Fernando Alonso was pleased with the pace of his McLaren on Friday at the British Grand Prix after securing top 10 finishes in both sessions.

In the last few races, the British team has enjoyed a slightly positive turn with the first points of the year in Baku and decent pace in Austria before the Spaniard was taken out at Turn 1 by Daniil Kvyat.

Honda too is making some progress with the introduction of the Spec 3 engine from Spielberg, albeit an engine problem at the last race has meant new components for Alonso this weekend and another back of the grid start.

“I’m pretty happy with how my day went, the double world champion said in reflection. "We’ve got several options we need to look at now, to choose the best one for tomorrow, but we’ve mainly been concentrating on race pace because we know that we’ll start from the back.

“As we know, the lap-times are not that significant on a Friday. For the last couple of races we’ve been between eighth and 12th position, so we have to wait and see what happens tomorrow."

Tyres are likely to be one method McLaren will look to use to help Alonso make some progress in the race, with a two-stop strategy likely and plenty of new rubber to be available but then there's another key factor the team has to consider.

“The main issue here is choosing what level of downforce you want to have," the 35-year-old explained. "Depending on how much power you have, you add some wing on to be fast in the corners and defend yourself on the straights, or if you have little power and you want to be reasonably okay on the straights you have to use the smallest wing you have. It’s difficult to judge.”

Optimising performance is also important for teammate Stoffel Vandoorne, who, after a good morning, slipped down the order during the afternoon.

“Today has actually been a pretty good start to our weekend," said the Belgian. "Given that this is a long circuit, with a lot of high-speed corners, I think our car has been performing well – I felt pretty comfortable out there.

“As usual, the times in the midfield are very close, so it’ll be the tiniest details that will make a difference during qualifying tomorrow. At the moment, we’re still exploring the car’s limits – particularly in the Becketts section of the lap. I think both Fernando and I had a moment during that part of the lap – just losing the rear on the entry of the final section.

“Fernando and I have been trying a lot of different downforce configurations throughout today’s sessions. Now I think we have a very good idea of what we should run tomorrow – we’ve done a lot of learning on that front.”

Fernando Alonso will drop a minimum of five places on the grid for Sunday's British Grand Prix, as the Spaniard will use new Honda engine components.

The Japanese manufacturer brought a new 'Spec 3' unit to the last race in Austria but Alonso was forced to switch back to an older engine after Friday due to an MGU-H issue.

Now, to allow the double world champion to run the more powerful engine again, a new battery will be fitted with the MGU-H used in qualifying and the race but it will be the fifth battery used this season thus incurring the five-place penalty.

The reason for using the older spec hybrid unit is due to the one that failed on Friday currently being fixed at Honda's factory back in Japan without enough time between the back-to-back races for it to be ready in time.

With a penalty already in place, it is thought Honda may decide to add yet more new parts thus resulting in starting at the back of the grid to avoid another drop in Hungary, where the much higher need for downforce over power is likely to offer McLaren their best chance for more points.

Currently the British team sit bottom of the Constructors' standings with only Alonso's two points from Baku to show from the first nine races.

Valtteri Bottas remained the quickest man in second practice for the British Grand Prix after an error by Lewis Hamilton while on his qualifying simulation.

The Finn posted a 1:28.496s on the supersoft tyres to finish just under half a tenth clear of his team-mate, however, the local favourite was on a much faster lap on the red-marked tyres before running wide at Becketts and ruining his lap.

His initial best lap on the soft compound was still good enough for second, highlighting the pace Hamilton has, with Ferrari, led by Kimi Raikkonen, three-tenths slower but able to get both cars back ahead of both Red Bulls albeit with very little to choose between them.

A difficult qualifying simulation for Daniel Ricciardo also saw the Australian fall to sixth behind teammate Max Verstappen, who would later be involved in a near coming together at Club corner with Felipe Massa in the race simulation, an incident that is being investigated by the stewards.

