Here we go then. Plenty of cars file out of the pit-lane on soft tyres.

The session will restart in one minute with five minutes left.

Ericsson's Sauber has been hoisted away.

Meanwhile, there's a big digger claw reconstructing the tyre wall, like one of those arcade machines that lifts out a cuddly toy (or most often, drops it at the last moment).

It's taking ages. Surely it would be quicker to do it by hand?

A smashed up car is obviously bad news for Sauber, who have had financial difficulties.

The picture Tom Clarkson tweeted earlier showed the Sauber's haven't even had a lick of paint for a while.

You can tell this was the sort of crash that concerns people. Ericsson, out the car and on his feet, was showing he could rotate his head and use his neck muscles properly.

And Daniel Ricciardo was so worried he received an update on the Swede's condition over the radio.

Red flagpublished at 10:42 British Summer Time 9 July 2016

10:42 BST 9 July 2016

Ericsson comes off at Stowe Corner as he puts his right-front tyre on to the astro turf and then skids across the track and hits the wall. His left-rear wheel is no longer attached to his car.

In fact, his steering wheel comes away in his hands too.

Bits of Sauber go everywhere. Ericsson is being looked at by medical personnel.

Marcus Ericsson is in a right pickle. Doesn't look good.

Ed Sheeran is looking well.

The British crowd get to give a British whoop for the first time today as Lewis Hamilton goes quickest through the first sector and sees it all the way through to go into P1 with a 1:31.286.

Rosberg is second - just 0.045secs behind.

Image source, Getty Images

Ferrari confirmed Kimi Raikkonen as Sebastian Vettel’s team-mate on Friday but on track things were running a lot less smoothly. The red cars were nowhere - 0.9 seconds off the pace of the Mercedes all day. There was no trouble with balance; the cars were just not quick.

This is bad news on a track on which getting tyres into the operating window - Ferrari’s traditional problem - should be less of an issue than at most places because of the extreme demands of the long, fast corners. Like will-o-the-wisp, any chance of Ferrari being a threat to Mercedes on a consistent basis seems to have ghosted away.

Sebastian Vettel has now gone quickest with a 1:33.2. Times will start to fall now.

Here comes Valtteri Bottas - he goes into P2, 0.114 behind Seb.

Mikey: 1982 #BrandsHatch Keke Rosberg blitzed pole but retired with engine problems A newcomer Mansell retired unwell (Ahhh Bless)

Tim Robinson: 1967 watching Jimmy Clark winning in a Lotus 49. First GP I attended

Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Raikkonen is out too but both Ferrari's can't go quicker than Rosberg.

Someone must have got out a giant hair dryer because Felipe Massa is slapping on some soft tyres.

Here comes Sebastian Vettel on a set of medium tyres - it's drying up folks.

With 37 minutes remaining, Nico Rosberg's time of 1:33.591 remains the only time on the board.

IG: How would I cheer Nico up? I wouldn't.

James Beckett: By handing him a competitive car to drive in the Walter Hayes Trophy @SilverstoneUK in November.

Phillippa Gillett: I would cheer him up by taking him out for Fish & Chips followed by a few pints