Lewis Hamilton kicked off his 2017 Formula One campaign with his sixth pole position at Albert Park for the Australian Grand Prix.
With what is now the fastest qualifying lap around the Melbourne situated street circuit, the Briton set a blistering 1:22.188 to emerge ahead of his rivals in his teammate Valtteri Bottas and the Ferraris.
Sebastian Vettel managed to split the two Silver Arrows, following a flurry of one-lap dashes towards the end of Q3. That was due to a red flag neutralising proceedings after Daniel Ricciardo beached his Red Bull at Turn 14.
This is the first time a Ferrari has qualified in the top two since the Singapore Grand Prix in 2015, where Vettel himself was on pole.
The Aussie was caught pushing too hard when he lost control of the rear end of his RB13 – before sliding across Turn 14 and becoming trapped in the gravel.
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Bottas in his first outing for the reigning world champions was disappointed with third, having been almost a full three-tenths off his teammate’s pole time.
With Ricciardo relegated to tenth having set no time, Max Verstappen was the highest placed driver in the Red Bull family in fifth.
Both Toro Rosso drivers anonymously qualified in eighth and ninth – ensuring all four Red Bull-endorsed cars were in the top ten.
Romain Grosjean’s sixth in Q3 was a highlight too, with the Haas driver qualifying where he finished the race twelve months ago. His new teammate Kevin Magnussen found himself eliminated in Q1, down in seventeenth.
Despite the late call up for Sauber reserve Antonio Giovinazzi in place of the unfit Pascal Wehrlein, the Italian driver made a stellar effort to come within two-tenths of his teammate Marcus Ericsson. That two-tenths was the difference between progressing through to Q2 and relegation.
| 1. Lewis Hamilton 1’22.188 | Mercedes |
| 2. Sebastian Vettel 1’22.456 | Ferrari |
| 3. Valtteri Bottas 1’22.481 | Mercedes |
| 4. Kimi Raikkonen 1’23.033 | Ferrari |
| 5. Max Verstappen 1’23.485 | Red Bull |
| 6. Romain Grosjean 1’24.074 | Haas |
| 7. Felipe Massa 1’24.443 | Williams |
| 8. Carlos Sainz Jnr 1’24.487 | Toro Rosso |
| 9. Daniil Kvyat 1’24.512 | Toro Rosso |
| 10. Daniel Ricciardo No time | Red Bull |
| 11. Sergio Perez 1’25.081 | Force India |
| 12. Nico Hulkenberg 1’25.091 | Renault |
| 13. Fernando Alonso 1’25.425 | McLaren |
| 14. Esteban Ocon 1’25.568 | Force India |
| 15. Marcus Ericsson 1’26.465 | Sauber |
| 16. Antonio Giovinazzi 1’26.419 | Sauber |
| 17. Kevin Magnussen 1’26.847 | Haas |
| 18. Stoffel Vandoorne 1’26.858 | McLaren |
| 19. Jolyon Palmer 1’28.244 | Renault |
| 20. Lance Stroll* 1’27.143 | Williams |
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