12:55 Hello everyone and welcome back to AUTOSPORT Live as we continue with coverage and rolling updates from round eight of this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the British Grand Prix from Silverstone.

A soggy circuit greeted the drivers earlier this morning for the first practrice session, but after a lengthy period of brinkmanship it was Daniel Ricciardo who got the best of the wet conditions to top the times with 1m54.249s, more than three-quarters of a second clear of Nico Hulkenberg, with Pastor Maldonado third and local hero Lewis Hamilton in fourth spot.

However, times were positively meaningless thanks to the soaking wet conditions and teams will hope to enjoy a better run this afternoon. Second practice begins in just under five minutes time.

12:56 Weather conditions have steadily improved since the end of first practice and the circuit has begun to dry significantly.

We are hopeful that it will remain dry and fine this afternoon, but there are one or two showers on the radar so a slight risk of rain hangs in the air, unfortunately.

A light westerly breeze is continuing to blow across the former airfield and air temperature is getting up to today's maximum of 19 degrees Celsius.

12:57 Track temperature has climbed a little over this morning's value and is 18 degrees Celsius as we wait for the session to get underway.

12:58 Vettel is strapped into his Red Bull and puts his gloves on, ahead of a first run on the circuit.

12:59 At Mercedes, Hamilton puts on his balaclava as he gets ready for this afternoon's action.

0 min: The practice session is underway.

0 min: We have action straight away as Vettel rolls down the pitlane and out onto the circuit.

1 min: He is followed out by team-mate Webber, as Red Bull gets down to business immediately.

1 min: Intermediate tyres for the Red Bull duo as they get used to the current track conditions.

2 min: Charles Pic, Jenson Button, Sergio Perez, Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean, Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton follow the Red Bulls out onto the track.

2 min: The track looks good down the Hangar straight and into Stowe, as Vettel begins a timed lap.

3 min: Esteban Gutierrez, Giedo van der Garde and Nico Hulkenberg have also joined the circuit.

3 min: Many drivers on track now, as Vettel gets the fun underway with a time of 1m44.038s.

4 min: Webber is next man over the line and he slots into second spot with a lap of 1m44.299s.

4 min: Jenson Button reports: "The circuit is very dry" across his pit-to-car radio.

5 min: Bottas, Sutil, Maldonado, Rosberg and Ricciardo are into a timed lap.

5 min: Indeed, it is Bottas who takes over at the front with a time of 1m43.929s.

6 min: Sutil's first effort places him fourth with a lap of 1m45.253s, while Maldonado goes fifth at the completion of his first lap.

6 min: Van der garde and Chilton pop in sixth and seventh-best times. They're both quicker on their first flying lap than McLaren duo Perez and Button.

6 min: The Red Bull duo are back into the pits after one timed lap and they will no doubt be looking to get onto dry tyres shortly.

6 min: Hulkenberg goes to the top of the timesheets in 1m43.811s. That's 0.1s faster than Bottas.

7 min: Di Resta takes over from Hulkenberg with a time of 1m43.207s.

7 min: Felipe Massa pops up into second - ahead of Hulkenberg.

8 min: Hulkenberg is being very vocal on the radio to his Sauber engineers. "It's almost time to go to slicks. It's destroying the inters," says the German.

8 min: Sauber team-mate Gutierrez is currently seventh with the McLarens of Perez and Button 12th and 13th.

8 min: So we have di Resta up top with Massa second, Hulkenberg third, Bottas fourth, Vettel fifth and Webber sixth in the early stages.

9 min: Bottas completes a four lap run and brings the Williams into the pits.

9 min: Vergne is the first driver to take slicks. He is out there on the development compound.

11 min: Ricciardo also heads out on that development compound a run as he exits the pits.

11 min: Thirteen drivers have set times so far; big names like Raikkonen, Grosjean, Alonso and Hamilton waiting in the pits.

12 min: Vergne is immediately getting on with it. He is fastest of all in the middle sector and he goes quickest with 1m41.868s.

12 min: Alonso now takes to the track, and he's equipped with prototype Pirelli slicks.

13 min: Ricciardo is now into his timed lap in the other Toro Rosso, while Vergne continues on and is fastest in the first two sectors.

14 min: Vergne lowers the benchmark time to a 1m38.901s lap in the Toro Rosso.

14 min: Ricciardo slots into second spot with a time of 1m41.890s.

14 min: Rosberg and Hamilton are back onto the circuit for another run. Neither has set a time as yet.

15 min: Vergne is at it again and he knocks almost another two seconds off his best time. 1m37.102s is now the benchmark.

15 min: Romain Grosjean is out on what appear to be prototype slicks. He's (obviously) gone green in the first sector.

