F1 2016: six things you need to know about the British GP

After weeks of speculation surrounding the Finn’s future in the sport, Ferrari have confirmed that they will be keeping Kimi until at least the end of next season.

With Sebastian Vettel proving himself to be comfortably the quicker driver since the pair became teammates, many believed the 36-year-old Raikkonen would be released at the end of 2016.

His case has been helped by an improvement in form having already scored more podium finishes this season than he did in the entirety of 2015. The other factor is the lack of big-name replacements available at the moment.

Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez have been talked about as potential targets in the media, but all of them are under contract with their respective teams, making it difficult for Ferrari to acquire them.

Entertainment on the team radio has been secured for the foreseeable future...

In typical British summertime fashion, rain showers are forecast to interrupt the grand prix at Silverstone this weekend. So Williams made the most of some brief sunshine on Wednesday by creating their own Martini Racing-inspired ice cream.

Stopping off at Magnum’s pop-up store in central London, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas were given the chance to make their own lollies, with the Finn opting for a red, white and blue colour scheme to match his FW38.

We reckon this is now his favourite type of frozen commodity. Other than the internal combustion engine (ICE) in his car, obviously...

Image credit: @WilliamsRacing

Following trials focussing on driver extraction at last week’s grand prix in Austria, Ferrari have conducted more experiments with their work-in-progress head protection device at Silverstone.

This time the titanium frame was bolted onto Sebastian Vettel’s car, and the German spent a few moments in the cockpit observing the timing screens before setting his installation lap with the halo still attached.

A couple of days ago TG showed you some renders that suggest head protection won’t necessarily be an ugly addition to an F1 car. Is it growing on you yet?

Image credit: @ScuderiaFerrari

Yesterday Mercedes dismissed the idea that they would implement team orders in a bid to stop their drivers crashing into each other again, saying that they had “strengthened” their Rules of Engagement.

However, they didn’t really elaborate on the nature of the deterrents Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg could face should they collide again this season.

In fact, Hamilton said the new team rules wouldn’t “really change anything”, while Rosberg has insisted that the team is “moving forward”.

Team boss Toto Wolff was just as evasive when asked about the penalties they could dish out. “We are speaking about possible sporting, possible financial consequences,” he explained. “I wouldn't want to go into the detail.”

Not the most surprising headline you’ll read this week, but all the same it’s a sombre reflection of the state of McLaren-Honda’s woes at the moment.

The team has actually had a couple of decent results recently, with Jenson Button following his teammate’s 5^th place in Monaco with sixth place at the Red Bull Ring last weekend. However, on only three occasions have both cars finished a race after nine grands prix in 2016.

And while Honda’s motorsport boss Yusuke Hasegawa would like to have a customer team on board, at present the power units built by Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault are much further ahead.

“There is not any team that wants to have a Honda engine,” Hasegawa told Autosport. “We need to wait. I have to change the situation.”

The Dutch teenager has been a revelation since he joined Red Bull a couple of months ago, and in Austria he scored the second podium of his career by finishing runner-up to Lewis Hamilton after starting the race eighth on the grid.

Verstappen completed a remarkable 56-lap stint on a set of soft tyres in Spielberg whilst keeping the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen behind him with another assured performance.

But despite finishing comfortably ahead of his teammate, Verstappen has insisted that he is still learning from Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull garage.

“You should not forget I am driving next to someone who is really quick,” he explained to Crash.net. “I have to up my game from where I was before in Toro Rosso.

“I learn a lot from it, and that is my approach to this season in general; just learn a lot to be ready for next year. I am definitely catching up...”