Norris said he was confident he could challenge the Mercedes drivers for the win.

“It’s going to rain again tomorrow,” he said. “I am excited. We’re quick. I can bring the fight to George and Lewis.”

Russell said: “The car is feeling so, so good. What a joy to drive in qualifying. We’re riding this wave but eyes on tomorrow. We’ve got to beat Lando. Max is going to be fast as well.”

The session started wet, but Hamilton and Russell set out their stall quickly by going first and second fastest, while Verstappen was only 11th, after his off at Copse.

His team-mate Sergio Perez had another desperate day in a poor run of form, spinning at Copse after his first lap and beaching his car in the gravel. The Mexican will start 18th.

Red Bull’s mechanics tried desperately to repair Verstappen’s car as much as they could in the breaks between the three sessions but it remained in far from optimum condition and he was unable to challenge the flying British drivers.

Ferrari also had a difficult day. The Italian team abandoned their Spanish Grand Prix aerodynamic upgrade over night on Friday after struggling with aerodynamic bouncing.

But Charles Leclerc was still struggling with his car’s handling and did not make it out of the second session, qualifying 11th. Team-mate Carlos Sainz did make it through was was only seventh fastest.

Fernando Alonso was another to fall flat in the final session.

The Aston Martin driver was third fastest in the second session but after an initial lap on used tyres, he aborted his final run on new tyres in the top 10 shoot-out and starts 10th, two places behind team-mate Lance Stroll, with Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg between them.