Nico Hulkenberg led a tightly congested midfield with less than a second covering the five teams from P7 to P18. Interestingly Renault would be at both ends of that with the German's team-mate Jolyon Palmer 18th.

Four different teams would fill the final four places in the top 10 as Massa, who was one of three drivers to spin at Becketts during the session, was eighth ahead of the McLaren of Fernando Alonso.

Esteban Ocon would complete the top 10 for hometown team Force India but he and team-mate Sergio Perez, who was only 13th, are likely to improve significantly in time for qualifying.

The Toro Rossos will be looking for gains to make Q3 too as Carlos Sainz, who was another spinner at Becketts early on, finished 11th for the second consecutive session, only seven thousandths faster than team-mate Daniil Kvyat in 12th.

Haas appears to be one of the teams most struggling despite high expectations before the weekend, Romain Grosjean was again only 14th with team-mate Kevin Magnussen 17th after missing Practice 1 to allow Antonio Giovinazzi to run.

Lance Stroll and Stoffel Vandoorne are taking their time to build confidence in the high-speed corners with the two finishing 15th and 16th respectively on their first day in an F1 car on a race weekend Silverstone.

Finally, the two Saubers once again brought up the grid with Marcus Ericsson three-tenths clear of team-mate Pascal Wehrlein but eight-tenths behind Palmer in 18th.

Sergio Perez is another driver looking to keep his options as he looks to make the next step up the Formula 1 grid in 2018.

The Mexican has been one of the most consistent drivers in recent years with a recent retirement during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix his first since crashing out of the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2015.

In that time he led Force India their best ever finish of fourth in the Constructors' Championship last year, picking up two podiums along the way, and had a run of 15 consecutive points finishes from Hockenheim 2016 to Spain 2017.

As a result, he has often been linked with moves away from the Silverstone-based outfit with Renault widely believed to be his destination for this year until he turned them down and Ferrari, of whom he was with as an academy driver until 2013, replacing Kimi Raikkonen. 

Asked about his future ahead of the British Grand Prix, the 27-year-old initially claimed how he is focusing on making the most of the busy month on July with Force India but then acknowledged: "I have thought about my future a lot. All I know is I don't have a contract yet for next year, but there will come a time when I have to see what is available for me."

With Force India looking even stronger this year, comfortably holding fourth in the Teams' standings again, Perez did admit there was one goal he wants to achieve.

Mercedes quickly inserted themselves as the team to beat at the British Grand Prix as Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton both broke the lap record in Practice 1 at Silverstone.

The Finn topped the times with a 1:29.106s, seven-hundredths clear of his team-mate as the Silver Arrows held a half second advantage over the rest of the field and on the harder soft tyre.

It was Red Bull who would emerge as the nearest challengers as Max Verstappen, who missed his pit box early on, claimed third with Daniel Ricciardo in fourth on the super-soft rubber.

Ferrari, however, was focussed on other things as both Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel tested an upgraded engine and the German also gave Formula 1 its first look at the new 'Shield' cockpit protection.

Though it would only be run for one lap, there were some immediate concerns raised with reflections, even on an overcast morning, appearing an issue as well as the speed of exit from the cockpit at least in the garage.

Vettel would also be responsible for the only significant off-track moment once the canopy had been removed, losing the rear of his car entering the Becketts section potentially due to the wind that typically always blows at the former airfield circuit.

Toro Rosso was back to normal after a strange incident on Carlos Sainz's side of the garage on Thursday but on the other side, it was Daniil Kvyat who moved up to seventh with a super-soft tyre run in the final 10 minutes of the session.

The Russian was a tenth clear of Fernando Alonso as McLaren enjoyed a strong start to the weekend with the Spaniard eighth and Stoffel Vandoorne 10th. Unfortunately, a grid penalty will likely spoil Alonso's race but the Belgian's pace offered some hope.

Between them was Felipe Massa in the Williams with the Brazilian requiring a bit of a clean up at Copse after losing an aerodynamic winglet on a new aggressive outer kerb at the high-speed and potentially flat-out Copse corner this year.

