Kimi Raikkonen to drive in Silverstone's Formula 1 test

With race drivers being allowed to run on one of the scheduled three days, Lotus has called on Raikkonen to help provide input on the new tyre construction that will be introduced from the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Finn will drive on the Friday, with Lotus also running Nicolas Prost on the Wednesday and Davide Valsecchi on the Thursday.

Alan Permane, Lotus's trackside operations director, believes that the three-day test from July 17-19 was vital for his team as it prepared for the second half of the campaign.

"This will be an interesting test and we have a lot planned across the three days," he said. "Obviously we want to give all three drivers the maximum track time possible as well as assessing the latest upgrades to the car.

"Our aim on the third day will be to help Pirelli understand the latest changes to their tyres at the same venue where they most notably had issues this season."

He added: "Kimi is also allowed to run, enabling him and other race drivers to test tyres for Pirelli. This will benefit both him and Romain by granting us a better understanding of these tyres before we head to the next event in Hungary."