There are just six cars on the track and two of them are the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Both have swapped softs for medium boots and both have just improved, Hamilton doing a 1:21.527 while Rosberg does a 1:21.846.

Fire extinguishers quickly deal with the smoking rear of Max Verstappen's Red Bull, which is then swiftly wheeled into the garage so mechanics can take a closer look.

Familiar stuff at the top of the timesheets with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg P1 and P2 respectively but behind them is Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. 

Good weekend on the cards for Williams?

Tom Clarkson
BBC Radio 5 live commentator

I am down to the Red Bull garage and both rear brakes on Max Verstappen's car are on fire.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Sebastian Vettel has been put in something of an impossible position by Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene following the Italian’s controversial remarks at the Japanese Grand Prix that his number one driver should concentrate on driving rather than getting distracted by other matters and needed to “earn” a new contract.

It has emerged that Arrivabene has imparted this message to Vettel directly, too, saying it is not the four-time world champion’s position to defend the team. But what is Vettel to do? He is the effective spokesman for Ferrari for much of a grand prix weekend and he can hardly ignore questions about their lack of results this year. A case in point emerged in Mexico, when he was asked whether he agreed the season had been “a shambles”? 

Vettel launched a long and considered defence of how and why he felt things were changing at Ferrari and they were in a position to improve. In the middle of it, though, was a telling phrase. “I agree on the fact we didn’t get the results,” he said. “I can’t excuse that but there is a lot of work going on at the factory - not exactly my job; I am here to drive the car which I am happy to do - but seeing the understanding people are working a lot more hand in hand closer together which is a way to go forward, the level has been pretty high the day I joined but we are trying to raise the bar and work as a team and work together on the car as one project.” 

To those in the know, the difficulty of his situation was clear. 

Will Ferrari be up there this weekend? They've had a quiet session so far with Sebastian Vettel seventh quickest, while Kimi Raikkonen is down in 17th having only done a handful of laps. Problems for the Finn?

The track is green again so away we go with a touch over 45 minutes of the session remaining.

Felipe Nasr has got that damaged Sauber back to the pits and he is out of the car as engineers give it a thorough going over. It did look like he took some real damage as he bounced over those kerbs.

We've been asking what should the perfect F1 champ's personality be like following Bernie Ecclestone's suggestion, external that journalists would have nothing to write about him if Nico Rosberg won the title.

Red flagpublished at 16:33 British Summer Time 28 October 2016

16:33 BST 28 October 2016

Felipe Nasr bounces over the kerb and suddenly a massive part of his front wing comes flying off.

Lots and lots of debris on the track, so the session is red flagged.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

While Lewis Hamilton can in many ways relax knowing that he has nothing to lose, the engine problems that have meant he is trailing rather than leading going into these final three races remain a concern. 

“That will happen until we cross the flag in Abu Dhabi,” he said. “I have a feeling it will happen more often, because I’m on my eighth engine, and I’ve experienced a lot more than the other side has had to this year. I’m confident that everyone is doing everything they can. The guys are working so hard to make sure nothing happens, moving forwards, but again there are things that are just out of our hands. Often this year there are things that are just out of our control that have happened, and the most important thing is that we have learned from them and grown from them, and will continue to do so.”

Now Lewis Hamilton goes quickest with a 1:21.936 as Nico Rosberg gets it all wrong at Turn 1 and runs wide. 

Valtteri Bottas is currently third quickest, almost a second down on Hamilton's time, with Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo fourth and fifth respectively.

After winding himself up with a steady but unspectacular lap, Nico Rosberg improves massively with his second effort on soft tyres to go quickest of all with 1:22.748.

The track is busy again and we've got some more representative times on the board. Valtteri Bottas is fastest with 1:24.337, half a second quicker than Fernando Alonso.

Lewis Hamilton's first timed effort is a 1:26.584 - the seventh quickest time.

What Lewis Hamilton needs is the perfect weekend. What he doesn't need is any problems - no matter the size - disrupting his preparations. 

"I have no gears on my dashboard," he says over the radio. Early days, and probably nothing major, but still not ideal.