Silverstone: Lewis Hamilton got the better off his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg and the speed of both Red Bulls driver to claim pole position for Sunday's British Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, world champion German Sebastian Vettel was third quickest ahead of his team-mate Mark Webber.
Speaking about his qualifying race, Hamilton said, “It feels incredible to be on pole” says Lewis, “just like it did back in 2007. We have the greatest Formula One fans in the world here in Britain and there was a great turnout today, which makes the atmosphere so special.”
“My lap in Q3 was a lap for the fans out there around the circuit. I haven't been feeling comfortable in the car all weekend, so I was really happy to find a good lap and this feels fantastic. The team has done a phenomenal job and it's a great reward for the guys here at the track but also back at base, especially as our two factories are so close to the track,” Hamilton added.
“But we know that tomorrow is another day and our Sunday performance isn't quite as strong right now. Our long run pace looked ok yesterday and we were able to manage the tyres quite well. It's going to be tough to keep Seb behind but we will give it everything we've got,” he said.
Meanwhile Nico said that it was a “fantastic team result and it's great to see how much progress they have made together since last year. “The feeling of confidence that our car will be quick in qualifying is fantastic and I love going to a race knowing that we have a shot of a strong grid position.”
Sebastian Vettel said he was happy with the results. “We will see what happens tomorrow. It’s a long race, but I’m happy with today. Either Lewis found a short cut or he has something special round here, it was a phenomenal lap and he wasn’t in reach today. I was very happy with the lap I did at the end, it was very close with Mark also. We did what we could for the team and it’s always nice to position well in qualifying, especially around here – qualifying is good fun and I’m enjoying the high speed corners. We’ll see how we get on with the tyres tomorrow and with looking after them. I’m happy for the team today, our factory is very close to this track, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Meanwhile Mark Webber said, “We were up against it to get on the front row against the Mercs, they’re on another level as they have been for the last few events. It was disappointing to get pipped by Seb there at the end by a hundredth, it was very close. I was happy with the first part of my lap, but I could have done better in the last sector. We have a good balance for qualifying and race pace in terms of where we prioritised things. It should be an interesting race, we can get a good result from there.”