Lewis Hamilton trailed Valtteri Bottas in final practice for the British Grand Prix.

Bottas beat his Mercedes team-mate to top spot at Silverstone by 0.138 seconds.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen finished third ahead of Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc finished sixth.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton during free practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton during free practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone (FIA Pool)

Hamilton is aiming to win his home race for a record seventh time, but the world champion will head into qualifying later on Saturday having failed to finish quickest in any of the three sessions so far this weekend.

The temperature at a spectator-less Silverstone has dropped by 12 degrees compared to Friday, and the cooler conditions appear more favourable for the all-conquering Mercedes team.

Verstappen was the only driver to be within half-a-second of the all-black machines, with the Dutchman finishing three tenths of a second behind Bottas.

Verstappen’s team-mate Alexander Albon hit the track with just 13 minutes remaining following an electrical failure on his Red Bull.

And the London-born Thai, who crashed out of practice on Friday, could manage only 13th.

Elsewhere, Lando Norris finished sixth at his home event, almost one second down on Bottas with George Russell 16th for Williams.

Nico Hulkenberg, deputising for Sergio Perez who is sidelined with coronavirus, was ninth, while Sebastian Vettel’s troubles continued – the four-time world champion only 14th in his Ferrari.