Pedro de la Rosa emerged fastest as the British Grand Prix swung into action at the historic, 5.141-kilometre (3.194-mile) Silverstone circuit – setting for the inaugural world championship Formula One race 55 years ago. The McLaren-Mercedes test driver lapped in 1m 18.530s during today's second session, 0.434s quicker than Toyota/Michelin counterpart Ricardo Zonta.

Jenson Button was third on aggregate – and fastest of the regular race drivers – with a 1m 20.211s lap this morning.

Several Michelin partners look set for a competitive weekend : Juan Pablo Montoya was fourth overall, ahead of fellow Michelin drivers Kimi Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher, Jarno Trulli, world championship leader Fernando Alonso, Vitantonio Liuzzi and David Coulthard.

Following its spectacular success in last weekend's French GP, Michelin is gunning for its 85th F1 world championship victory – and its 10th of the season – this weekend.

Following a recent survey, the FIA has revealed that 94% of Formula One fans want to see more overtaking, 74% would like to see more emphasis placed on driver skill, 69% would prefer to see more teams on the grid and 84% favour having more than 18 races per season.

Sunday's British Grand Prix will be preceded by a one-minute silence as a mark of respect to those killed in this week's terrorist attacks in London.

Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director: "The track was quick this morning – but it was also very abrasive, partly as a result of being ‘green' in the wake of yesterday's rain. Conditions improved as more rubber was laid down, however, and the circuit became much more stable by this afternoon. It is quite similar to Magny-Cours in some respects, because there tends not to be major evolutionary changes once things settle down.

"We have two ‘primes' and two ‘options' available for our partner teams this weekend and we have been able to accumulate plenty of valuable data. I'm not sure that today's times will be an exact reflection of tomorrow's grid, but irrespective of fuel loads it is a fact that a quick time at Silverstone requires a finely-honed aerodynamic balance, to cope with the high-speed directional changes, and good tyres."