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Edition

Australia

Australian GP: Hamilton storms to pole as Bottas crashes

Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the 2018 Formula 1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix, while Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas crashed out of qualifying.

Polesitter Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W09

Polesitter Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W09

Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB14 Tag Heuer
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W09
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1 W09
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF71H
Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1 Team R.S. 18
Sergey Sirotkin, Williams FW41 Mercedes
Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL33 Renault
Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team VF-18 Ferrari
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB14 Tag Heuer
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1 W09, passes Carlos Sainz Jr., Renault Sport F1 Team R.S. 18
Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso STR13 Honda
Marcus Ericsson, Sauber C37 Ferrari

Hamilton looked under pressure after the first Q3 runs, but put in a stunning final lap to take pole position by 0.664s from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Sebastian Vettel had been just 0.034s behind Hamilton after the first runs, but couldn't find enough time on his final run to keep his teammate at bay nor pressure the Mercedes driver - suggesting he had pushed too hard in Turn 13 on his final lap.

Max Verstappen, who had been just over half-a-tenth off Hamilton after the first Q3 runs, ended up third after losing the rear through the Turn 13 right-hander ahead of Red Bull Racing teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

While ultrasofts were the tyres of choice for the rest of the field throughout qualifying, the two RBR drivers will start on the supersofts, having used them to set their Q2 times.

Despite qualifying fifth fastest, Ricciardo is set to start eighth thanks to a three-place grid penalty for a red flag infringement during Friday practice.

See how they line up in Melbourne...

Haas duo lead midfield fight

Haas pairing Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean made good on the team's promising testing and practice pace with sixth and seventh fastest, albeit two seconds off the pace. Thanks to Ricciardo's penalty, this means Haas is set to start with a third-row lockout.

Renault pairing Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz were eighth and ninth, with the German shading his teammate by just under half-a-tenth.

Bottas ended up 10th after crashing at Turn 2 on his first flying lap in Q3.

The Mercedes driver hit the inside kerb at Turn 1, which appeared to push him deep mid-corner and meant he skimmed the damp grass with his left-rear wheel.

He attempted to hold it through the second part of the right/left, but lost the rear and backed into the wall, coming to rest in the middle of the track.

Fernando Alonso was eliminated in Q2 after failing to improve on his second run, having a moment in Turn 3 and ending up three-tenths slower than his earlier attempt.

That was still enough to put him 11th ahead of McLaren-Renault teammate Stoffel Vandoorne.

Sergio Perez admitted Force India "has work to do" over the radio after ending up 13th, one place ahead of Williams-Mercedes driver Lance Stroll.

Stroll, like Alonso, overdid his entry into Turn 3 and then ran through the gravel, meaning he was unable to improve on his first-run pace.

Esteban Ocon completed a difficult day for Force India, aborting his first run in Q2 and then lapping just over half-a-second slower than Stroll to end up 11th.

Toro Rosso driver Brendon Hartley was quickest of the five drivers eliminated in the first segment of qualifying, missing out on a place in Q2 by just 0.029s to Ocon.

The two Sauber drivers completed three runs, with Marcus Ericsson ending up 17th fastest and less than a tenth ahead of rookie teammate Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc admitted an error in the Turn 4 left-hander cost him a shot at advancing to Q2.

Williams debutant Sergey Sirotkin was outside the drop zone after the first Q1 runs in 15th place, but was shuffled down to 19th by the end of the session, despite improving by just over three tenths on his second run.

That put him ahead of only the second Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly, whose final attempt was ruined by locking up and running off track and through the gravel at the Turn 3 right-hander.

Provisional starting grid

ClaDriverChassisEngineTimeGap
1 united_kingdom Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes Mercedes 1'21.164  
2 finland Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari Ferrari 1'21.828 0.664
3 germany Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari Ferrari 1'21.838 0.674
4 netherlands Max Verstappen  Red Bull TAG 1'21.879 0.715
5 denmark Kevin Magnussen  Haas Ferrari 1'23.187 2.023
6 france Romain Grosjean  Haas Ferrari 1'23.339 2.175
7 germany Nico Hulkenberg  Renault Renault 1'23.532 2.368
8 australia Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull TAG 1'22.152 0.988
9 spain Carlos Sainz Jr.  Renault Renault 1'23.577 2.413
10 finland Valtteri Bottas  Mercedes Mercedes    
11 spain Fernando Alonso  McLaren Renault 1'23.692 2.528
12 belgium Stoffel Vandoorne  McLaren Renault 1'23.853 2.689
13 mexico Sergio Perez  Force India Mercedes 1'24.005 2.841
14 canada Lance Stroll  Williams Mercedes 1'24.230 3.066
15 france Esteban Ocon  Force India Mercedes 1'24.786 3.622
16 new_zealand Brendon Hartley  Toro Rosso Honda 1'24.532 3.368
17 sweden Marcus Ericsson  Sauber Ferrari 1'24.556 3.392
18 monaco Charles Leclerc  Sauber Ferrari 1'24.636 3.472
19 russia Sergey Sirotkin  Williams Mercedes 1'24.922 3.758
20 france Pierre Gasly  Toro Rosso Honda 1'25.295 4.131

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Edition

Australia