Hamilton on pole for British GP

Lewis Hamilton resisted pressure from his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg and the speed of both Red Bulls to claim pole position today for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

The 28-year-old Englishman gave his home fans good reason to cheer and give him a standing ovation with a fastest lap of one minute and 29.607 seconds, four-tenths of a second quicker than his German partner who wound up second on the grid as Mercedes filled the front row.

It was Hamilton’s second pole this year, after three successive second place starts, and the 28th of his career. It was also the first pole by a British driver at Silverstone since 2007.

Defending triple world champion German Sebastian Vettel was third quickest for Red Bull ahead of his retirement-bound team-mate Australian Mark Webber.

Scot Paul Di Resta was fifth fastest in his Force India car, to give the British fans two drivers in the top five, ahead of Australian Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso, pressing home his credentials for consideration as Webber’s successor at Red Bull.

German Adrian Sutil was seventh in the second Force India ahead of Frenchman Romain Grosjean and his Lotus team-mate Finn Kimi Raikkonen and two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.

The starting grid for tomorrow’s British Grand Prix following the final qualifying session:-

1st row

Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)

Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes)

2nd row

Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault)

Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault)

3rd row

Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India-Mercedes)

Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)

4th row

Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India-Mercedes)

Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus-Renault)

5th row

Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus-Renault)

Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)

6th row

Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)

Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)

7th row

Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)

Sergio Perez (MEX/McLaren-Mercedes)

8th row

Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Sauber-Ferrari)

Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams-Renault)

9th row

Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Williams-Renault)

Esteban Gutierrez (MEX/Sauber-Ferrari)

10th row

Charles Pic (FRA/Caterham-Renault)

Jules Bianchi (FRA/Marussia-Cosworth)

11th row

Max Chilton (GBR/Marussia-Cosworth)

Giedo van der Garde (NED/Caterham-Renault)