Valtteri Bottas beat Mercedes team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton to pole position for Formula 1’s British Grand Prix by just six-thousandths of a second.
Bottas set provisional pole position during the first set of Q3 laps at Silverstone while Hamilton's prospects were hampered by a mistake through Brooklands, though he still held second spot.
Hamilton improved on his second push lap but fell a mere 0.006s shy of denying Bottas top spot, as the Briton’s streak of four straight pole positions on home turf came to a close.
It was also the closest margin between the top two qualifiers since the 2010 German Grand Prix.
Bottas did not improve on his final effort but the only external threat came from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc, pole sitter in Bahrain and last time out in Austria, topped Q2 and went quickest of all through the first sector, though failed to eclipse Bottas by just 0.079s.
It ensured Mercedes secured a front-row lockout for the seventh time this season, while Bottas' pole was his fourth of the campaign, and first since May's Spanish Grand Prix.
Red Bull took fourth and fifth, with Max Verstappen in front of the improved Pierre Gasly, while Sebastian Vettel was a subdued sixth for Ferrari.
Vettel had come close to being eliminated from Q2 in the wake of a so-so first lap in the session, but his last attempt hauled him out of the danger zone.
For Sunday’s race the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers will start on the Medium compound tyres while Ferrari’s duo will launch on the Soft tyres.
Renault built on its pace from third practice as Daniel Ricciardo beat McLaren’s Lando Norris to the best-of-the-rest spot in seventh position.
Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon made it through to Q3 and secured his best grid position in ninth spot, as Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 for Renault.
Alfa Romeo took 11th and 12th on the grid, with Antonio Giovinazzi in front of Kimi Raikkonen for the third time in the last four events, while Carlos Sainz Jr. was a subdued 13th for McLaren.
Romain Grosjean classified 14th for Haas while Sergio Perez at least got local team Racing Point through to Q2, where he was comfortably slowest.
Kevin Magnussen was unable to replicate his Austria heroics, where he qualified fifth, as he dropped out in Q1 in 16th spot, while Daniil Kvyat was another driver whose day came to a premature close.
Lance Stroll was again beaten by team-mate Perez as he fell at the first hurdle for the 14th successive grand prix, despite finishing just 0.113s behind the Mexican racer, with a scruffy final lap hampering his prospects.
Williams’ difficult season showed little signs of turning around as the team finished rooted to the back of the field on home turf.
George Russell was a full second down on former F3 rival Stroll while Robert Kubica was almost half a second further behind his rookie team-mate, reflecting the average for the campaign.
It marked the 10th race in a row that Russell led Kubica in qualifying.
Sunday’s 52-lap British Grand Prix is scheduled for 14:10 local time
