SILVERSTONE, England (Reuters) - Lewis Hamilton has taken pole position for his home British Grand Prix for the third year in a row on with a sensational lap that left him one step away from Michael Schumacher's Formula One record.
Hamilton's championship-leading Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel, who has a 20-point advantage after nine of 20 races, qualified third on a drying track after steady drizzle throughout the morning.
The Mercedes driver was half a second quicker than Ferrari's second-placed Kimi Raikkonen and his time of one minute 26.600 seconds was so outrageously quick there were gasps before the crowd erupted.
"I always try to leave the best to last," the Briton told retired champion Jenson Button in post-qualifying interviews on the grid.
"I needed to make sure I got that lap in. I didn't do in the last race (in Austria) so I really made sure I saved it this weekend."
Vettel recognized Hamilton had been out of reach.
Hamilton still faced a nervous wait while stewards investigated an incident involving Frenchman Romain Grosjean, who complained he had been blocked by the Mercedes driver.