Published on 12:00 AM, July 10, 2016

Hamilton grabs pole in Britain

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton during qualifying. Photo: Reuters

Lewis Hamilton held his nerve to grab pole position ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg for Sunday's British Grand Prix with a spectacular lap in the final seconds of an intense qualifying session.

The defending three-time world champion, who had his first flying run in Q3 deleted because he ran off the track, outpaced the championship leader and his rival Rosberg with a lap in one minute and 29.287 seconds on Saturday.

This lifted him clear of the German by three-tenths of a second and ensured they start together on the front row again, a week after their last-lap crash in Austria, where Hamilton seized a controversial victory.

It was in-form Hamilton's fourth pole at the British Grand Prix, his sixth this season and the 55th of his career.