Keep sending us your weather updates on #BBCF1 if you're at Silverstone or the surrounding area. We'll make you a Carol Kirkwood or a Tomasz Schafernaker for the day.

Charles Leclerc tells Ferrari it's raining a lot at the final corner but instead of coming back in to the garage, he's stying out and banking more laps in the slippery conditions.

Kayleigh: It's spitting down at Vale!

Chris Wignall: It's raining at Stowe park.

Rosanna Tennant
5 Live F1 reporter

I've just heard from Mercedes and they're expecting rain in 10 minute's time. That was from the Chief Race Engineer Andrew Shovlin, telling the team to be ready.

Nothing too severe in the pit straight at the moment.

The bad weather won't stop Alex Albon. That's for sure. The Williams man goes second quickest with a 1:27.592 on the softs, just under two tenths away from Charles Leclerc's top time.

Logan Sargeant is on the radio to Williams to report a problem. "Something just flew off," says the American. "Crazy hot air is hitting my arm."

More messages are flooding in as the rain closes in. Sergio Perez is given a weather update by Red Bull while Lance Stroll is told to try and get a lap in sharpish.

Amit Mandalia: I can confirm the rain is in Bicester.

Uh-oh. Oscar Piastri tells his McLaren team he has spotted lightning down at Turn 15.

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

The only people to run aggressively on the softs at the moment are the Ferraris and the Mercedes. The rest are on mediums.

Wait. Don't count out these Ferraris. Charles Leclerc wants in on this fast action and the Monegasque driver is able to beat Lewis Hamilton by half a second, also on the softs.

Rosanna Tennant
5 Live F1 reporter

[Norris] actually still had one of the cooling buns in the car, in the air intake, which is the bit above where the driver sits. So they'd forgotten to take that out. Just a little process issue going on with the Mclaren team.

Carlos Sainz is the man to beat in third practice so far but here come Lewis Hamilton. There is a cheer from the crowd as he crosses the line. Has he banked the fastest lap? He has! The seven-time world champion is the new leader with a 1:27.948 on the softs.

Lance Stroll needs to box, says his Aston Martin engineer, as there is an "issue with the delta".

Carlos Sainz seems to have set his sights on another British Grand Prix victory. The Spaniard is running the red compound and is top of the timesheets with a 1:27.964 - quicker than the time Max Verstappen set on the softs in second practice yesterday.

Mercedes were "nowhere" in second practice, said George Russell on Friday, so is Saturday shaping up to be a better day out for the British drivers?

The pair are on the soft tyres today and are sitting in fourth for Lewis Hamilton and fifth for Russell.

Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon is having troubles in the Alpine. "Smashing the ground into Turn 9 quite a bit with the right," says the Frenchman to his pit wall.

After such a fantastic Friday for Alex Albon and Williams, the 27-year-old has been stuck in the garage while the mechanics work on his car in the opening stages of this third practice session.

Thankfully, it looks like any gremlins have eliminated and Albon is getting ready to join the rest of the field on the Silverstone circuit.

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

Yesterday is not a fair reflection of where Fernando Alonso's pace is - make no mistake he will be fighting with the Ferraris for second and third on the grid [in qualifying.]

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen has joined Lando Norris an his one-off chrome and papaya McLaren on the medium tyres and instantly goes top of the timesheets with a 1:28.836.

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz are on the soft rubber and the pair slot into second and the third on the board, with Leclerc the quicker of the two.

The track is dry for now but those clouds look threatening, so don't put away your brollies and waterproofs just yet.

Image source, Getty Images

The upgraded Williams is working well for Alex Albon but the 27-year-old is keeping his feet on the ground after finishing P3 in both practice sessions on Friday.

"It was a bit surprising in some ways. I have to say unexpected, you know. We’re not playing around doing weird things, it’s just a normal day for us," said Albon.

"Clearly, we crossed the line and we’re in the top three, so a bit of, in some ways, head scratching, but at the same time the car feels good. We’ve got an upgrade on the car that we’ve had for two races now."

Williams team principal James Vowles told Sky Sports yesterday Albon is getting "stronger and stronger" this season, so how does the Thai-British driver see the rest of the weekend at Silverstone panning out?

"Tomorrow is going to be likely wet for a little bit. I hope it stays dry, I hope it’s similar weather to this, but let’s see what happens tomorrow," he said.

"But still the focus is on Sunday, because overtaking here is pretty easy, so you need a good race car. Our race pace was actually OK; it wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t bad."

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

Looks like the mechanics have left something on the back of Lando's car... no harm done he will be fine for the rest of the session.