2013 British GP P3: Mercedes on top as Sergio Perez suffers high-speed tyre failure

Mercedes' Nico Rosberg headed team-mate Lewis Hamilton in final practice for the British Grand Prix on Saturday, in a session which saw Sergio Perez's McLaren suffer a high-speed blow-out.

Discussing Perez's tyre failure on Sky Sports F1, Damon Hill said: "There can be two reasons for the tyre disintegrating like that. One is, it can simply be a slow deflation caused by a puncture which then means the tyre disintegrates. Or it could be one of these tyre failures we've been hearing quite a lot about. I'm sure drivers are going to be wanting to know exactly what caused that. A number of drivers fought to control their cars in gusty conditions and Hill also speculated that this was why Hamilton could not go faster. "I think Lewis might have done better on his lap but it looks like he maybe got blown off track - it's a very blustery day - and I know it sounds crazy but when you've got cross winds you're always getting caught out by gusts of winds around Silverstone. So it's a classic Silverstone day and there are a lot of drivers struggling with the conditions," he added. With Pirelli investigating the cause of the tyre failure, McLaren Managing Director Jonathan Neale told Sky Sports News that it "would be premature to make that linkage or that speculation". He added: "Obviously we're always very concerned for safety issues in Formula 1; a sudden tyre deflation like we had there is quite shocking. We've an exciting morning in the garage here! "We spoke to Checo about it and Checo just remembers hearing a loud noise and then a rapid deflation and suddenly losing the tread. We know that there was no indication of anything on the sensors of the car that led us to believe there was a problem before that instantaneous issue. "Pirelli have gathered up most of the carcass and various bits of our car from the circuit and trying to piece that together at the moment. I think it'll be some time before we have a definitive answer, but tyre issues are serious in Formula 1. At that kind of speed anything can happen."