Silverstone, Aug 8 (IANS): Lewis Hamilton finished P1 in the third free practice ahead of qualifying for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone while his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was 0.163s behind in second place. McLaren's Lando Norris put his hat at the top of the grid as well, finishing third, +0.581s behind Hamilton.

Racing Point duo Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll followed in fourth and fifth respectively.

Norris' teammate Carlos Sainz ended the session on medium tyres and finished P10, 1.006s off top spot.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc came sixth while his teammate Sebastial Vettel was all the way down on P13. Both took brand new engines, turbos and MGU-H units ahead of FP3 -- with Vettel's Ferrari power unit having spluttered to a halt at the end of FP2 on Friday.

According to Ferrari, the change on Leclerc's car was done "as a precaution", with no penalty incurred for either driver since they are still within their allocation for the season.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen had to abort his first flying lap on new soft tyres with ten minutes remaining having encountered a slow-going Stroll through Maggotts and Becketts, which led to an expletive-filled rant over the radio.

The Red Bull driver later improved to finish P7, ahead of teammate Alex Albon in P8.