Hello and welcome to ESPN's live coverage of qualifying for the 2017 British Grand Prix.

An interesting qualifying session in prospect as Ferrari closed the gap to Mercedes in final practice. Who will come out on top this afternoon?

Hamilton topped a session for the first time in FP3, though he was only faster than Vettel by 0.032s. Bottas was a further 0.1s back, with Raikkonen some way off in fourth.

A big blow for Bottas and Ricciardo heading into qualifying -- with both drivers set to take five-place grid penalties for making unscheduled gearbox changes. That somewhat takes the edge off qualifying, though it should still be a close battle for pole between Hamilton and Vettel.

Don't rule out the Red Bull's from mixing it up, either. Ricciardo may be out of the running for pole -- and was lucky not to crash at the end of FP3 as rain hit -- but Verstappen showed solid pace on Friday despite only being eighth this morning.

After being off the pace for most of the weekend, Renault's Hulkenberg put in an impressive lap to go fifth in final practice. Haas' Grosjean, Williams' Massa and the McLaren of Vandoorne also made the top 10 this morning alongside the usual suspects.

Around 15 minutes to go until Q1 gets underway.

No matter where Alonso qualifies today, he will start Sunday's grand prix from the very back of the grid after making a host of power unit component changes which have resulted in a whopping 30-place grid penalty.

It started to rain in the closing stages of final practice and it has been in the air all day. A really grim and murky day at Silverstone. The forecast is for it to stay dry, but we will see!

And just as I type that, it has started raining (lightly) again with less than 10 minutes to go before qualifying. This could make things very interesting!

The umbrellas and raincoats are coming out in the grandstands.

We are just a few minutes away from the start of qualifying and it is still spitting here.

Will anyone be brave enough to venture out on slicks? Or will intermediates be the order of the day?

Green light and Q1 is go!

Both Red Bull's head on on inters, while Wehrlein and Ocon have gone out on super-softs!

Bottas and Hamilton are also both on super-softs.

Verstappen reckons inters are the right choice, and they looks to be. Both Mercedes drivers are tip-toeing around the circuit.

All the slick runners are heading back in to change onto inters.

Verstappen puts in the first time on a 1:43.1

Ricciardo beats his teammates time on a 1:42.966. It is starting to rain harder now.

Raikkonen gets it all wrong into Club and goes slowest of everyone.

Sainz has spun at Copse but manages to continue.

Hamilton the latest to make a mistake as he locks up and runs wide into the Loop.

Hulkenberg has put his Renault up to second!

Sainz goes fifth for Toro Rosso.

Ricciardo has stopped out of Woodcote, as Hamilton goes third fastest.

Ricciardo reports a possible turbo problem. He is currently fastest but will take no further part in qualifying, even if he gets through.

Red flag is out so Ricciardo's car can be removed safely.

It is due to dry up as the session goes on, but Hamilton and Bottas both managed to sneak in laps to move into the top 10 before Ricciardo's stoppage. Could prove to be important laps in case the weather gets worse.

Raikkonen is currently down in 14th with 10 minutes left on the clock.

We are back underway in Q1.

Both Sauber drivers -- who are yet to set a time -- head out first.

Raikkonen is told it is expected to stop raining in three minutes.

Raikkonen improves to move up to fifth.

Hamilton goes quickest on a 1:41.296s, ahead of teammate Bottas.

Perez gets his Force India up to second, a mega lap from the Mexican.

With the track starting to dry, Vettel moves to the top on a 1:40.056s.

Grosjean goes fourth fastest.

Vandoorne, who is on the cusp in 15th, returns to the pits.

Vettel is told no more rain is expected.

Vettel says the track is still too wet for slicks.

Verstappen moves to the top on a 1:38.912s.

Hamilton improves to go second, 0.1s down on Verstappen's time. Bottas also improves to move third.

Alonso pits and wants to change onto dry tyres.

Vettel improves to go fourth.

Vandoorne, Stroll, Wehrlein, Palmer and Alonso are in the bottom five.

Stroll goes 11th.

Palmer moves up to eighth.

Ocon improves to fifth. He's on super-softs too.

Alonso goes quickest to top Q1! The crowd erupts as the Spaniard crosses the line.

Stroll, Magnussen, Wehrlein, Ericsson and Ricciardo are knocked out of Q1.

Q2 is underway.

It has stopped raining and everyone is heading out on slicks.

Bottas is on the softs, which suggests Mercedes are employing the same strategy as they used in Q2 in Austria with Hamilton.

Verstappen posts the first time to go fastest on a 1:33.917s.

Bottas, on softs, goes fourth.

Grosjean briefly goes fastest, before the Ferraris jump up to first and second, headed by Raikkonen.

Hamilton takes over at the top on a 1:31.145s, a full second quicker than the Ferraris.

Hulkenberg goes fastest on a 1:31.085s.

Bottas improves on his second run and goes top on a 1:29.687s.

Verstappen goes second.

Vettel moves up to second and Raikkonen goes fourth.

Hamilton returns to the top on a 1:29.097 to go 0.5s quicker than Bottas.

Ocon improves and moves into the top 10 in seventh.

"What the hell was Perez doing," asks Vettel over team radio, who feels Perez blocked him at Turn 9.

Perez, Grosjean, Palmer, Massa and Sainz are currently in the drop zone.

Massa improves but remains 14th.

Grosjeans moves up to ninth for Haas.

Kvyat jumps up to sixth.

Vettel goes quickest ahead of Raikkonen.

Vandoorne goes seventh!

Ocon moves up to sixth.

Grosjean goes seventh.

Hamilton goes quickest by a full second!

Bottas gets within 0.8s of Hamilton's time on the softs.

Palmer, Kvyat, Alonso, Sainz and Massa are all out in Q2.

Green light and Q3 is underway. Who will take pole for the British Grand Prix? Keep it here with ESPN to find out!

Bottas is the first man out on circuit on the super-softs.

Bottas posts a 1:27.580s.

Hamilton goes faster on a 1:27.231s to move onto provisional pole.

Vettel goes second on a 1:27.231, 0.2s down on Hamilton's time.

Hulkenberg is fifth after his first run.

Verstappen moves up to fifth, 1s down on Hamilton.

So it is Hamilton who sits on provisional pole as things stand after the first runs.

Hamilton heads out for his second run.

Hamilton is under investigation for blocking Grosjean.

Bottas runs wide in the first sector

Bottas moves up to second

Hamilton goes fastest on a 1:26.600s.

Raikkonen is second ahead of Vettel!

Hamilton takes pole position for the British Grand Prix by a whopping 0.5s!

So pending that stewards investigation on Hamilton, it will be Hamilton and Raikkonen on the front row, ahead of Vettel and Bottas in fourth. Verstappen finished fifth, ahead of Hulkenberg, Perez, Ocon and Vandoorne. Grosjean finished 10th.

That's a wrap on our qualifying coverage, thanks for joining us!