Valtteri Bottas edges out Lewis Hamilton to claim British Grand Prix pole

Valtteri Bottas will start the British Grand Prix on pole after finishing just 0.006 seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

The Finn set a time of 1:25.093 as Mercedes claimed another front-row lockout.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start in third with teammate Sebastian Vettel back in sixth. Max Verstappen will start on the second row ahead of Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasly.

Another strong qualifying performance saw McLaren’s Lando Norris finish eighth, behind Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo.

“Firstly congratulations to Valtteri he did a great job in qualifying, and I wasn’t good enough,” Hamiton told Sky Sports.

“It got a bit away from us, I sacrificed a lap in Q2 which would’ve helped us, and the second lap in Q3 just wasn’t that good. It’s a long race tomorrow and we’ve got a great crowd here so we’ll see what we can do.

“It’s the best grand prix of the whole year and that is because of the energy the people bring, and the tracks are brilliantly designed, but it’s the people that make this the best.”

Hamilton currently leads the Formula 1 standings, 31 points ahead of Bottas.

Full British Grand Prix qualifying results

1. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
5. Pierre Gasly, Red Bull
6. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
7. Daniel Ricciardo, Renault
8. Lando Norris, McLaren
9. Alexander Albon, Toro Rosso
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault
11. Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo
12. Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo
13. Carlos Sainz, McLaren
14. Romain Grosjean, Haas
15. Sergio Perez, Racing Point
16. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
17. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso
18. Lance Stroll, Racing Point
19. George Russell, Williams
20. Robert Kubica, Williams

Cover Photo: Jake Archibald from London, England [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons