Hamilton sets new track record and takes pole at British GP in Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton set a new track record at the British Grand Prix and clinched a record-extending 91st pole position on Saturday.

He needs five more wins to equal Michael Schumacher’s Formula One record of 91 GP wins.

The defending champion is also odds-on to equal the F1 great's record of seven world titles.

Hamilton clocked a time of 1 minute 24.303 seconds at the Silverstone circuit where he was won a record six times, and was .313 seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and about 1 second faster than Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes won the first three races, Bottas clinching the season-opener in Austria and Hamilton winning the next two in Austria and Hungary.

Like Austria, Britain is hosting back-to-back races at Silverstone.

Charles Leclerc gave Ferrari a small boost with fourth ahead of Lando Norris, who could face a grid penalty after failing to slow down under a yellow flag in the second part of qualifying when Hamilton made a rare mistake. He span his car and sent gravel spraying, bringing the session to a brief halt after Bottas had set the quickest time.

Vettel, who had problems with understeering and almost went off the track toward the end of Q3, was only 10th fastest in qualifying.

Red Bull’s Alexander Albon finished 12th ahead of Racing Point's last-minute replacement Nico Hulkenberg. He lost his seat in F1 this year, and is driving because Sergio Perez tested positive for the coronavirus following a trip back to his native Mexico after his mother had an accident.

Image credits: AP