Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton claimed his eighth pole of the season by the thinnest of margins at Silverstone Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton claimed an eighth pole position of the season to out-qualify Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg for the British Grand Prix.

The two-time world champion secured pole for the 46th time in his career, and the second time in three years at Silverstone, to maintain his grip on the drivers' championship.

Hamilton was a 10th ahead of Rosberg after the opening lap times and neither driver was able to improve amid the windy conditions, as Mercedes locked out the front row for a fifth straight race.

Williams pair Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas are on the second row ahead of Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

Daniil Kyvat, Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo complete the top 10 ahead of the race on 5 July.

"It's a special day to do it on your home turf," Hamilton said. "So many have come today and they motivate me through the weekend

"It's not been the smoothest of weekends and through qualifying there have been changes to the car. Hopefully, it will be good for the race. Incredibly happy."

The opening qualifying session saw McLaren's problems throughout 2015 continue, as both Fernando Alonso – who was suffering from a DRS problem – and home favourite Jenson Button, failed to make it through.

Fellow Brit Will Stevens also dropped out alongside Manor team-mate Roberto Merhi as the newly-named team continued to prop up the field.

Raikkonen was fastest in Q1 but after seeing his lap time deleted after going wide at copse corner the Finn did edge through in ninth despite only setting one time.

In Q2, though Toro Rosso had enjoyed some good early pace Max Verstappen dropped out while the Lotus duo Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado also missed out on the top-10 shootout.

The battle for the front-row was naturally led by Mercedes pair Hamilton and Rosberg and it was the Briton who drew blood first, setting the fastest lap by a 10th, with Williams pair Bottas and Massa in pursuit.

And that would be how it would end, with none of the main contenders able to improve sufficiently in blustery conditions to ensure Hamilton will again take the initiative into race-day.

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