16 min: Ricciardo improves his time with 1m39.030s but remains in second spot.

16 min: Grosjean goes third on his opening flying lap. He's 2.2s slower than Vergne's pace currently. A French 1-3.

16 min: Di Resta exits the pits and begins a run in the Force India. He is fourth in the classification at the moment.

17 min: Six drivers have yet to set a flying lap time; Alonso having pitted pretty swiftly after heading out on prototypes.

17 min: Still some damp patches around the circuit and the drivers must be careful of pushing too hard to quickly.

18 min: Raikkonen goes fourth, four seconds slower than Grosjean. The Finn had a big lary moment at Chapel. Six seconds separate the top six.

18 min: Ricciardo improves with a lap of 1m37.596s but he remains in second place to team-mate Vergne, to the tune of 0.494s.

18 min: Sutil moves up the order to fourth place in the Force India with a time of 1m38.971s.

19 min: But further up the list, Ricciardo takes the fastest time away from his team-mate with 1m36.502s.

19 min: Rosberg improves with a lap of 1m36.884s and he is temporarily third.

20 min: Grosjean improves by a second. He retakes fourth place with 1m37.484s.

20 min: But at the top we now have Sutil, as he comes through in a time of 1m36.028s.

20 min: But not for long, as team-mate di Resta takes the top position away from him with a time of 1m35.822s.

21 min: For the moment we have Force Indias first and second, with Vergne third but fastest of all in the first sector of his latest lap.

22 min: Sutil retakes P1 away from team-mate di Resta with a time of 1m35.677s.

22 min: The Red Bull drivers are back out there and Webber is fastest of all in the first two sectors of his latest lap...

22 min: Webber crosses the line on hard tyres and he goes quickest with a time of 1m34.648s.

23 min: Sutil finds another half-second but remains in second place with a time of 1m35.150s.

24 min: Massa is in the barriers and has front end damage exiting Stowe corner.

24 min: Massa lost control of the Ferrari towards the exit of Stowe and slewed across the track, then the grass and nosed into the barrier.

25 min: There is a fair amount of front end damage and the car is situated just at the beginning of the pitlane entrance.

26 min: Massa has climbed out of the car and is on his way back to the pits.

27 min: You would think that Ferrari will be sending some mechanics up to the top end of the pitlane in readiness for the car potentially arriving.

27 min: Meantime, on track, Bottas has improved to ninth with 1m37.462s and Pic has moved into 11th with 1m38.082s.

28 min: Yellow flags remain in place at the end of the lap. Alonso is warned of the traffic situation as he circulates.

29 min: Alonso has yet to post a time on the board, but he is set to work through four timed laps on this run.

29 min: Race control has stated that the yellow flags will remain in place for approximately another three minutes, while the marshals recover Massa's car.

30 min: Massa is continuing his slow walk back to the pitlane. Meantime, the top runners are in the pits and waiting for the track to clear.

30 min: Rosberg has just joined the circuit on a set of hard tyres. He is ninth in the classification.

31 min: Vergne comes out to begin another run in the Toro Rosso. He is fourth, almost exactly one second off the leading pace, set so far by Webber.

31 min: Alonso moves into 14th with his first timed lap of the afternoon session - 1m39.599s.

32 min: Bianchi and Hamilton are on track. Neither has posted a time on the board as yet.

32 min: Massa finally arrives back in the Ferrari garage, as the track is declared all-clear.

33 min: Rosberg moves his way to the front of the field with a time of 1m34.327s as the track conditions get better all the time.

33 min: Alonso continues his charge up the list. He is now fourth with a best time of 1m35.167s.

34 min: Rosberg is on for another fast time. He is quickest of all in the middle sector of his latest lap.

34 min: Rosberg lowers the benchmark with a new best time of 1m33.585s on hard tyres.

35 min: Hamilton is also on the move and the Briton improves to second spot with a lap of 1m34.367s in the other Mercedes.

35 min: Vergne is third with Webber fourth, Sutil fifth and Alonso in sixth position in the sole remaining Ferrari.

35 min: Di Resta exits the pits and begins another run in the Force India. He is seventh in the classification.

35 min: Alonso is due an improvement on this lap. He's done personal bests in sectors one and two and is 1.6s off the pace

36 min: Rosberg completes another tour of the circuit but is not able to improve this time around. He remains fastest of all.

36 min: Alonso climbs to fifth in 1m34.656s. He's found 0.6s on that lap.

37 min: Ricciardo is out there on the regular hard tyre now and he moves into second spot with a time of 1m34.1616s.

37 min: Di Resta is fastest of all in the first sector of his latest lap. He is currently seventh in the classification.

