Shortly after he had enthused over the pace of his car, and the progress made in today's two practice sessions, it was confirmed that Lewis Hamilton has a 5-place grid penalty for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix.

The FIA revealed that Mercedes had to change the gearbox in his car after it was found to be damaged following the recent Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

As he has not completed the mandatory six races with the unit he incurs a 5-place grid penalty.

In the usual warning notice, the FIA's Jo Bauer said: "The above driver did finish the last race in Baku and this gearbox change was before the six consecutive Events expired.

"As this is not in compliance with Article 23.5a of the 2017 Formula One Sporting Regulations, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration. The team informed the technical delegate about the gearbox change on Tuesday, 04th July 2017, at 11:29 hours."

Speaking after today's second session, having set the pace in both, Hamilton said: "It's been a really good Friday with no major headaches to complain about.

"We had to swap out a spark plug during FP2," he revealed, "but the guys did a great job to turn the car around and we still managed to complete our programme.

"Most importantly, the car feels fantastically fast here," he enthused. "There's already a nice balance and it feels good out on track. This car is so quick in comparison to what we raced here last year. It's tricky, but a proper thrill to hook up a lap."

At 20:35 (local time) Mercedes confirmed the penalty, tweeting: "Confirmed: @LewisHamilton will take a five-place grid penalty for the #AustrianGP after a gearbox change"

Check out our Friday gallery from Spielberg, here.