Lewis Hamilton leads Ferrari challenge to take pole in Australia
Lewis Hamilton will start on pole position after turning a 1:22.188 during the last round of qualifying at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Australia on Saturday. It is his 62nd F1 pole position.
Hamilton will line up ahead of Sebastian Vettel in second, who put his Ferrari in front of Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in third on the grid. Raikkonen will line up alongside Bottas on the second row in fourth, while Max Verstappen will line up fifth in the Red Bull.
Behind them, Romain Grosjean managed a solid sixth place on the grid for the U.S.-based Haas F1 Team while Felipe Massa, Carlos Sainz, Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10. Ricciardo had failed to set a time in the final session after spinning out early on in Q3 and collecting the wall, bringing out the red flag.
In Q2, both Force Indias found themselves eliminated as did the remaining Renault, McLaren and Sauber following Q1. Nico Hulkenberg will start seven places ahead of his Renault teammate Jolyon Palmer while Fernando Alonso could do no better than 13th after a reported potential loss of power exiting the final turns.
In Q1, Antonio Giovinazzi led the names of the five drivers eliminated despite having only been announced as a driver earlier on in the day. Giovinazzi is standing in for Pascal Wehrlein, who is still suffering from fitness issues following his crash at the Race of Champions. Giovinazzi and Kevin Magnussen ran off during their hot laps while Stoffel Vandoorne was hampered by a fuel flow issue. Magnussen will start 11 spots behind his teammate Grosjean. Rookie Lance Stroll qualified 19th but will start last following a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change after he crashed in Saturday's practice session.
Unofficial starting lineup:
1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
2. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
3. Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes
4. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
5. Max Verstappen - Red Bull
6. Romain Grosjean - Haas
7. Felipe Massa - Williams
8. Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso
9. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso
10. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull
11. Sergio Perez - Force India
12. Nico Hulkenberg - Renault
13. Fernando Alonso - McLaren
14. Esteban Ocon - Force India
15. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber
16. Antonio Giovinazzi - Sauber
17. Kevin Magnussen - Haas
18. Stoffel Vandoorne - McLaren
19. Jolyon Palmer - Renault
20. Lance Stroll - Williams
