Lewis Hamilton moved into third place on the all-time list of pole position winners on Saturday after qualifying fastest for the British GP at Silverstone.

The defending world champion still has a long way to go if he's to match the exploits of Michael Schumacher (68 poles) and Ayrton Senna (65) but he's now clear of Sebastian Vettel after earning the 46th pole of his career.

Once again, Hamilton was faster than Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg after finding pace when it matters most. Two weeks ago in Austria, he was slower than the German in the first two sessions and so it proved this time.

Cut to the chase, however, and it was Hamilton who had the edge. He did the job in his first Q3 run, registering a lap of 1:32.248s with Rosberg a tenth of a second slower.

On their second runs, it briefly appeared possible that Hamilton might have left the door open for the other Silver Arrow: slower in first and second sectors, the Briton instead headed for the pits. But Rosberg was about half a second down on his previous best too.

"It's a special day, it's special to get pole on your home turf. The fans really do motivate me," Hamilton said. "It's not been the smoothest weekend in terms of getting a balance and we made changes that were perhaps not spectacular for qualy but which should hopefully be good for the race.

"When it came to Q3 l was just really happy l could go all out for that lap and I'm incredibly happy."

Rosberg added: "The first lap was really good, Lewis was just one tenth quicker. There's not much to say other than that.

"The last run, it was strange as not many improved on that one. Something very wrong, so we need to look into what that was."

Unlike both Mercedes drivers, Felipe Massa managed to improve on his final flying lap, meaning that the Brazilian pipped Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas to third on the grid.

Kimi Raikkonen lines up behind his fellow Finn in fifth place – and ahead of Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Yet the fact that both Williams cars have qualified ahead can only be seen as a disappointment for the Scuderia.

Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat was seventh ahead of Carlos Sainz, who salvaged a result for Toro Rosso after their strong practice pace appeared to desert them.

The Spaniard was sixth fastest in FP3 behind team-mate Max Verstappen and ahead of qualifying there was even talk that they might be in the mix with the likes of Williams.

Yet that proved wide of the mark, with Verstappen qualifying 13th and struggling with his car’s handling. “I don’t know why but it’s so bad compared to the practice,” the 17-year-old lamented.

One reason why Verstappen struggled might have been the gusty wind which got up ahead of the session. Another could be the ‘zero tolerance’ attitude adopted by the FIA for exceeding track limits.

With attentions focused on Copse corner, a number of drivers had times deleted for leaving the track, with Verstappen twice an offender in Q1 alone. Raikkonen was another to fall foul in Q2 and was lucky to squeeze through to the final session.

Behind Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg confirmed that Force India’s upgraded car represents a step forward with the ninth fastest time while Daniel Ricciardo was 10th for Red Bull after having his final Q3 time deleted.

Further down the order, Sergio Perez starts the race 11th ahead of Lotus’s Romain Grosjean and Verstappen, with Pastor Malodnado’s Lotus 14th in front of Sauber pair Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

That means McLaren Honda lost out to the Swiss team, with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button both out in Q1. “It’s tough, really tough today, especially in front of the home crowd,” said Button, who qualified 18th right behind his team-mate.

At the bottom of the order, meanwhile, Will Stevens lines up 19th ahead of Manor Marussia team-mate Roberto Merhi, another to have his time deleted.

Times:

1) L Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:32.248

2) N Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:32.361

3) F Massa, Williams, 1:33.085

4) V Bottas, Williams, 1:33.149

5) K Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:33.379

6) S Vettel, Ferrari, 1:33.547

7) D Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:33.636

8) C Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:33.649

9) N Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:33.673

10) D Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:33.943

11) S Perez, Force India, 1:34.268

12) R Grosjean, Lotus, 1:34.430

13) M Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:34.502

14) P Maldonado, Lotus, 1:34.511

15) M Ericsson, Sauber, 1:34.868

16) F Nasr, Sauber, 1:34.888

17) F Alonso, McLaren, 1:34.959

18) J Button, McLaren, 1:35.207

19) W Stevens, Manor Marussia, 1:37.364

20) R Merhi, Manor Marussia, 1:39.377

Lewis Hamilton takes pole position for the British GP

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