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
Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
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
Cla | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 1'21.164 | |
2 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 1'21.828 | 0.664 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 1'21.838 | 0.674 |
4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | TAG | 1'21.879 | 0.715 |
5 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Ferrari | 1'23.187 | 2.023 |
6 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 1'23.339 | 2.175 |
7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | Renault | 1'23.532 | 2.368 |
8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | TAG | 1'22.152 | 0.988 |
9 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Renault | Renault | 1'23.577 | 2.413 |
10 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | Mercedes | ||
11 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | Renault | 1'23.692 | 2.528 |
12 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | Renault | 1'23.853 | 2.689 |
13 | Sergio Perez | Force India | Mercedes | 1'24.005 | 2.841 |
14 | Lance Stroll | Williams | Mercedes | 1'24.230 | 3.066 |
15 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | Mercedes | 1'24.786 | 3.622 |
16 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | Honda | 1'24.532 | 3.368 |
17 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | Ferrari | 1'24.556 | 3.392 |
18 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber | Ferrari | 1'24.636 | 3.472 |
19 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams | Mercedes | 1'24.922 | 3.758 |
20 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | Honda | 1'25.295 | 4.131 |
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