Sainz was 11th in the second Toro Rosso with the two Force Indias within a tenth of a second as Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez both gave a major aero upgrade its first run out on the track.

Romain Grosjean was 14th with Ferrari third driver Antonio Giovinazzi four tenths behind in 16th, as the Italian took part in the first of seven planned FP1 outings with Haas between now and the end of the season.

Lance Stroll damaged his floor on the same kerb as team-mate Massa lost the winglet causing a brief stint in the garage to fit a replacement trial design as the Canadian conducted aero tests and was only 15th.

Renault had a disappointing morning with Nico Hulkenberg down in 17th just a place ahead of Jolyon Palmer, who's home weekend was interrupted by mechanical issues in the opening session.

Bringing up the field was Sauber, with Pascal Wehrlein half a second behind the Briton in 19th but almost four tenths clear of his team-mate Marcus Ericsson as the Swiss team's problems continue.

Formula 1 and Snap Inc., the parent company of popular media sharing app Snapchat, have announced a new partnership that will see a brilliant new feature be available at seven races this year, beginning this weekend at Silverstone.

The collaboration marks another major shift towards embracing social media by new F1 owners Liberty Media after lifting restrictions on postings from the paddock from pre-season testing as well as increased coverage and interaction on platforms such as Twitter and YouTube.

Under the new partnership, drivers, teams and fans alike will be able to share photos and videos in one big Grand Prix 'Story' through the 'Our Stories' feature, with the first to be created at the British Grand Prix before a wider roll-out later in the year with each race to have its own 'Story' starting from Singapore in September.

"This is the first step towards expanding our social media strategy," said F1's head of digital Frank Arthofer.

"Right from the start, we have said we want to work with partners to bring fans closer to the amazing show that is Formula 1, an incredible mix of technology and individual talent - and Snap fits that bill.

"We need to continue to bring new fans to the sport - by reaching out to them on social media platforms with behind the scenes, fun and engaging content.

"Snap's platform is one of the most popular among 'millennials', a sector we are particularly keen on attracting, as it represents the future of our sport."

Snapchat was memorably the cause of a brief spat between Lewis Hamilton and the media at last year's Japanese Grand Prix after the British driver posted several snaps of himself and other drivers using various filters during the official press conference.

Though that kind of use of the app will still be frowned upon, the company was delighted to become the first mobile platform ever to tie-up with F1.

“We want to work with the most iconic sporting organisations in the world, that are beloved by our global community of passionate and highly engaged fans - and working with Formula 1 has been at the top of our wish list for a long time,” Vice President for Partnerships at Snap Inc. Ben Schwerin said.

“We are honored to be the first platform they are partnering with, and are excited to start offer their teams, partners and advertisers an opportunity to reach millions of Snapchatters around the globe.”

Toro Rosso has been reported to the stewards after their car was found ‘unsafe’ during scrutineering ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix.

Scrutineers found the car, belonging to Carlos Sainz, was presented with damage to a wheel tether, something all cars must have fitted to prevents the wheel from falling off in an accident.

The junior Red Bull was informed and asked to fix the damage, however, the team decided to overlook the request.

After further inspections, it was found that the team knew of the damage and subsequently deemed in breach of Article 12.1.1.b of the FIA International Sporting Code that states “it is an offence to enter a car that is known to be 'ineligible'”.

"During initial scrutineering car number 55 was found to have a damaged wheel tether. The scrutineers made the team Scuderia Toro Rosso aware of this and asked the team to replace it,” the statement submitted to the stewards read.

"The team refused to follow the instructions of the scrutineers and therefore the technical delegate checked the damaged tether himself and found that the tether was not only damaged but also several cut fibres were knotted together.

"Therefore the team was aware of the damaged tether and presented the car in an unsafe condition for scrutineering."

With the FIA insisting on extremely high standards of safety, it is likely Toro Rosso will have no choice but to change the tether before the car is cleared to take part in practice on Friday.

