Hamilton makes his mark at Silverstone to take pole

Lewis Hamilton recovered from a rare spin in qualifying to take pole position for Sunday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

His time of 1:24.303 was three tenths faster than Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who appeared to have the edge over the Brit for the most part of the weekend.

Speaking about his pole position, Hamilton said: "Ultimately, there is a big gap between is and third but Valtteri is pushing me to the limit. It was a real struggle out there. The wind is like juggling balls on a moving plate.

"I had that spin and I was already down every lap. I don't know how, I managed to compose myself and Q3 was a clean lap, and the second was even better."

Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull but was over a second behind the cars from Brackley.

The Dutchman said: "The lap was pretty good but you could see Mercedes mere way too fast. You have to accept that and do the best you can, which is third for us.

"We're a bit closer in the race, but we have a fighting chance in third."

Charles Leclerc dragged his Ferrari into fourth place, while Lando Norris was in superb form in fifth place for McLaren.

Racing Point looked surprisingly off the pace, with Lance Stroll down in sixth, while Nico Hulkenberg, an 11th hour replacement for Sergio Perez who misses out for testing positive for coronavirus on Thursday, managed 13th spot.

But pressure continues to mount on Alex Albon in the other Red Bull as he could only qualify 12th.