Pirelli has begun an immediate investigation into what happened, but a spokesman said its first examination of the rubber suggests that the two incidents were not caused by the same problem.

Raikkonen's issue was caused by the tread of his tyre coming away, with the tyre not actually losing any air as he returned to the pits.

Vettel, on the other hand, suffered a puncture. Pirelli is examining whether a lock-up that Vettel had a few laps beforehand, as he battled Valtteri Bottas, could have contributed to the problem.

With rumours about Toro Rosso’s line up for both this season and next year rumbling on, Pierre Gasly believes “everything is possible” as he chases a Formula 1 seat.

There has been a great deal of speculation about Carlos Sainz’s future with some reports suggesting he’s off to Renault as early as the Hungarian GP while others claim he’ll join the Enstone team next season.

The latter has been given some weight by Christian Horner stating that Sainz is for sale, but only at the right price.

Should the Spaniard leave Toro Rosso that would open the door for Gasly, who is the next in line for promotion from Red Bull’s junior ranks.

... I'm a Red Bull driver inside the Red Bull programme confirmed for Toro Rosso next year.

Cosworth is preparing for a Formula 1 return, Autosport has learned, as it commits to helping frame the new engine rules for 2021.

The firm has powered cars to 176 grand prix wins and last competed in F1 with Marussia in 2013.

Although the plans have not been officially signed off, the push towards a simpler and cheaper turbo hybrid V6 is sufficient to make Cosworth look towards F1 again.

Cosworth CEO Hal Reisiger said optimism over future rules plus positive talks with teams had convinced him to start committing resources to an F1 project.

"I think that we've got sufficient support from the existing teams, and we've had discussions with some, that enable us to make the commitment to proceed," Reisiger told Autosport.

"More teams committed for a longer term is always better.

"But we have some verbal agreements to partner with some existing and future teams that would enable us to be a sustainable engine partner."

Cosworth has agreed to play a significant role in new F1 working groups being set up to finalise the 2021 rules.

Reisiger wants F1 to move away from the heat energy recovery element that has proved so troublesome for current manufacturers.

"We think we are well suited to come back into F1 if the engine regulations should change, and the compelling change has to be with the heat energy recovery [from the turbo] because that is the most expensive and time-consuming element," he said.

"If F1 wants a new engine supplier for 2021 there will have to be some changes on that front."

Asked if he felt Cosworth had the infrastructure to produce an engine that could take on manufacturers of Mercedes and Ferrari's size, Reisinger said: "Yes. It is important not only for the teams that we would serve, but for our own brand that we should not get involved in it if we cannot be competitive.

"We have a great historic brand, we want to protect our brand as much as we want to help people win races, but we do think we can do it."

One scenario that could play out is for Cosworth to help design and build an engine that a manufacturer supports and badges.

With Cosworth providing the engine for Aston Martin's Adrian Newey-designed Valkyrie car, there is already speculation that Red Bull would make an obvious partner.

Reisiger said no decision needed to be made until next year, but if a 2021 comeback was going to happen then it would need to start designing the engine in 12 months' time.

"We would typically start in 2018. I know there is some discussion about moving it ahead by a year, and that would mean working really soon," he said.

"On the LMP1 engine, we went from concept to dyno in 11 months. We happen to be very nimble when it comes to that type of capability.

"I don't know there are that many companies that can move that fast, but we have that."

Formula 1 is in a "tricky" situation about what to do with cockpit head protection next year, claims McLaren's Zak Brown, following an inconclusive first test for the Shield at Silverstone.

Sebastian Vettel complained about visibility problems and buffeting from the wind during an installation lap with the Shield screen during first practice for the British Grand Prix.

The German had planned to do a long evaluation programme with it, but was so unhappy that he asked for it to be taken off after just a single lap.

The disappointing first outing with the Shield has left F1 with a bit of a headache now, as pressure is mounting on it to decide what to do about introducing cockpit head protection next year.

With the Shield needing more work, and the Halo having little support among teams, there is no obvious solution as to what should happen, especially because teams want to start working properly on their 2018 cars now.

The debate over the Shield or Halo will continue in a meeting of F1's Strategy Group on Wednesday, where it is hoped agreement can be reached on how to move forward.

Brown, who is executive director of McLaren, says that all teams support the quest to improve safety, but any change should not be a turn off in making the cars look worse.

"I think it is a tricky one," said Brown. "Does everyone want more safety? Yes. Do people want something that doesn't look right? No. But what you have got to do is make sure it works.

"I am not surprised that this [Shield] screen that is quite curved doesn't look right – I don't know what he saw, but he said he got dizzy. You don't want any distortion. You want it to look like there is no window in front of you, so I don't know want they do.

"We have to land on something that works. 'Dizzy' is not a good place to be after one lap."

The FIA has been clear that if the Shield does not get approved for use in 2018 then the Halo will be introduced instead, with a decision expected to be made over the next few weeks.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who is not in favour of the Halo, thinks that it unlikely the Shield can be ready in time.

