Hamilton takes pole position at Silverstone

Sports Desk, Aug 1 (efe-epa).- Lewis Hamilton sealed his seventh pole position at the Formula One British Grand Prix on Saturday.

The six-time world champion will lead the grid in Sunday’s race at Silverstone after recovering from a red flag-causing spin in Q2.

The British Mercedes driver set a time of 1:24.303, a new track record, in the third qualifying round beating his Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas by just over three-tenths of a second.

“Valtteri was pushing me right to the end. It was a real struggle out there,” Hamilton said in a statement on Twitter after the qualifying session.

“We had that spin. I was struggling through the first section. I managed to compose myself.

“The first Q3 lap was clean and the second was even better.”

Hamilton made a rare mistake in his first lap in Q2, sending his Mercedes into a spin at the exit of Luffield.

The red flag was brought out to allow marshals to clear gravel that was scattered across the track.

He did not let this affect his confidence and came out swinging in Q3 to secure the edge over Bottas after trailing his teammate for most of the qualifying session.

Max Verstappen was the third-fastest and improved his personal best but the Dutchman and Red Bull driver was still more than a second slower than Hamilton.