Hamilton sets blistering pace to secure pole number 67!

Lewis Hamilton secured the 67th pole position of his Formula One with a blistering lap around the Silverstone circuit on Saturday afternoon.

In changing conditions that saw most of the drivers take to the British track on intermediate tyres in the opening 18 minute session, Hamilton dominated and gave the thousands of fans something to really cheer for.

However, he wasn't the fastest man on track in session one, that honour actually went to the McLaren of Fernando Alonso, who only JUST sneaked across the line to start his final lap on a set of slick tyres rather than the inters everyone else had used. That move put the Spaniard at the top of the timesheets for the only time this year. Not that that time, or any other time Alonso set through the hour long qually session meant anything really as he will start from the back of the grid due to a 30 grid place drop.

Sadly, the first session also saw the demise of Daniel Ricciardo, the Red Bull driver losing the turbo on his RB13. That meant that he will start the race from the back of the grid also, but not behind Alonso who will “start from about turn 15” as the cheeky Aussie said.

It was thought that Hamilton may lose his pole time or be penalized in some other fashion due to an investigation for impeding the HaasF1 of Romain Grosjean. However, the stewards didn't believe he had anything to answer and his pole position stays.

As for the stats on this pole … it was his 67th career pole position - his fifth at the Silverstone Circuit and sixth of the 2017 season  It was his  fifth British Grand Prix pole and that  equals the great Jim Clark's long-time British GP pole record and moves him within one pole of Michael Schumacher's all-time record of 68. It is also the eighth pole position in 10 races for the Mercedes team in 2017

“That was a very intense hour in mixed conditions and it proved challenging for the team and drivers alike. It was pleasing to see that the car was very competitive in all of those different conditions, with both drivers setting competitive times in both the damp early stages and the dry at the end,” said Mercedes man James Allison.

“In the final reckoning, it was a little bit disappointing for Valtteri that he couldn't reproduce his strong pace on the final runs, but we know that it is challenging jumping between the tyre compounds. On the other side of the garage, Lewis did an epic job. It was a flawless final run and good to see him put a decent stretch of clean water between himself and the opposition, demonstrating both his and the car's pace.”

Starting alongside Hamilton will be the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen who was over half a second slower than the British Champion with the second Ferrari of title rival Sebastian Vettel in third. Valtteri Bottas qualified fourth, but will start in 9^th due to a five place grid drop for a gearbox change.

Max Verstappen will therefore move up to P4 followed by the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg, the two Force India's of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, the McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne, who out qualified his teammate for the first time this season and Romain Grosjean.