Silverstone, England (My Sportsbook) - Britain's Lewis Hamilton won the pole for Sunday's British Grand Prix Formula One race at Silverstone. The No.2 McLaren circled the high-speed 3.194 miles, 17-turn Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in one minute, 19.997 seconds.

The pole victory was Hamilton's third of the season and third of his F1 career.

Starting with Hamilton on the front row will be Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen who posted a second-best final qualifying time of 1:20.099.

Fernando Alonso (1:20.147) and Felipe Massa (1:20.265) will make up row two.

The first of three qualifying sessions was won by Alonso. It also saw the elimination of six drivers, including Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button. Rosberg, who was fifth quickest in the final practice, was the surprise of the group.

Alonso lowered his time in the second session and was again fastest. American Scott Speed, Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard were among the six drivers dropped.

While the Grand Prix of Monaco is the most prestigious on the Formula One racing schedule, this week's race at Silverstone might be the most important in regards to the drivers championship.

Despite Ferrari winning four of the first eight races, the season to date has been dominated by McLaren Mercedes.

Hamilton leads the series with 64 points, eight consecutive podium finishes, and two wins (Montreal, Indy). Behind him in the standings is the two-time World Champion Alonso. The Spaniard is 14 points behind Hamilton, also has two wins and scored points in all eight races.

But after two sub par races in North America, Ferrari came back with a vengeance at Magny-Cours.

Ferrari's Massa started on the pole while teammate Raikkonen started a close third. At the drop of the green flag, Raikkonen flew around Hamilton for second place and the two Ferraris powered away from the field.

It was all Ferrari and the race was decided with two pit stops each of which Raikkonen got the better of Massa. When Raikkonen returned to the track after his final stop ahead of Massa, the race was effectively over and the Finn won for the first time since the season opener in Australia.

The one-two Ferrari finish has re-ignited hopes of chasing down Hamilton and Alonso as the series arrives at the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit.

The race is scheduled to drop the green flag on Sunday at 8 a.m. (et).