Image source, Getty Images

The sun is shining, there is a British driver on pole position for Saturday's sprint race and the fans are in good spirits at Silverstone.

"I can't express to you how big a dream it is, still to this day, building up to this day. When you think about every corner and kind of the flow you can get into at this track, and if you've got the set-up right and the right team," says Hamilton after sprint qualifying.

"The car has felt really great today - thanks to everyone back at the factory. We're continuing to push, bringing tiny little bits here. Every single weekend we're showing up and everyone has pushed to the max.

"I'm really grateful to get that pole. I was quick through all the sessions, but I was very close to these guys and the team really deserves it, so big thank you to everyone here.

"We're ahead of the Mercedes and the Red Bulls - these guys have so much power, they've been doing amazing all year. The boys in blue [Mercedes] this weekend but my team just won't let up, that's what I'm so proud of.

It won't always be like this. We didn't expect at Silverstone that we would be competing for the front row. We really didn't, so this is an amazing surprise."

11. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

12. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

13. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

14. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

16. Alex Albon (Williams)

17. Ollie Bearman (Haas)

18. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

19. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

20. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

21. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

22. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

1. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) - 1:28.376

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.011

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.321

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.327

5. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.357

6. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.364

7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.396

8. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.459

9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.551

10. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +0.991

Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari did not expect to be fighting for pole position at Silverstone and calls this "an amazing surprise".

Charles Leclerc puts the second Ferrari in fourth place, George Russell has to settle for fifth spot and Lando Norris lines up sixth for tomorrow's shorter dash.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri in seventh and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar in eighth will begin the sprint in the final two points places.

Lando Norris beats Oscar Piastri's time and goes top but Kimi Antonelli beats both the McLarens to go into provisional pole.

But here comes Lewis Hamilton. can he knock the young pretender off his perch? Oh yes he can! Hamilton takes pole away by 0.011 seconds!

Max Verstappen is third, George Russell can only manage fifth.

It's a purple opening sector for Oscar Piastri and he's up on world champion team-mate Lando Norris. Kimi Antonelli has also completed a decent first part of the lap, as Australian Piastri crosses the line and banks a 1:28.772.

The queue is starting to form now so here we go for the pole shootout. The McLaren of Oscar Piastri is at the front of the pack, followed by the Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad and team-mate Lando Norris.

The crowd are waiting for cars to head out on track - the time has already dipped under six minutes. But everyone wants the best qualifying conditions at Silverstone, so we'll just have to twiddle our thumbs for a bit longer.

Eight minutes to grab pole position in SQ3. And get those soft tyres bolted on.

Who is your pick for pole position? Is it Lewis Hamilton?

Another session at the head of the table for Lewis Hamilton.

The seven-time world champion finish SQ2 0.099 seconds quicker than young pup Kimi Antonelli, with Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc third, 0.175secs behind.

The mechanics over at McLaren are busy working on Lando Norris' car. "Everyone is hustling," Zak Brown tells Sky Sports.

Image source, PA Media

Rebecca Clancy
F1 journalist on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Silverstone

By the skin of his teeth. That was not the session Norris wanted - that Lando stand is not going to be very happy.

11. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

12. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

13. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

14. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

16. Alex Albon (Williams)

Lando Norris is just on the bubble in 10th. Can Pierre Gasly boot him out at SQ2? Nope! Norris survives to fight another session.

The Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad jump up into the top 10, but New Zealander Lawson will be the happier of the two sitting in fourth place compared to Lindblad's P8.

George Russell is looking quicker on this next attempt, so let's see if the Mercedes driver can improve.

Charles leclerc can't, so the Monegasque man staye third.

Russell can only move up to seventh.

The gap between Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli is 0.099 seconds, however, the Italian teenager tells Mercedes he had no battery deplotement through Stowe on his previous lap.

With two minutes to go, the likes Of Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon and rookie Arvid Lindblad are stuck in the elimination zone.

Lando Norris might be limping with a bit of damage but the world champion completes a clean opening attempt in SQ2 with a 1:29.401.

Lewis Hamilton again goes quickest on the timesheets with Kimi Antonelli in second but George Russell can't challenge his old Mercedes team-mate with his push lap. The Briton is more than seven tenths away from Hamilton and has to settle for eighth place.

Rebecca Clancy
F1 journalist on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Silverstone

Pierre Gasly has been really impressive this season, he's definitely the best of the rest.

Image source, Getty Images

Charles Leclerc heads out on his brand new medium rubber, just like the rest of the runners in this second sprint qualifying session.

We've got two Williams cars through to SQ2, both Audis are there, the Alpine boys are trying to book a place in SQ3 and Brit rookie Arvid Lindblad and Racing Bulls team-mate Liam Lawson are also waiting patiently to get out on track.

German Nico Hulkenberg gets us going with a 1:28.729.