The chief executive of the Formula One Group, Chase Carey, has said Silverstone’s decision to initiate the break clause in its contract to host the British Grand Prix earlier this week was annoying and frustrating. The decision has placed the future of the race, which has been on the F1 calendar since the world championship began in 1950, in doubt.

Silverstone has a contract to host the race until 2026 but had the option to opt out from hosting it after 2019, which it chose to exercise this week. The British Racing Drivers’ Club which owns the track said the cost of hosting the race was not financially viable, citing losses of £2.8m in 2015 and £4.8m in 2016.

Carey, however, believed the timing of the announcement was unnecessary and unhelpful in coming to an agreement. “Certainly doing things that are annoying and frustrating doesn’t help,” he said. “When you are trying to wrestle difficult things to the ground they don’t create a great level of trust in how things are being dealt with.

“We offered to extend any contractual deadlines for both of our benefits. We wanted this week to be as positive as possible about the sport,” he added. “I don’t get why they thought it made sense to do what they did, so it is frustrating but it’s not going to change. This is just a sport that likes to posture in public – they claim it is not posturing.”

Future of the British Grand Prix: Silverstone, London – or nowhere? Read more

Carey reiterated that the Formula One Group would still work with Silverstone to attempt to come to an agreement but also pointedly noted that they had received interest from other potential venues in the UK. The London Mayor, Sadiq Kahn, expressed his willingness to talk about holding a race in the capital after the event on Wednesday.

Lewis Hamilton was the only current F1 driver not to attend and his name was booed by the crowd after he chose to take two days’ holiday in Greece as preparation for the British Grand Prix. He has faced considerable criticism but Carey accepted the British driver’s reasoning.

“We would have welcomed Lewis; it would have been great if he was there,” he said. “But I understand that he felt the right thing for him, given the race, was to try and catch his breath and I respect that. We had a great crowd, all the teams, we were thrilled with the event.”

The Formula One Group took control of F1 in January as Liberty Media and have been instigating changes to the previous management. Carey acknowledged that there were specific areas that they had inherited from Bernie Ecclestone that his organisation was now addressing.

“The merchandising experience feels like a state fair from 20 years ago,” he said. “We are trying to create something that feels more like if you go to a Ryder Cup or an Open or Wimbledon, that has the breadth of activities and experiences that are there.”

Equally the issue of division of revenue and rising costs among the teams was one he believed was crucial to the future of F1. “Our goal is first and foremost to do what we think needs to be done to have great competition,” he said. “An underdog has the chance to win, to have the unexpected happen. We need to create that opportunity which creates the drama. Part of that is to get the team economics to a healthier place with costs and revenue.”

The spending differential between the major teams and the midfield was one he believed had spiralled out of control. “To some degree on the cost side some of the high spenders have acknowledged that they are spending because the other guy does,” he said. “It is that competitive spirit and they use the phrase we need to be protected from ourselves.”

Bottas pips Hamilton but suffers five-place grid penalty

Mercedes seemed to have the advantage after Friday’s qualifying for the British Grand Prix when both their drivers topped the time sheets but it was not to last. Lewis Hamilton, having weathered the storm caused by his no-show at Wednesday’s F1 street party in London, found the momentum was with his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who was quicker in both sessions, but the Finn then discovered he will a five-place grid penalty.

Bottas has experienced the same gearbox problem that hit his team-mate at the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend. Mercedes have changed the gearbox and, as it has not lasted the requisite six races, it brings an automatic penalty. The highest Bottas can start Sunday’srace is sixth, even if he is fastest in qualifying on Saturday.

Bottas won in Austria and trails Hamilton by 15 points in the world championship. The British driver is 20 points behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who leads the title race. Silverstone, however, suits Mercedes and both drivers made the most of it. “The track is absolutely incredible with these new cars,” Hamilton said. “It was already one of the very best circuits in the world but with this car and the speed we are able to carry through the corners, it’s just phenomenal, it’s like the greatest rollercoaster ride ever.”

Bottas’s time in the morning of 1min 29.106sec was quicker than last year’s pole of 1min :29.287 and seven-hundredths quicker than Hamilton.

In the afternoon the Finn went quicker still with a 1:28.496 lap that Hamilton could not match when he went off at Chapel on his quick run. Kimi Raikkonen was three-tenths back in the quickest Ferrari followed by Vettel almost half a second down on the leader. Ominously for the Scuderia, Hamilton’s time was good enough for second place.

The relationship between Vettel and Hamilton has been strained after the German drove into him at Baku and his former team principal at Red Bull, Christian Horner, said he believed Vettel still had a ruthless streak.

“He’s got this huge desire within him,” Horner said. “The records mean a lot to him. Michael Schumacher was very much his idol and I think what we you see sometimes is that killer instinct of ‘I wanna win’, sometimes at all costs.”

Vettel won his four world championships with Red Bull and Horner believed he and Hamilton are different characters. “Lewis is more of a free spirit,” he said. “He’s got a huge amount of natural talent. He probably doesn’t think about his talent and his application is probably different. He’s a bit like an artist. It’s a fascinating dynamic between two very different personalities.”

Vettel tested the new cockpit protection system in first practice and it did not go well for the device the FIA is hoping to introduce next year. Vettel declared the “shield”, a transparent open canopy made of polycarbonate, had made him feel dizzy. “Forward vision is not very good,” he said. “I didn’t like it, especially looking forwards.” Ferrari removed the device after one lap.