Lewis Hamilton's Valencia engine gets the all-clear

McLaren had been worried that the engine had suffered damage in Hamilton's late-race crash in the European Grand Prix, when a broken radiator meant the power unit lost pressure.

With Formula 1's rules meaning that the only way to test the engine is on track, McLaren elected to evaluate it in FP1 at Silverstone to give it the all-clear to be able to complete a race later in the campaign.

McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe said: "We were running Lewis' Valencia engine just to check it out.

"As you know the engine gets sealed with an exhaust plate because he had a punctured radiator in the shunt in Valencia and we lost pressure, so we needed to get some mileage on that engine and check it was okay, as it is still a prime race engine. Though not for this race weekend.

"The engine is fine. They will do some further analysis back at base, but we got enough laps this morning for them to get the data they needed."

Although there was good news on the engine front, Lowe admitted that McLaren may need to delay the introduction of some of its latest updates because the lack of mileage completed on the wet Friday meant they could not be evaluated properly.

"With this weather you cannot get the mileage on some things, as there is a certain discipline needed to make sure that some things are reliable for the race," he said.

"It is not just a mileage problem in the wet, but you are not putting it through the right duties, so that is a bit of a blow in that respect. There are some things that we can carry forward, and some things we may have to say it is too much of a risk."

McLaren has introduced a number of updates for the Silverstone weekend, including a revised front wing and adjustable front brake ducts - which will help the team alter their temperature in the race to help boost control of the front tyre temperatures.