The Alfa Romeo name could return to Formula 1 as soon as next year with Germany's Auto Bild suggesting Ferrari could rebrand the engines they supply to Haas.

Chairman Sergio Marchionne has previously made his intentions clear to bring another historic car name back to the F1 grid with many previously suggesting a new team could be founded to create a setup similar to Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

However, given the strong ties between the American team and the Scuderia, with Carlos Sainz only referring to them as a "Ferrari 'B' team" earlier this week, a rebranding of customer engines appears a more likely route.

As well as reviving the Alfa name, there are also suggestions current Ferrari third driver Antonio Giovinazzi could drive for Haas next year.

The Italian, who competed in the first two races in place of Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber, is set for seven Friday morning practice appearances with the Banbury-based outfit during the remainder of this year, with the first of those comes this weekend at the British Grand Prix.

"We always need to see the next generation," Haas team boss Guenther Steiner said of the decision to allow Giovinazzi to drive.

"We need to give the young guys an opportunity, otherwise we can end up without talent because at the moment to get into F1 is so difficult.

"You can only do testing two days a year in the rookie test, or otherwise with a three-year-old car. It is a very odd thing.

"The teams need to be wanting to help some young talent, otherwise we end up with no drivers anymore. The youngsters need to have a perspective of their future.

"You win or finish second in GP2 and what do you do? Look at [Pierre] Gasly – he had to go to Japan to race because there was nothing for him here. They need to be able to show their talent."

Lewis Hamilton has made it clear he "loves" the British Grand Prix despite what some saw as a disrespectful decision not to attend the first 'F1 Live' event in London on Wednesday.

The three-time world champion was the only driver not present for the street demonstration and music event in and around Trafalgar Square even leading to some boos from those in attendance when his name was mentioned.

It is usual for drivers and teams to participate in promotional events in the days leading up to a Grand Prix, particularly a home event for said driver and/ or their team but Hamilton would defend his decision to spend a few days at home in Monaco when speaking to the media at Silverstone on Thursday.

“Everyone had the right to make the decision for themselves," Hamilton said when asked if he was surprised to be the only absentee.

"I needed to prepare the best way that I could for this weekend and the season is the most important thing to me.

"People have opinions," he added in response to the criticism he received, "but it's a very intense season and I'm trying to prepare for the battle ahead."

The Mercedes driver was keen to stress his decision not to take part in a fan-orientated event, something he himself has pushed for more of in F1, does not reflect a wider he has of his home race.

“I love this Grand Prix. I don't think yesterday plays a role in how great this Grand Prix is for me," he claimed.

"You get people who have saved up so much to come to this Grand Prix. You will have seen from previous years how much I respect and appreciate that and that doesn't change.

"I told the organisers last week that I wouldn't be going. I spoke to Toto [Wolff, Mercedes boss], informed the team, and they were very understanding and respectful."

Many have claimed the decision to skip Wednesday evening was simply a miscalculation from Hamilton, but it appears the reaction has not changed the 32-year-old's view when asked if would now attend future 'F1 Live' events.

"I guess I would decide when the time comes," he replied.

Current Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg is hoping this year's title fight between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton goes all the way to Abu Dhabi in November.

The German had two championship showdowns with Hamilton at Mercedes at Yas Marina, including last year's controversial season finale that saw him come out on top before shocking the world by announcing his retirement five days later.

This year's battle between the two most successful drivers of their generation has also shown plenty of potential to go all the way with the widest gap seen so far at 25 points in Vettel's favour after Monaco and currently sitting 20 points with 11 races to go.

The first of those comes this weekend, with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and having been unable to beat the three-time world champion at his home race the past three years, Rosberg knows the home favourite will be hard to beat again.

“Lewis is a fantastic driver and it is awesome to see how many people are supporting him but I am surprised to see so many Vettel fans here. Fair play to all of you,” he said addressing fans at the first 'F1 Live' event in London on Wednesday. “May the better one win this weekend.