38 min: We're getting a few reports of rain at the track. Let's hope not, as the teams missed plenty of track time this morning as it is.

38 min: Still one or two droplets of moisture being picked up from the on car cameras, as Meteo France warns of drops at times.

39 min: Ricciardo continues with his progress on the hard tyre. He goes fastest of all with a time of 1m33.550s.

40 min: Button moves up two spots to ninth. His 1m35.017s lap is 0.7s faster than he'd been before.

41 min: Sutil is out there on hard tyres. He is fastest in sectors one and two and he duly tops the list with 1m33.374s.

41 min: Massa's car has arrived back in the paddock. It's being loaded off the back of the flatbed lorry. We wonder whether that car was using Ferrari's new wing when it crashed...

41 min: Ricciardo therefore drops to second spot, with Rosberg third, Hamilton fourth, Vergne fifth and Grosjean in sixth spot.

42 min: Chilton runs off the track at Village, but resumes the circuit without too much trouble.

43 min: Medium tyre runs beginning now and Vettel is first among those out there on the quicker compound.

43 min: Vergne is another driver out there on the medium tyre.

44 min: Plenty of front-end adjustments are being made to Alonso's car in the Ferrari garage. The mechanics appear to be focusing on the driver footwell. Suspension pickup points in all likelyhood.

44 min: Vettel is fastest of all through the first two sectors. He goes quickest with a time of 1m33.068s on medium tyres.

44 min: Grosjean, Pic and van der Garde are all on-track on medium rubber.

44 min: Rosberg is also out there on the medium compound now. He is currently fifth in the classification.

45 min: Those medium tyres help Grosjean climb to second in the standings; just 0.254s off Vettel's best time.

46 min: Perez has just improved by a second, but the McLaren driver remains back in 19th, one spot behind van der Garde and two behind Pic.

46 min: Bottas is waiting in the pits for his medium tyre run. He is told over the radio that there could be some rain in the last 15 minutes.

46 min: Raikkonen splits the pair to go 19th. Some odd names down near the back today.

46 min: The Ferrari mechanics have thrown a cover over Massa's car and have pushed it into the garage. The doors go down immediatley.

47 min: Vettel has backed off for a lap to cool the compound down, and is now on a really hot lap and set to blast his own target time into the stratosphere...

48 min: Vettel finds another four-tenths on the second attempt after cooling the tyres and takes the benchmark further away with 1m32.680s.

48 min: Grosjean improves in sector one, but has a major sideways snap at Brooklands. That's ruined his lap, after taking too much kerb on the way in.

49 min: The Saubers have been quiet this afternoon (in a manner of speaking). Hulkenberg improves to 9th as we say it. Gutierrez is 15th.

49 min: Hamilton completes his first effort on the medium compound and he moves into second place with 1m32.911s, as Vettel pits.

49 min: Rosberg now takes over at the front of the field with a time of 1m32.248s as the track gets faster and faster.

50 min: The times are really tumbling presently. Just 10 minutes ago there were six seconds separating the top six. The same gap contains 21 cars now!

50 min: Vettel is back in after two hot laps, but there are problems for the other car. Webber has been in the garage for some time, since his hard tyre run.

51 min: Alonso improves to seventh on the medium Pirellis. He's 1.246s off the pace.

51 min: Replays of Sutil who was pushing extremely hard on a hot lap on medium tyres through Chapel curve. He caught a damp patch and was lucky to catch the resultant snap of oversteer. He continued.

52 min: Ricciardo moves up to fifth place on his medium tyre run with a time of 1m33.301s.

52 min: The track is not drying off the racing line. With just 18 degrees C of temperature on the track surface and 20 C in the air, that's hardly a surprise.

53 min: Rosberg remains up front with 37 minutes to go, ahead of Vettel second, Hamilton third and then the flying Toro Rosso duo.

53 min: Repairs are complete at Red Bull and Webber has just exited the pits on medium tyres.

53 min: Chilton pumps in his fastest lap of the day to move his Marussia up to 20th - ahead of Perez's McLaren.

54 min: The Australian has slipped down the field to 11th spot, but will be looking to at least match Vettel's 1m32.680s (second place).

55 min: Webber crosses the line and is now into his first timed lap on the faster tyre compound.

55 min: Webber is fastest of all through the first sector - 29.274s.

56 min: Webber continues to hammer on and he posts a personal best through the middle portion of the circuit.

56 min: Jules Bianchi has done a terrific job to be 16th - ahead of Raikkonen and Perez - in the tricky conditions so far.

56 min: The Red Bull driver rounds the final corner and goes fourth with a time of 1m32.953s.

57 min: But that immediately becomes fifth, as di Resta comes through a few seconds behind him and moves up to third with 1m32.832s.

