Pierre Gasly has begun to put his Red Bull career back on track.

The Frenchman's struggles since replacing Daniel Ricciardo this year have fired up speculation that he may be ousted -- even before the end of the season.

But Gasly has been competitive all weekend at Silverstone, and he qualified fifth, right behind his on-form teammate Max Verstappen.

"Ricciardo was also missing three tenths to Verstappen," Dr Helmut Marko told Auto Motor und Sport.

Gasly agreed that he took a "big step forward" at the British GP.

"We worked well in the last days at the factory. It was progress by my side but also the team's side. There are now more puzzle pieces in the right place," he said.

Much less happy at Silverstone is Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who qualified sixth -- behind Gasly. Charles Leclerc is third, with the two Mercedes on the front row.

"We are not quite on Mercedes' pace, which is why we have to do something different," said team boss Mattia Binotto.

That 'different' thing is a fundamentally different tyre strategy, which commits Ferrari to a two-stopper on Sunday.

"It's not just about doing something different," said Marko. "You have to do something smarter."

On pole is Valtteri Bottas, six thousandths ahead of Lewis Hamilton at the Briton's home race.

"It's a huge motivation for me to beat Lewis at his home race," Bottas admitted.

"If I can beat him here, it will be difficult for him to swallow."