| 12:50:17
| Welcome to F1-Live.com and our live coverage of the British Grand Prix qualifying session. |
| 12:52:14
| This morning it was Kimi Raikkonen who led the way again in his Ferrari, lapping the 5.141km circuit in 1:19.751s. Fernando Alonso was second best in his McLaren ahead of Felipe Massa while fan-favourite and championship leader Lewis Hamilton was fourth. |
| 12:54:07
| The battle for pole position this afternoon will almost certainly be between the Ferrari and McLaren pairings. Based on the performance so far this weekend, McLaren will be aiming to try and get one car on the front row to stop a repeat of last weekend’s race in France where the Italian team dominated. |
| 12:56:07
| Behind the front runners, the battle to qualify in the top ten is just as important for those involved. So far this weekend we have Toyota, Williams and Renault looking to round out the top ten, but there could be some surprised from Red Bull, Super Aguri and Toro Rosso. |
| 12:58:09
| Towards the tail of the field the aim is to try to make it through the first round of qualifying. This is unlikely for the Spyker team while Takuma Sato, Alex Wurz, David Coulthard and Jenson Button will be pushing not to be eliminated after 15 minutes. |
| 13:00:06
| The sun is out and the first 15 minute qualifying session is now underway. |
| 13:00:20
| The Spyker duo head straight out. |
| 13:01:28
| Albers and Sutil will probably be slowest, but it is a good battle betwwen them to be the quicker driver. They are out straight away on the soft tyre. |
| 13:01:58
| A wiggled for Sutil at Becketts. |
| 13:02:07
| Others are now heading out. |
| 13:02:28
| Sutil kicks up a little dirt at the exit of Stowe. |
| 13:03:15
| Albers slightly quicker than Sutil on that lap. |
| 13:04:05
| Kovalainen on his hot lap. He needs a 1:21.1 or thereabout to make it into Q2, but he is out on the harder tyre. |
| 13:04:51
| Kovalainen moves fastest. That is close to the expected cut off. He will have to take a second run. |
| 13:05:20
| Fisichella moves fastest from Kovalainen, Wurz and Schumacher. |
| 13:05:45
| Hamilton is out on the hard tyre. He just needs a lap in the 1:20s. |
| 13:06:20
| Fisichella took a second lap and found another tenth. |
| 13:06:32
| Coulthard is now second in the Red Bull. |
| 13:06:56
| Hamilton moves fastest and that is job done in terms of getting into Q2. |
| 13:07:39
| Hamilton was pretty scruffy on that lap. Webber moves second ahead of Kubica. Raikkonen and Alonso on track. Massa still in the pits. |
| 13:08:03
| Hamilton improves on his second lap. |
| 13:08:21
| Now Massa is out in the second Ferrari. |
| 13:08:52
| Only those in the 1:20s will be safe. Most will have to take a second set of tyres to try and improve. |
| 13:09:53
| Kubica is now second ahead of Heidfeld who moves third. |
| 13:10:11
| Sutil has moves ahead of Button and Sato at the back of the field. |
| 13:10:32
| Alonso moves fastest on soft tyres. Raikkonen moves third. |
| 13:10:53
| Wurz is on his second run on soft tyres. He needs a good run today... |
| 13:11:51
| Slowest six at the moment are Albers, Sato, Button, Sutil, Barrichello and Davidson. Four Honda runners... |
| 13:12:12
| Raikkonen improved is second ahead of Massa. |
| 13:12:31
| Most are in the pits getting ready for one more run with just over two minutes remaining. |
| 13:13:17
| Davidson, Sato, Sutil and others now back out. The fastest drivers have no need to run again. |
| 13:13:51
| Davidson has traffic on his final run. |
| 13:14:32
| Davidson off and into the gravel at Luffied. |
| 13:14:49
| Yellow flags. |
| 13:14:59
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 13:15:34
| So Davidson has messed up the fast laps for those back on track as he seemed to go off into the gravel while warming his tyres. |
| 13:16:02
| Improvements from Schumacher and Trulli as the yellows are gone. |
| 13:16:42
| Amazingly Rosberg looks to be out of it in his Williams. |
| 13:17:09
| Eliminated: Albers, Sato, Sutil, Davidson, Button and Rosberg. |
| 13:18:49
| So a nightmare session for Rosberg. Jenson Button's home race is proving as tough as expected while a poor showing from Super Aguri. |
| 13:19:33
| Both Toro Rosso drivers made it though and for the record, Alonso used a set of soft tyres to set the pace on a 1:19.330s. |
| 13:21:13
| Bit of a strange moment from Davidson as he really did compromise the final laps for many by going off. |
| 13:21:27
| The second session begins shortly. |
| 13:22:36
| The second 15 minute session is now underway. |
| 13:23:11
| Strange. Liuzzi is on track but the countdown has not started to count down. |
| 13:24:10
| Liuzzi starts his first timed lap. He needs as mid 1:20s at least if he is to make the top ten. |
| 13:25:05
| Liuzzi pushing hard on the soft tyres. |
| 13:25:38
| A high 1:20 for Liuzzi but he will need to find more speed than that. He was a tenth faster than that this morning. |
| 13:26:02
