British GP: McLaren Saturday qualifying notes

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's Santander British Grand Prix from pole position. It is the 50th pole for the McLaren Mercedes partnership; the fourth for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team this year and the third for Lewis.

In an exciting qualifying, he was the last driver on track on a fast lap and set a time of 1:19.997. Fernando Alonso, fastest in both of the first sessions of qualifying, will start Vodafone McLaren Mercedes' home Grand Prix third on the grid with a time of 1:20.147, only 1.5 tenths of a second behind Lewis.

Lewis Hamilton:

"That was an intense qualifying session. The Ferraris were extremely quick, as was Fernando. I lost a bit of time on my first flying lap, so I really just had to pull it all out and thankfully I did a sweet job on that last lap. I really couldn't have done it without the team, who changed the tyres so quickly and got me out in time."

"I just can't wait for tomorrow now, and I am going to do the best job that I can. It is great to see so many supporters, today has been fantastic. I nearly lost my voice, when I came across the line I was screaming just as loud as all the fans."

Fernando Alonso:

"I am quite happy with the car and we performed well today. Obviously I wanted to be on pole position but third place was the best we could do. Hopefully tomorrow in the race the car will continue to be strong and our strategy will give us the chance to improve on this."

"I was not so happy with the car yesterday but today it has been much quicker. That is thanks to the fantastic work from the team overnight to make some changes, as it felt like a different car this morning in practice."

Ron Dennis:

"It has been a great day today and both drivers did a fantastic job, just how good will be revealed tomorrow as the race unfolds. We can all enjoy today and tonight, but the race is tomorrow. It has been great to see so many people here supporting the team."

Norbert Haug:

"You can't do any better, and it couldn't get any more exciting. This was a thrilling qualifying and motor racing at its best. Lewis showed an excellent performance achieving pole position in his first ever home Grand Prix which was the 50th for the McLaren Mercedes partnership. Fernando did an excellent job, he is third with less than1.5 tenths of a second behind pole."

"First and third is a great base for tomorrow's race, as both of our cars will start on the clean side of the track. This is an ideal result for all the colleagues and their families from Woking and Brixworth who came to attend this race weekend and to see the team in action."

Chassis allocation
Fernando Alonso: MP4-22 06
Lewis Hamilton: MP4-22 04
T-car: MP4-22 05

-credit: mclaren