Piastri looked to have done enough for his fifth pole of the season after setting a time of 1m24.995s on his banker lap.

He was going even faster on his final flying lap before a slight moment entering the final corner cost him the chance to improve.

That opened the door for Verstappen, who set a blistering 1m24.892 to claim his fourth pole of the year and the 44th of his career.

A jubilant Verstappen dropped his trademark “simply lovely” over the radio as he crossed the line, celebrating loudly with his team. He said afterwards he was thrilled with the lap.

“It was tricky out there with the wind,” he said. It was shifting around a bit. I just tried to tidy that up a bit and that final lap was good enough.

“I’m happy with our qualifying. It’s a big boost for our team as well. I’m excited to go racing tomorrow.

“We’re going to go racing and we’re going to have fun and we’re going to do the best we can.”

Piastri admitted his final run was “a little bit messy,” but was still satisfied with second on the grid.

“I was happy with the first lap, the first lap was mega to be honest,” he said. “The last lap was a little bit messy, but it’s been tight all weekend.

“Ultimately I’m pretty happy with second on the grid, I’m looking forward to a fun race.”

Lando Norris qualified third for McLaren, narrowly ahead of compatriot George Russell, who found pace in his Mercedes to take fourth.

Lewis Hamilton made it three British drivers in a row in fifth, just ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc.

The Ferrari pair were only two tenths off Verstappen’s pole time and will be hoping their strong weekend pace carries into Sunday’s race.

Kimi Antonelli finished seventh but will drop three grid places due to a penalty from last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, after his first-lap accident with Verstappen.

He could face a further penalty after an incident in Q2 with Fernando Alonso, who was furious over team radio after being blocked by the Italian rookie.

Alonso qualified ninth but will start seventh following grid penalties for Antonelli and Oliver Bearman.

Bearman was outstanding, making Q3 for only the second time this season and qualifying eighth, but he will drop 10 places for a red flag infringement during FP3.

Pierre Gasly was another standout performer, scraping into Q3 for the sixth time this season after languishing near the bottom of the timesheets for most of the weekend.

Cool, overcast conditions hovered over Silverstone throughout qualifying, with the threat of rain constantly looming.

In Q2, several cars headed out early to set banker laps in anticipation of showers, with Verstappen and Piastri initially posting identical times before both were pipped by Norris and the Ferraris.

The rain never arrived, and Carlos Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda, Isack Hadjar, Alex Albon, and Esteban Ocon were all eliminated in Q2.

A furious Albon screamed in frustration over the radio, saying it felt like he was driving a “completely different car” compared to earlier in the session.

Q1 was red-flagged with six minutes remaining after Franco Colapinto spun at the final turn and hit the barriers.

The Argentinian managed to re-join the track but was forced to pull over due to damage, bringing a halt to the session. He was unable to continue, adding further pressure to the already under-fire 22-year-old.

He was joined by Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll, and Nico Hulkenberg in being eliminated in Q1, where the top 17 were separated by just half a second.

It was a disappointing result for Lawson, who had shown strong pace throughout the weekend and was coming off a sixth-place qualifying performance in Austria.

The Kiwi appeared to struggle with grip in the closing stages, telling his team over the radio that he was unsure what had gone wrong on his final flying lap.

Racing at Silverstone gets underway at 3 p.m. local time Sunday (12 a.m. AEST Monday).