Bottas denies teammate Hamilton pole for British GP

SILVERSTONE, England (AP) — Valtteri Bottas was six milliseconds — 0.006 — faster than Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton on Saturday to take pole position for the British Grand Prix.

It will be the first time since 2014 that Hamilton hasn’t started from the front at his home Formula One race as he chases a record sixth victory on Sunday.

Bottas opened the season by winning two of the first four races but hasn’t even been on pole since the Spanish GP in May.

“It was very good again,” Bottas said. “It reminds you why you do this. It’s been pretty close all weekend and today with Lewis.”

Hamilton has a 31-point lead over Bottas in the championship standings.

Behind the Mercedes duo on the grid on Sunday will be Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who qualified in third, and Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

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