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Sebastian Vettel fastest in final practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone

Sebastian Vettel put the ongoing exhaust rules row behind him to put Red Bull Racing on top in the first dry practice session of the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone

After all of Friday's running was affected by rain, teams finally got a reasonable amount of dry mileage in third practice this morning - though showers and drizzle continued to affect the circuit.

One particular shower in the middle of the session looked like it might be prolonged enough to prevent any further improvements, but in the event it dried quickly - prompting a frantic final half-hour.

With two minutes to go, Vettel put in a 1m31.401s to knock Ferrari's Fernando Alonso off the top spot by just 0.063 seconds.

Vettel looked set to go faster still on his next lap, but it tailed off in the latter sectors as the rain increased yet again.

Mark Webber had been quickest early on, then lost a lot of the middle part of the session in the garage while repairs were carried out to his Red Bull. He rejoined to take third, ahead of the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

Pastor Maldonado was quickest for a spell late on in a very strong run for Williams. He ended up fifth.

McLaren had a quiet morning, with Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton only sixth and 13th respectively.

Both Saubers were in the top 10, Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez seventh and ninth, split by Mercedes' Nico Rosberg - another man who held the top spot for a while amid the constant changes of the second half of the hour.

The sister Mercedes of Michael Schumacher also needed attention to mechanical issues mid-session before returning to the track. He was only 11th, his last lap having been slowed by the the rain.

Paul di Resta completed the top 10 on home ground for Force India.

The only incident of the session was an out-lap spin for Tonio Liuzzi, who was slower than new Hispania team-mate Daniel Ricciardo as the duo brought up the rear.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car              Time       Gap       Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m31.401s            17
 2.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m31.464s  + 0.063s  20
 3.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m31.829s  + 0.428s  12
 4.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m32.169s  + 0.768s  20
 5.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth     1m32.496s  + 1.095s  20
 6.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m32.956s  + 1.555s  18
 7.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m33.014s  + 1.613s  20
 8.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m33.044s  + 1.643s  23
 9.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m33.264s  + 1.863s  21
10.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m33.423s  + 2.022s  22
11.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m33.551s  + 2.150s  11
12.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  1m33.660s  + 2.259s  22
13.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m33.842s  + 2.441s  16
14.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth     1m33.905s  + 2.504s  21
15.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault               1m34.042s  + 2.641s  22
16.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.329s  + 2.928s  20
17.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.799s  + 3.398s  20
18.  Nick Heidfeld       Renault               1m34.822s  + 3.421s  21
19.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Renault         1m35.225s  + 3.824s  21
20.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Renault         1m36.905s  + 5.504s  21
21.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       1m37.614s  + 6.213s  18
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio   Virgin-Cosworth       1m38.068s  + 6.667s  20
23.  Daniel Ricciardo    HRT-Cosworth          1m38.289s  + 6.888s  19
24.  Tonio Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth          1m38.568s  + 7.167s  17

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