Lewis Hamilton tops first F1 Sprint at Silverstone

SILVERSTONE, England - Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes at the top of Formula 1's first Saturday sprint after an intense Friday qualifying session at his hometown British Grand Prix .

The winner of Saturday's 17-lap sprint atSilverstonewill take the official pole position in Sunday's main event, with an expected crowd of more than 140,000.

Hamilton can count on the support of the crowd who stood up to salute the Mercedes driver as he reached the top, with Red Bull champion Max Verstappen joining the front row.

Verstappen has a 32-point lead over Hamilton after nine rounds, but the Briton has won the home race seven times and will do everything in his power to celebrate another day for his army of fans.

"Tomorrow I need to bring the Lion out and give it everything," said the 36-year-old Briton, whose once-dominant team has been beaten in their last five matches."I think I've got the car where I need it, so we'll see.

"We've missed a whole year," Hamilton said of the atmosphere."Having this crowd, seeing the energy...I think it's up to the fans.

"I could see the crowd and it was really reminiscent of my first pole position here in 2007."

Verstappen was the fastest seven-tenths of a second in the only practice session of the day, which caused some panic at Mercedes.

However, the 23-year-old Dutchman said the car had "understeered to the moon" in qualifying.

"I couldn't really attack any corners, I was just waiting for the opportunity ahead," he said."To be honest, it's a little weird to drive.

"We're still very close, so that's okay."

Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas helped the Briton put a hole in the air and was third, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth.

"It's all worth trying," Finn said."Hopefully we have a good race pace."

The new format is beingtrialled at Silverstoneand two other as-yet-to-be-decided circuits to provide even more excitement over three days.

If deemed successful, it will expand to more rounds next season.