Rosberg steals Pole as Hamilton slips up

For those casting a casual eye over to the start of the Women's Wimbledon Final towards the close of Qualifying, sensing Lewis Hamilton had already done enough to clinch Pole for the second successive year, would have missed a dramatic climax which saw Nico Rosberg take advantage of drying condition to give him his fourth Pole Position of the season.

95,000 spectators were in attendance to celebrate Silvestone's 50th anniversary of being home to the British Grand Prix- not letting the dismal weather dampen their spirits. So far, for the Brits at least, it had been a disappointing start to the weekend after Williams Test Driver Susie Wolff suffered an oil pressure issue which cut her running in Friday Practice painfully short.

However, with three drivers flying the flag for Britain, there was still every reason for the home crowd to have something to celebrate with high expectations resting on Mercedes Lewis Hamilton, looking strong to start on the front row of the grid for Sundays race.

Rain and the threat of showers hung over the circuit for the start of Qualifying as both Marussia's and Sauber's took to the track first- Max Chilton opened with a time of 1:48.724 with Jules Bianchi and Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez going quicker still with times of 1:46.908 and 1:46.701 respectively.

Actor and F1 fan Michael Fassbender (right) was in attendance.

Stars from the silver screen looked on as the silver arrows of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg once again dominated- Lewis 2.5 seconds up on Gutierrez's time alone through Sector 2 eventually finishing the lap on a 1:43.676.

In the closing stages of Q1, conditions looked to be improving as Mclaren's Jenson Button chose the Option tyre, justifiably so and proving it was time to switch to slicks, going fastest of all.

The interchangeable conditions were proving to be advantageous for Marussia; once again showing signs of real progress from their first points finish at Monaco, as Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi sat proudly in P1 and P2 with 90 seconds left.

There was a shock in store with the signal of two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso spinning off around Luffield and then Sauber's Adrain Sutil taking a trip in the gravel.
Williams' Felipe Massa, celebrating his 200th F1 start tomorrow, wouldn't have imagined starting it in 18th place, but that's where he finds himself alongside teammate Valterri Bottas who failed to reach Q2 alongside both Ferrari's of Alonso and Raikkonen.

Ferrari and Williams later laid blame on the changing track conditions and dealing issues with slick tyres and traffic as to why non of their drivers made it to the next stage of qualifying. Rob Smedley, Head of Vehicle Performance, was quoted on Twitter to say, ''We didn't see the rain coming as quickly as it did, thats not an excuse, it's an error which we can't make again.''

As well as Massa, Bottas, Alonso and Raikkonen, the Caterham's of Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson will start at the back of the grid.

All cars ran on the Intermediate tyre for the start of Q2 as Vettel started with an impressive time of 1:44.085- 0.5 seconds faster than Hamilton, but the time was cancelled for overrunning the track limits at Turn 9.

Carrying on from the previous 18 minutes, Lewis and Nico were on top of the time sheets yet again as things weren't going as smoothly for Gutierrez who went off at the first part of Luffield, damaging his rear wing.
And Lotus' Pastor Maldonado's luck continues to desert him after losing fuel pressure, forcing him to settle for 15th place*.
With the news of Lotus switching engine manufacturer from Renault to Mercedes for the 2015 season, this comes as a relief to a team, steeped in history and success, drastically under-performing.

The flag waved to signal the end of the session, and with it, the loss of Adrain Sutil, Pastor Maldonado, Esteban Gutierrez, the impressive Marussia's of Chilton and Bianchi and Romain Grosjean.

Jenson Button and his helmet this weekend in honour of his late father, John.

 A downpour shortly after the start of Q3 fooled many drivers who had opted for slick tyres, one of which being Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel needing to come back into the pits immediately after going out to begin his in-lap.

Toro Rosso's duo of Jean Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat set the initial pace with times of 1:40.855 and 1:40.707.
Hamilton looked to have all but secured Pole after a 1:49.232 with seven minutes left to run.
Yet, with minutes to go, the conditions changed once more catching out Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, already out of the car and Lewis Hamilton who bailed on his final lap feeling his time was enough to get Pole and sensing the track wasn't improving.
The final sector of 26.5 seconds made all the difference as it had in fact dried considerable as Vettel crossed the line fastest before Nico Rosberg got Pole, with Sebastian Vettel in P2, seeing Hamilton eventually drop all the way down to P6 because of that error.
Jenson Button made his father, affectionately known as 'Papa Smurf', who passed away in January, proud with a stunning third place, was the highest placed Brit on the grid and is sure to have all the British fans behind him.

Tomorrow's race, which appears to be carried out in dry conditions, is set to be another enthralling spectacle; can Jenson Button achieve an emotional Podium finish? And it isn't just the front of the grid we should be watching- with two Ferrari's and two Williams' at the back, they will sure to push through the order and make for some exciting overtaking opportunities.    

Below are the final Qualifying standings:

(*) #13 P. Maldonado will start at the back of the grid after failing to provide a fuel sample after Qualifying.