British Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton satisfied by practice as Valtteri Bottas handed five-place penalty

Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate will receive a five-place grid penalty after suffering the same gearbox problem that scuppered Hamilton at the Austrian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton was was right on his Mercedes team-mate's tail in both sessions (Getty)

Lewis Hamilton was satisfied with his first day’s effort in search of a fifth British GP victory, as he narrowly shadowed Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas at Silverstone.

“Today's been a really good start to the weekend and it's great to be back here at Silverstone,” he said. “The track is absolutely incredible with these new cars. It was already one of the very best circuits in the world, but with this car and the speed we are able to carry through the corners, it's just phenomenal, it's like the greatest rollercoaster ride ever.

“We worked through all the sessions, fine-tuning the balance, and I think we're in a good position at this early stage of the weekend. We still need to build upon it, but it's a great foundation moving forward. Each time I left the garage I gave the fans a wave and I could see them waving back. I just want them to know that I can see them and I really appreciate all the love and support.”

Hamilton was right on Bottas’s tail in both sessions, which were affected by cold conditions and wind. Within an hour, the Austrian GP winner had smashed his team-mate’s 2016 pole position-winning time, as confirmation of the speed increase that had been expected with the wider, grippier tyres and greater downforce that are part of the new 2017 rules package. The flying Finn ended the morning session 0.078s ahead.

Cold and windy conditions militated against further dramatic decreases in lap times in the afternoon, when Bottas was 0.047s ahead. But he had used the softer and faster supersoft Pirelli tyres to record 1m 28.496s, nearly a second under the 2016 pole time, whereas Hamilton’s best of 1m 28.543s was achieved on the harder and less grippy soft compound.

There was a sting in the tail for Mercedes, however. Bottas’s car will need a gearbox change similar to the one that Hamilton’s did in Austria, which means that this week the Finn will drop five places on the grid on Sunday.

Ferrari finished the day only three-tenths of a second adrift after Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel also used the supersoft tyres, and Mercedes expect them also to go faster tomorrow. And Baku winner Daniel Ricciardo also believes that Red Bull can challenge the red cars for the rest of the weekend after he and team-mate Max Verstappen finished sixth and fifth respectively.

“Mercedes were rapid today, and normally they are quicker in qualifying, so we will let them do their thing at the moment,” the Australian said. “But I think on one-lap pace we can get Ferrari. I know the feeling with the car is not where it can be, so for sure there is lap time on the table.

“We can definitely improve from where we are. I think we have learned a lot today. In the end we didn't get the right balance or feeling, so we will make some changes tonight and have a better car tomorrow.”

Bottas will have to serve a five-place penalty (Getty)

Verstappen also said there is still work to do: “I think they are definitely a bit quicker and we didn't have a great session,” the Dutchman said. “We still need to work. We are not quick enough. The balance was not fantastic. It felt a bit better in first practice and we need to understand why.”

Several teams believe that the wind was the cause of their problems in the afternoon, and hope for warmer, less gusty conditions tomorrow.

After trying the FIA’s new Shield cockpit device on his Ferrari in a brief run in the morning, Vettel abandoned the experiment complaining that it affected his vision.

The device is a simple clear screen in place of the ugly hoop that was tried last year as a means of offering drivers greater head protection.

“I tried it and I got a bit dizzy,” Vettel said. “The forward vision is not very good. I think it's because of the curvature, you get quite a bit of distortion. There was also a lot of downwash down the straight, coming off the back of my helmet and pushing my head forward.

“We had a run planned with it, but I didn't like it, so we took it off.”

Further testing will be conducted in Italy and Singapore in September.