Hamilton on pole with Vettel third - Confirmed Australian Grand Prix starting grid

Lewis Hamilton continued his dominance of the opening Formula 1 weekend as he took pole at the Australian Grand Prix with Valtteri Bottas completing the front row.

Ferrari had been expected to be fastest this weekend but could only manage third and fifth on the grid with Max Verstappen coming between Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc. Vettel was well off the Mercedes pace with Hamilton setting the benchmark with a track record 1:20.486, the German meanwhile could only manage 1:21.190.

Haas picked up where they left off in 2018 as they were best of the rest in sixth and seventh, partially helped by new Red Bull driver, Pierre Gasly failing to make it out of Q1. Despite describing his lap as a “s**t lap” Magnussen and his teammate Grosjean made a statement of intent.

Possibly the story of the weekend so far was rookie, Lando Norris qualifying in eighth. The Brit recorded a 1:22.099 to qualify in the top ten on his F1 debut, whilst his teammate Sainz could only beat the two Williams.           

1) LEWIS HAMILTON - 1:20.486

2) VALTTERI BOTTAS - 1:20.598

3) SEBASTIAN VETTEL - 1:21.190

4) MAX VERSTAPPEN - 1:21.320

5) CHARLES LECLERC - 1:21.442

6) ROMAIN GROSJEAN - 1:21.826

7) KEVIN MAGNUSSEN - 1:22.099

8) LANDO NORRIS - 1:22.304

9) KIMI RAIKKONEN - 1:22.314

10) SERGIO PEREZ - 1:22.781

11) NICO HULKENBERG - 1:22.562

12) DANIEL RICCIARDO - 1:22.570

13) ALEXANDER ALBON - 1:22.636

14) ANTONIO GIOVINAZZI - 1:22.714

15) DANIIL KVYAT - 1:22.774

16) LANCE STROLL - 1:23.017

17) PIERRE GASLY - 1:23.020

18) CARLOS SAINZ - 1:23.084

19) GEORGE RUSSELL - 1:24.360

20) ROBERT KUBICA - 1:26.067