"Based on the comments I have read from Sebastian, it didn't sound to be too popular," he said.

"So it feels immature in its concept at the moment to introduce for next year, so I am sure it will be discussed at the Strategy Group."

When asked when teams needed to know what was happening so as not to impact their work on 2018, Horner said: "About two months ago.

"These things take a bit of time to get on top of for a big team like Red BullRacing, so I can only imagine the difficulty that it will take for a lesser equipped team."

Mercedes and Ferrari are not interested in supplying Formula 1 engines to McLaren next season, Motorsport.com understands.

McLaren is considering splitting with current partner Honda following another troubled season in which it has scored just two points from 10 grands prix so far.

The Woking squad's executive director Zak Brown has suggested Mercedes and Ferrari are enjoying seeing his team languishing at the back of the grid.

“We’re a great team, McLaren has shown the ability to win races and championships," he told Sky Sports. "But I think several other teams enjoy seeing us where we are today.

“They fear we can go back to being a threat, a fear which is understandable.”

Given Mercedes and Ferrari’s standpoint, should McLaren end its relationship with Honda, Renault power units would be its only alternative.

Motorsport.com understands a Renault deal - while not impossible - is unlikely however, as the French marque is thought to be keen not to expand to supplying four teams because of concerns it could impact on reliability.

Brown said McLaren needs to make a final call this summer as to whether it will stay with Honda with Fernando Alonso believed to be pressuring the team to make a decision quickly.

"We've spoken with Honda about a variety of different scenarios," Brown said. "We ultimately think that Honda can get the job done, they have in the past.

“We need to make sure the development comes at a faster pace. We're starting to work on our 2018 car now and you can only go so far before you need to know the architecture of what you're doing.

"So I think around the summer time, which obviously isn't far away, we need to finalise what we're doing with Honda moving forward.

"We can't continue to be uncompetitive - that's not what McLaren race for. It's been three years, so we need to see some drastic power adjustments or some different ways to get there.

"We, like Fernando, want to be winning races and being on the podium and in the current state we can't do that - so some things need to change."

Four-time WRC champion Sebastien Ogier has tested a Formula 1 car for the first time, describing his outing in a 2011-spec Red Bull as a "dream come true".

While Ogier has always wanted to test an F1 car, previously his manufacturer contracts with Volkswagen and Citroen have precluded such a move.

But now driving for privateer team M-Sport, which is sponsored by Red Bull, he was free to take a run in the Milton Keynes squad's 2011 RB7, which he drove at the Red Bull Ring in Austria last month.

“One dream came true for me today,” the Frenchman said, stepping out of the car after 60 miles around the Spielberg track.

“It was awesome and, of course, a big discovery. It was so different to what I have ever driven before. It was so much fun and actually this car is super quick but also you feel quickly very comfortable in it.

“As a kid I was watching [Ayrton] Senna, he was my idol, and of course I was dreaming one day to try this kind of car.

"For a racing driver to have fun you need to be fast and a Formula 1 car is the fastest car you can drive, so of course every racing driver wants to feel that one day.”

Ogier, who has previously competed on an F1 weekend in two Porsche Supercup races, was given guidance during the day by former Red Bull driver David Coulthard.

But the only change he made to the set-up was to the traction control, with the current WRC series leader getting braver as the day progressed.

“I turned it down gradually,” he said, “then removed it completely to finish without any.

"It was interesting to feel how nervous the car felt without any traction control and how smooth and gentle you have to be with the throttle. It was good fun!”

M-Sport has a successful GT race team of its own, which currently runs the Bentley GT3 programme, and Ogier didn’t rule out a possible outing in the Continental GT in future.

He told Motorsport.com: “At the moment, I’m busy with what I’m doing and, to be honest, I want time with my family – that’s so important to me.

"But in the future it could be interesting to do some racing again.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the decision to extend the contract of Valtteri Bottas is "almost a no-brainer", but the Austrian insists that there is no rush to get a deal done.

Wolff made it clear that the length of the contract will be one of the main considerations, as the team in effect tries to second guess the longer term intentions of Lewis Hamilton.

His win in Austria and charges through the field to second in both Baku and Britain have put Bottas into the title fight, and confirmed that he was the ideal replacement for Nico Rosberg.

However, nothing is expected to be agreed before the summer break.

When asked if re-signing Bottas was a no-brainer, Wolff said: "He's almost a no-brainer. I would just like to get the puzzle together, and it's not only about 2018, but there is logic.

"I think it's about looking forward and what happens in '19 and '20, the risk and opportunities, and that's why after Budapest, and hopefully a good race again, I'm going to contemplate on a beach about what's right and wrong for the team."

Bottas, meanwhile, insisted there had been no discussions about his future.

"First we need to really speak about it before doing any announcement or making contracts," said the Finn.

"We are coming to the point that we are getting to the middle of the season. The August break will be there soon, so normally discussions will start.

"We're not going to hear anything for the next few weeks for sure. Like I said before, for me the main target is to have a long relationship with the team, that is what I want.

"We'll still have to wait a few more weeks and see how things go."