Mercedes AMG Petronas rounds up their 2013 British GP pre-race domination, locking out the front row for tomorrow's 52-lap race. Home boy Lewis Hamilton claimed his second pole position in Silverstone ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg with a stunning last-gap effort in the dying seconds of the last qualifying session.
He was the only man to run a lap time below 90 seconds and is now in prime position to claim his second home win to add to his victory during his championship year in 2008. This is the Mercedes AMG Petronas team's third one-two start and fourth pole position so far this season, again proving that they've got the fastest cars on the Formula 1 grid.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel starts third, alongside his retiring teammate Mark Webber. Their best times were both six tenths off Hamilton's pole time, who lined up the perfect lap when it mattered most. British drivers are well represented further down the grid top, with Paul Di Desta lining up an excellent fifth for Force India.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo is making the all the right impressions this weekend, setting the sixth quickest qualifying time and outpacing champions Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, who line up ninth and tenth respectively. Romain Grosjean proved the quicker of the Lotus drivers to qualify ahead of his much vaunted teammate.
McLaren only got as high as eleventh and fourteenth, both Jenson Button and Sergio Perez dropping out in Q2. That's quite an embarrassment for what has been the most successful British team in recent years, especially when both the Force India cars and a Toro Rosso – both much smaller outfits with limited budget – made it into the top 10.
Felipe Massa's dismal weekend continues as he lines up twelfth tomorrow, two places behind his teammate. He will have the option to start on either tyres come race day, at least. Both Williams and Sauber cars proved barely any faster than the likes of Caterhams and Marussias, and fill up the back end of the grid for tomorrow's race.
Preliminary runs all done, the Formula 1 grid will duke it out in England's historic racing circuit tomorrow. It couldn't get any better for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team, and it's all looking well for tomorrow too. If you're not catching it on the telly, be sure to read our race report right here.
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