Alonso claims last-gasp Silverstone pole

Lying behind Michael Schumacher in the dying seconds of the session, Alonso set a lap time of 1:20.253 to claim his fourth pole in a row.

And his smile got even bigger as McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen demoted seven-time world champion Schumacher to third, with an even later lap just over one tenth of a second slower than Alonso's.

That left the Ferrari driver, who trails Alonso by 21 points in the drivers' championship, in third, alongside his Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella starts fifth in his Renault alongside the ever-improving Honda driver Rubens Barrichello.

Toyota's Ralf Schumacher in a Toyota, McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya, and the BMW Sauber pair of Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve rounded out the top ten.

Session two had no surprises as David Coulthard led the list of eliminated cars, although the 35-year-old Red Bull driver claimed Montoya blocked him during his best lap - something the race stewards investigated.

Williams' Nico Rosberg, Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi, Red Bull's Christian Klien and Toro Rosso's Scott Speed also failed to make the top-ten shoot-out.

The first 15-minute session saw high drama with Williams' Mark Webber surprisingly missing the cut in 17th place ahead of Midland's Christijan Albers.

An even bigger shock was Honda's Jenson Button, who could only set the 19th fastest time in front of his home crowd - his worst ever British Grand Prix qualifying performance.

After returning to the pits, he was forced to stop at a weighbridge by race stewards - losing him more than a minute at a crucial time.

The other eliminated drivers were Super Aguri teammates Takuma Sato and Franck Montagny - who spun - and Jarno Trulli, whose disastrous start to the season continued when his Toyota engine appeared to let go before he had completed a lap.

The opening session also saw an off-track moment for Raikkonen, who abandoned a lap after he drove over the grass with two corners of the lap to go.