Hamilton sets new track record to beat Vettel by less than a tenth; British GP underway at 2.10pm, Sky F1 coverage from 12.30pm
Monday 10 December 2018 08:46, UK
Lewis Hamilton has claimed pole position for the British GP ahead of Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel after a breathtaking qualifying hour at Silverstone.
The home favourite snatched pole out of Vettel's grasp by less than a tenth of a second with a new track record of 1:25.892.
Vettel had been fractionally ahead of Hamilton at the start of the pole position shootout before Hamilton's last-gasp effort just trumped the championship leader.
Hamilton was literally shaking with emotion when he climbed out of his Mercedes car to tell the crowd: "I love you too. I couldn't have done it without you."
Sunday's British GP underway at 2.10pm, Sky F1 coverage from 12.30pm
Hamilton: My toughest qualifying ever
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was third and also within a tenth of Hamilton's pole time.
But Valtteri Bottas was a relatively-distant fourth in the sister Mercedes after running wide on his attack run.
As expected, Red Bull failed to challenge for pole, with Max Verstappen a place ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in fifth, but the Austrian GP victors are confident they will be more competitive on race day.
Hamilton wins red-hot pole duel
Basking in the summer heatwave, the Silverstone crowd were treated to an epic duel between Hamilton and Vettel - battling a neck injury - as the four-time world champions fought for pole position.
Vettel was fractionally faster at the start of Q3, claiming provisional pole with a lap of 1:25.936 while Hamilton delivered a 1:25.993.
Hamilton opens up on pole emotions
Vettel: Ferrari are faster than Merc
Ricciardo 'very likely' to stay
Cheered on by his raucous support, Hamilton survived a slippery moment at the penultimate corner to improve by a tenth on his final flying lap while Vettel could only manage a 1:25.988.
"It feels like one of the best laps that I've been able to produce," said Hamilton. "I would say it felt like the most pressurised lap that I've ever had."
There was still a final burst of drama as Raikkonen went quickest of all in the first sector before crossing the line in a time of 1:25.990.
Hamilton's pole position was his fourth in a row at Silverstone and a record-breaking sixth in total.
Ferrari power squeezes midfield battle
Behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, both Haas cars impressed again as Kevin Magnussen took the 'best of the rest' position of seventh ahead of team-mate Romain Grosjean.
McLaren's Fernando Alonso was 13th, four places ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne, whom he now heads 10-0 in qualifying this year.
And at Force India, Esteban Ocon out-qualified Sergio Perez for a seventh consecutive event.
Squeezed by the progress of the Ferrari-powered Haas and Sauber outfits, Renault struggled and Carlos Sainz suffered his first Q1 elimination of the season. Underlining their progress at Renault's expense, Sauber's Charles Leclerc, the rising star of the sport, was then responsible for denying Nico Hulkenberg entry into the top 10.
"The negative is that we are fighting to get into Q2 when he used to be fighting to get into Q3," rued a downcast Sainz.
For Williams, however, early exits from qualifying have become habitual during a year of neverending pain and the team slumped to a fresh low at their home event. Even though the Grove outfit expected a difficult session, qualifying still delivered an experience worse than the most pessimistic forecasts.
After Lance Stroll crashed out, unable to keep his unstable car on track, at the start of Q1, Sergey Sirotkin followed his team-mate into the gravel and was then sent to see the stewards for failing to heed the red flags unfurled for Stroll's broken car.
The team confirmed an aero issue had caused the floor to stall on both of their cars.
The 2018 F1 season, on the other hand, appears to be going into overdrive.