| Now Coulthard heads out in his newly liveried Red Bull. Liuzzi is on another fast lap. |
| 13:26:17
| Wurz and Trulli head out. |
| 13:26:55
| Liuzzi pits. Webber, Wurz and others now on track. |
| 13:28:10
| They will all use soft tyres in this session. |
| 13:28:38
| Coulthard moves second in his Red Bull, slower than Liuzzi. |
| 13:29:12
| Schumacher and Trulli move one two. |
| 13:29:39
| This session only sets the grid positions for 11th to 16th. |
| 13:29:51
| Raikkonen moves fastest from Fisichella. |
| 13:30:22
| Hamilton moves second. Liuzzi is on his second run. |
| 13:30:53
| Kovalainen is up to fifth and should be safe. |
| 13:31:05
| Alonso starts his hot lap. |
| 13:31:21
| Liuzzi finds a tenth and moves ninth. |
| 13:31:33
| Heidfeld moves third. |
| 13:31:48
| Alonso moves fastest on hard tyres. |
| 13:32:22
| Massa is safe in fourth position. Five minutes remain. |
| 13:33:18
| The slowest six at the moment are Wurz, Coulthard, Trulli, Liuzzi, Barrichello and Speed. |
| 13:34:06
| So Alonso has shown that the hard tyre is just as fast as the soft at this circuit. |
| 13:34:31
| The fastest five or six will not run again in Q2. The rest will go again. |
| 13:34:49
| Liuzzi and Wurz head back out. |
| 13:35:31
| Now the Renault duo and others head out again for one more run. Trulli in 13th is the surprise so far as he should be in the top ten at this circuit. |
| 13:36:27
| They will all start their final lap just before the chequered flag falls. |
| 13:37:08
| The chequered flag is out |
| 13:37:28
| Who will improve... most are on better laps. |
| 13:37:40
| Wurz moves P8 |
| 13:38:01
| Fisichella moves fifth fastest. Trulli moves eighth. |
| 13:38:17
| Schumacher improves and is now fifth. |
| 13:39:05
| It was close for Heidfeld who did not go back out in the final seconds. He ended up tenth. |
| 13:39:30
| Eliminated: Liuzzi, Speed, Barrichello, Wurz. Coulthard and Webber. |
| 13:39:48
| A short pause as race fuel is added to the remaining ten runners for Q3. |
| 13:42:52
| Q3 will see all ten runners try to burn off some fuel at the start of the session. They will then all take two sets of new tyres and go for the pole. |
| 13:45:08
| Q3 is now underway. Hamilton leads Alonso and the field out of the pit lane. |
| 13:45:45
| These laps give a good indicator of the race pace in the first stint. The McLaren duo are out on soft tyres. |
| 13:46:41
| Massa is third on track and is on the hard tyre. |
| 13:47:11
| Alonso shadows Hamilton around the circuit. Both are pushing pretty hard. |
| 13:48:05
| Hamilton, Alonso and Massa set first lap times. |
| 13:48:54
| Raikkonen's first lap was just the tenth best, but it is not important at this stage. |
| 13:49:51
| Hamilton remains fastest from Alonso as Raikkonen and Heidfeld battle around Luffied. |
| 13:50:48
| Kubica is fourth fastest from Schumacher, Raikkonen, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Kovalainen and Trulli. |
| 13:51:16
| Schumacher and Trulli pit. |
| 13:51:48
| If these lap times mean anything, Hamilton is light on fuel while Ferrari are perhaps a bit heavier. We'll see. |
| 13:52:14
| Alonso pits his McLaren. Massa also in for Ferrari. |
| 13:52:33
| Now Raikkonen and the Renault duo are in the pits. |
| 13:53:19
| The first real fast lap times on the way. Trulli is on hard tyres, Kubica soft. |
| 13:53:30
| Hamilton now pits and takes new tyres. |
| 13:54:10
| This is the first run of two. As ever it will go right to the wire. |
| 13:54:37
| Ralf Schumacher moves fastest, Trulli sixth. |
| 13:54:50
| Alonso is on soft tyres and on his lap. |
| 13:55:07
| Massa is on a hot lap as well. |
| 13:55:25
| Alonso moves fastest with Massa up to second. |
| 13:55:38
| Raikkonen moves third in his Ferrari. |
| 13:56:23
| Kubica takes fourth in his BMW. |
| 13:56:47
| Hamilton now takes over P4 as Alonso pits for another set. |
| 13:57:20
| Three minutes remain. Alonso, Massa and Raikkonen head out again. Heidfeld is the surprise so far down in ninth. |
| 13:58:03
| Hamilton now pits for the second time. |
| 13:58:28
| Two-tenths cover the top four. |
| 13:58:38
| The fastest three start hot laps. |
| 13:59:01
| Alonso looks stunning though Becketts. |
| 13:59:13
| Massa runs a little wide through Stowe. |
| 13:59:54
| Alonso improves his own best and has time for another lap if he needs it. |
| 14:00:05
| Massa improves and is second. The chequered flag is out... |
| 14:00:25
| Raikkonen wuns wide out of Woodcote but still moves fastest. |
| 14:00:37
| Kovalainen moves fifth in his Renault. |
| 14:00:48
| Hamilton is on his last lap... |
| 14:01:02
| Hamilton takes the pole position!! |
| 14:01:30
| The crowd go mad as Hamilton has claimed the Pole Position for the British Grand Prix. |
| 14:02:25
| So Hamilton will start ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, Alonso and Massa. Kubica starts fifth ahead of Schumacher, Kovalainen, Fisichella, Heidfeld and Trulli. |
| 14:02:53
| So the battle is on at the front of the field. |
