Lewis Hamilton has claimed pole position for the British GP ahead of Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg.
But it was anything but straightforward for the home favourite despite Hamilton's overwhelming pace advantage over Rosberg and that of the dominant Mercedes package over the distant pack.
Hamilton had to overcome Race Control wiping out his provisional pole time at the start of Q3 after the world champion transgressed the Silverstone track limits. But Hamilton, who set a lap record for the new Silverstone configuration during Q2, immediately hit back to claim pole by almost four tenths from Rosberg.
Confusingly, Hamilton's pole lap was allowed to stand despite the Mercedes driver once again crossing the track limits as he did so at a corner not being protected by Race Control's 'zero tolerance' crackdown.
Hamilton delivers mental blow with qualy pace
"The penultimate lap was a very good lap which unfortunately was taken away. I touched the kerb but it took me further out. It didn't feel like I was going to be running wide, but the car bounced just outside the line," said a relieved Hamilton.
"A lot of that pressure on that last lap. It wasn't as good but I was cautious and made sure I got that lap in."
Meanwhile, Rosberg was later cleared by the stewards after an alleged infringement during Q1.
But on an otherwise bad day for F1's three British drivers, Renault's Jolyon Palmer was eliminated at the first hurdle alongside surprise Q1 casualty Jenson Button.
In bizarre fashion, Button's early exit - triggered by a rear-wing failure on his McLaren car that restricted him to just three laps - was only confirmed midway through Q2 after Race Control belatedly confirmed that Palmer's Renault team-mate Kevin Magnussen hadn't also broken the track limits on his fastest lap.
"It is a shame they couldn't do something before Q2 starts but as soon as Q2 starts it is game over for us which is a shame," said Button. "It doesn't seem very lucky this weekend for me."
Max Verstappen will start third for Red Bull after out-qualifying team-mate Daniel Ricciardo for the first time as the former world champions surprisingly jumped Ferrari in the pecking order but remained over a second adrift of the dominant Silver Arrows.
"It was like they had a turbo button," rued Verstappen.
The Dutchman's final lap was also deleted by Race Control but his earlier effort was already sufficient to inflict Ricciardo's first Saturday defeat of the season.
Kimi Raikkonen was fifth for Ferrari on another poor day for the Scuderia. After a mistake on his flying lap, team-mate Sebastian Vettel finished over half a second adrift of the newly re-signed Finn but will start outside of the top 10 due to another gearbox failure triggering his third grid penalty of the year. "They are not nearly up as much as they should be," noted Sky F1's Damon Hill.
But perhaps the most unexpected result of qualifying was the performance of Carlos Sainz as the ever-improving Spaniard propelled his Toro Rosso into the top 10 and seventh on the grid after Race Control, with a beadier eye than a line judge at Wimbledon, erased the Q3 times of Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren's Fernando Alonso.
Sauber's Marcus Ericsson missed the session after a heavy crash in Saturday morning practice resulted in the Swede being taken to hospital for what the team described as 'routine' check-ups. If Ericsson is passed fit for Sunday - he was later given the all clear by doctors - Sauber will seek special dispensation from the stewards for permission for him to race.
British GP Qualifying results
Q3
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:29.287
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:29.606
3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:30.313
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:30.618
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:30.881
6. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:31.490*
7. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:31.557
8. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:31.989
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:32.172
10. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:32.343
Q2
11. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:31.875
12. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:32.002
13. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:32.050
14. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:32.241
15. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:32.306
16. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, No time
Q1
17, Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:32.788
18. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:32.905
19. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:33.098
20. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:33.15
21. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:33.544
22. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, No time