58 min: You have to say this is a significantly positive practice day so far for the Force India and Toro Rosso teams. Both squads have steadily improved their cars over the past few race weekends.

58 min: Bianchi has a decent record at Silverstone. He won here in GP2 and Formula Renault 3.5 on his last two visits.

59 min: Virtually everybody is out the medium tyres at the moment, although the lap times are not as quick as earlier on, probably down to track conditions.

59 min: Webber has backed off for a lap to cool the tyres and is now on it once again - fastest of all in the first sector.

60 min: Webber rounds Club corner, crosses the line and moves up the list to second spot and ahead of Vettel with 1m32.547s.

60 min: Alonso's completed a 10-lap run, but he's now back in the pits.

62 min: Rosberg is back out for another run and you would expect at this juncture that we are looking at a high fuel run for the pacesetter.

63 min: Perez has put in a series of (by his standards in this session anyway) quick laps and has climbed up from 20th to 13th. He's 1.9s off the pace.

65 min: Indeed, it is high fuel time for Rosberg, with Vettel running a similar pace in the Red Bull. However the champion is on hard tyres.

66 min: Perez tries to overtake Vergne near the end of the lap and gets the door shut in his face. Now now boys, this is only practice.

67 min: Maldonado has been informed over the radio that there is a slight issue with a water leak on his car. He has been advised to stay out there for the time being, pending further instructions.

68 min: Button improves his time, but remains 11th. He's 1.492s off Rosberg's table-topping time.

68 min: Vettel is told on the radio that his pace is good and that on hard tyres he should try to remain in the 1m38s bracket.

71 min: Chilton tells his engineers by radio that: "The car sounded a little odd in the pitlane".

73 min: Both Vettel and Rosberg are continuing to lap well in the 1m38s bracket. Both have done 11 laps on their tyres, but critically, Rosberg is out there on the medium tyre but Vettel is out there on the harder compound.

74 min: Nico Hulkenberg tells his engineers: "Even with DRS, I cannot pass a Marussia."

79 min: Vettel comes into the pits at the end of the 17th lap on that set of hard tyres. Rosberg's pace has slipped back into the 1m39s bracket.

80 min: Vettel switches to the medium compound, having spent 17 laps on the hard tyre. He is back out there.

81 min: Ferrari technical chief is keeping close tabs on what's going on with Alonso's current race run.

82 min: The 1m38s region is also being populated by Mark Webber and Paul di Resta. They are on medium tyres that have completed 12 and 13 laps.

85 min: The Lotus race runs are looking impressive. Grosjean has been consistently in the low-1m38s over the last few laps.

85 min: Vettel - now on reasonably fresh medium tyres - has just pumped in a lap of 1m36.7s.

86 min: Hamilton has completed 20 laps on this set of hard tyres. His last lap was 1m38.312s, as drops of rain begin to fall once again.

87 min: Raikkonen looks to be struggling with his rear tyres at the moment. He's just done a 1m38.0s, but lost time behind Hamilton's Mercedes. He'd been doing consistent high 1m36s before that.

87 min: Hamilton pits the Mercedes and practices a start at the end of the pitlane, before rejoining the circuit.

89 min: Rosberg has similarly come into the pits. He takes on a fresh set of hard tyres and rejoins.

14:30 The session has ended. Drivers already on a timed lap may complete it.

14:31 Significant tyre wear showing on di Resta's left front, as he works through a final timed lap of the session. He has completed 11 laps on this set of hard compound tyres.

14:32 Vettel completes one more lap of 1m36.9s, after 13 laps on that set of medium tyres.

14:32 But it's Nico Rosberg who is fastest at Silverstone on day one with a best time of 1m32.248s for Mercedes.

14:33 The German ends up 0.299s clear of Webber in second, with Vettel third, di Resta fourth and Hamilton in fifth spot.

14:34 Ricciardo ends a positive day for Toro Rosso in sixth, ahead of team-mate Vergne and Sutil in eighth position.

14:34 Grosjean was ninth in the leading Lotus and Fernando Alonso rounds out the top 10 on a damp day at Silverstone.

14:34 So that's one wet and one drying session in the bag to conclude this first day of action at the British Grand Prix.

14:35 Join us again for live coverage of FP3 on Saturday morning from 0955 UK time (1055 CET).

14:36 Meantime, you can keep a close eye on GP2 qualifying and GP3 practice from Silverstone through Race Centre Live, where there'll reaction from MotoGP qualifying at Assen too.

14:38 And on AUTOSPORT.com we'll bring you all the latest F1 news from Silverstone as the day progresses.

That's it for our live coverage of practice. Thanks for logging on.