seen him win. But the stories...
For me, Surtees is up there with Murray Walker in the 'why the hell haven't they been knighted?' category.
Image source, Getty ImagesRural Northamptonshire looking fine this Friday afternoon.
Image source, F1Sauber on Twitter:, external Off he goes...
Image source, SauberAn eager Marcus Ericsson is first on track after sitting out FP1.
Manor have a new sponsor coming on board this weekend and it's resulted in a new livery.
The team has deviated from its erstwhile white-and-red arrangement with a lovely dash of purpley-blue on the sidepods.
Image source, PALewis Hamilton on Twitter:, external Great chat! Pleasure to meet you Warwick Davis!!
Image source, Lewis HamiltonRomain Grosjean on Twitter:, external Welcome onboard!
Image source, Romain Grosjean'Ro-Gro' (which I'm assured by a colleague is name sometimes applied to this chap) is back in the Lotus after sitting out FP1. Reserve driver Jolyon Palmer finished 14th this morning.
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel is 28 today, so many happy returns to him.
The fact the sport's youngest ever pole-sitter, race-winner and world champion is closing in on 30 is sobering thought, but I guess he's crammed in plenty in the years since entering the sport as third driver for BMW-Sauber in 2006.
In addition to growing into his teeth and hair, he's become a four-time world champion, won 40 races, taken 45 poles, set records for the most wins and poles in a season and become a father.
Phew.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe ABBA tribute band was rubbish
Image source, Getty Images2008: First win
Image source, Getty Images2013: Fourth world title
Image source, PA2015: Looking dapper in Ferrari red
If you get a moment, be sure to watch our highlights of the 1995 British Grand Prix, a race featuring both a memorable clash between Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher and a maiden F1 win for Johnny Herbert.
Image source, Getty Images
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer
"This season is developing into a bit of a pattern when it comes to the relation between the data seen in Friday second practice and the performance of the cars in the race. Ferrari often look absolutely competitive with Mercedes on Fridays, only to be unable to challenge in the races.
"Team boss Maurizio Arrivabene has called for an end to this 'fake' situation, saying at the last race in Austria that he believed it was because Ferrari were running less fuel on Fridays than Mercedes. But according to Sebastian Vettel it is more to do with the fact that Mercedes turn their engines up for qualifying and race. 'I am not telling you how much fuel we are running but I can assure you we are not running low fuel for our long runs,' he said. 'You can see the pace being quite different. I think it is mostly explained by the fact that some teams can be a lot more aggressive on Saturday/Sunday compared to Friday.
"'I think in general we know from Friday to Saturday Mercedes turns the engine up. It is not just Mercedes. If you look at Williams on Friday versus Sunday there is a massive step. That is one of the lessons learned; and not so long ago they changed their engines and that is one of the differences compared to previous races, that they can be a lot more greedy on Sunday, which makes it more difficult to beat them on the race.'"
Image source, APMcLaren on Twitter:, external All at McLaren observing a minute's silence to remember the victims killed in the Tunisian atrocity. #WeStandTogether
Image source, McLarenF1 teams, along with Silverstone circuit staff and spectators, joined with the national minute's silence at 12:00 BST to remember the 38 people - including 30 Britons - killed in the Tunisia beach attack a week ago.
Image source, Getty ImagesToday we're asking you for your British F1 heroes. You've already come up with some cracking suggestions so please keep them coming.
Mr Keer: Has to be Graham Hill. Won the F1 championship, Le Mans and the Indy 500. And all with the grace of a jolly good chap.
James Matthews: It's a toss-up between Graham "Triple-Crown" Hill and Eddie Jordan's wardrobe.
Kieran Karolak: My #BritishF1hero is Murray Walker. The sound of the sport since the start & his commentary of Hill '96 is still emotional!
Lewis Hamilton:, external Love seeing the support out here Silverstone! Thank you #TeamLH!
Image source, Lewis HamiltonAndrew Benson
Chief F1 writer
"Changes are afoot with the F1 rules, as a result of Wednesday's meeting of the strategy group. You may well have read the two stories from the last 12 hours or so, one on a desire to restrict driver aids and one on bosses deciding to get rid of refuelling.
"The idea is to leave the drivers freer to manage their cars themselves, and reduce the current impression that the pit wall is too involved. The detail is to be worked through over the next few weeks, with as many changes as possible to be introduced for the Belgian Grand Prix and the rest for 2016. F1 may introduce standard clutches and there will be less help at starts, and on managing brakes and tyres, although with one eye on ensuring safety is not compromised.
Image source, Getty Images"Various changes to the race weekend format have been discussed. No major developments are expected, because there is a desire not to diminish the importance of a grand prix, but there could be an F1 support race introduced for third cars and junior drivers, with the top few qualifying for the main grand prix. Among other fights/discussions are Bernie Ecclestone's desire to cap Ferrari and Mercedes' engines so Honda and Renault can catch up and over whether in-season engine development should be reintroduced for 2016.
"The idea of a budget cap - specifically a suggestion from former FIA president Max Mosley to allow greater technical freedom for teams who operate within one - was discussed but rejected."
Image source, AP
Image source, Getty ImagesHello again.
There really aren't too many sights in F1 to match Silverstone on a sultry summer day.
Yeah Monaco has the glitz and Singapore the stunning city backdrop, and yes Abu Dhabi has lights and bells and whistles.
But this feels pure. It's feels like motor racing stripped bare. And that's a good thing.
Thirty minutes til we go again.
We're going to recline for a couple of hours now and contemplate the universe.
While we do that, be sure to keep your #britishf1hero suggestions coming in, as well as your views on FP1, the decision not to bring back refuelling, and the rule changes announced this week. You can get in touch using #bbcf1
Andrew Benson's FP1 report is now on the site.
We'll see you at 13:30 for the build up to FP2.