Sawt Falasteen - Shining Verstappen shades Piastri for pole at Silverstone

The four-time world champion was struggling with a strong wind and cool and damp conditions after choosing a low downforce set-up that trimmed his wings but enabled higher speed on the straights.

Before his final run of a tense and closely-fought qualifying hour, Verstappen was two-tenths slower than McLaren's championship leader Oscar Piastri, but the Dutchman powered to a fastest lap of one minute and 24.892 seconds to beat the Australian by 0.103 seconds.

"You went motor racing Max!" said his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, his deadpan delivery hiding Red Bull's delight as the team fight to find the performance that will ensure their star driver stays with them next year.

The 27-year-old Dutchman, who has declared he wants to stay, has been linked with Mercedes, whose team boss Toto Wolff has confirmed making contact. Unconfirmed Italian media reports this week claimed Verstappen had agreed to the move.

Verstappen did his talking on the track, claiming his third pole at Silverstone and the 44th of the career with a virtuoso lap to keep alive faint hopes of defending his drivers' title in the second half of the season.

Weather permitting, a third British victory would help him trim his 61-point deficit to Piastri but if it rains, as forecast, Verstappen's set-up might leave him vulnerable to his rivals including Lando Norris, in the second McLaren, who is 15 points behind Piastri in the title race and third on the grid.

"The changes helped a lot and the car definitely turned in better," said Verstappen. "On my last lap, it all came together and the balance was much better and we were fast on the straights, but the high-speed corners were more difficult.

"We are pushing for more performance. It was tricky out there with the wind as the car is so sensitive to it. We have to wait to see what tomorrow will do and if there's rain around or not.

"I'm happy with qualifying. It's a big boost for the team as well and I'm excited to go racing tomorrow. We'll try! We are going to have fun and try to do the best we can."

- 'It's tough' -

Piastri was less happy.

"I was trying to think of how I was going to go faster and I didn't," he said. "The last lap was a little bit messy, but it's been tight all weekend.

"I think my first lap was very good...but I left a little bit on the table."

"It's tough, especially when you think it's a good lap. You don't want to overdo it and try and go over the limit. There were a couple of corners where maybe I was a bit safe on the way in and tried to make up for it on the way out and it didn't quite work."

Norris was third in the second McLaren, a tenth adrift.

"It was tough," Norris said. "We are not just fast enough today, but it's all good fun and I am happy with third. Credit to Max, he did a great job. It's going to be fun tomorrow, a good battle."

George Russell was next in a Mercedes. The Ferraris of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc filled the third row.

Kimi Antonelli was seventh fastest in the second Mercedes but suffered a three-place penalty.

Ollie Bearman was eighth for Haas but collected a 10-place grid penalty.

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST