Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the Australian Grand Prix, with a dominant performance in Melbourne that left his rivals reeling as he and Mercedes proved their car is once again ominously strong over the single-lap discipline. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was in second place but a full six-tenths back and followed in third by the Finn’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
The two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were fourth and fifth fastest but very close to the Ferraris.
Ricciardo will start from eighth, however, because he has been given a three-place grid penalty after not slowing sufficiently behind red flags during second practice on Friday.
Hamilton’s team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, fared even worse, after an accident that left him unhurt but failing to record a time in Q3.
Having secured his fourth world championship last season and in doing so taking 11 poles, Hamilton has made the best possible start to the new campaign by putting his Mercedes at the front of the grid for Sunday’s race.
His time of 1.21.164 was an all-time lap record but more important was six-tenths quicker than Raikkonen in second and had seven-tenths on Vettel in third.
This, his fifth pole in a row in Australia, makes him the first driver to take the top spot for so many consecutive races at Albert Park and moves his career tally up to 73. It is Hamilton’s seventh pole in Melbourne and he has now surpassed his hero Ayrton Senna’s record of six poles at the Australian Grand Prix. Senna took all his in Adelaide, while Albert Park has hosted Hamilton’s successes.
Haaas confirmed their pre-season promise with Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean in sixth and seventh while the two Renaults of Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz were in eighth and ninth.
McLaren, looking to return to top form now using Renault engines, had a difficult session as Fernando Alonso had warned would be the case in Australia. He went out in 11th place in front of his team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne. The two Force Indias of Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon had a slow start to their season; the team finished fourth in the constructors’ championship last year but the pair were knocked out in 13th and 15th respectively, with Williams’ Lance Stroll in 14th.
Brendon Hartley in the Toro Rosso, now powered by Honda engines, was eliminated in 16th place in Q3 with his team-mate Pierre Gasly in 20th. The Williams rookie Sergey Sirotkin in his first F1 qualifying went out in 19th. The Two Saubers also went out in Q3 but Charles Leclerc impressed on his F1 debut, finishing in 18th just one tenth down on his far more experienced team-mate Marcus Ericsson.
