Record-breaking Hamilton takes clear opening pole of 2018

Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for the 2018 Australian Grand Prix with a stunning fastest lap in qualifying, his fifth pole in a row at Albert Park and record-breaking seventh.

He beat Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel by more than six-tenths of a second, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen four-hundredths further back. Following the first runs in Q3 Hamilton, Vettel and Verstappen were covered by just 0.06sec until Hamilton’s untouchable final run.

The Briton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas crashed heavily early in Q3 at the exit of the first corner, Jones, comprehensively damaging his Mercedes W09 and took no further part of the session.

Daniel Ricciardo, who set the fifth-fastest time, will serve a three-place grid penalty following a red flag infringement in FP2, when he was found to have not stayed above the mandatory minimum time.

Kevin Magnussen outqualified his Haas team-mate Romain Grosjean to claim sixth, fifth on the grid following Ricciardo’s penalty. Nico Hülkenberg secured eighth, 0.03sec ahead of Renault team-mate Carlos Sainz.

Neither McLaren made Q3, with Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne in 11th and 12th, 0.15sec apart. The all-new Force Indias were also eliminated in Q2, as Sergio Pérez could manage just 13^th and Esteban Ocon 15^th, split by the Williams of Lance Stroll.

Brendon Hartley missed out on Q2 by 0.03sec in 16^th, ahead of the Saubers Marcus Ericsson and debutant Charles Leclerc. Sergey Sirotkin’s first qualifying sees him line up on the back row, three-tenths back from the Saubers and five-tenths slower than his team-mate in the session.

Pierre Gasly completes the grid following a lock-up on his final Q1 lap that took him through the gravel.

Australian Grand Prix qualifying result

1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:21.164
2	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:21.828
3	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:21.838
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:21.879
5	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:22.152
6	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:23.187
7	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:23.339
8	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:23.532
9	Carlos Sainz	Renault	1:25.577
10	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	No time set
11	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:23.692
12	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:23.853
13	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:24.005
14	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:24.230
15	Esteban Ocon	Force India	1:24.005
16	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	1:24.532
17	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:24.556
18	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	1:24.636
19	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	1:24.922
20	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:25.295

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Free practice 3 result

1	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:26.067
2	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:28.499	+2.432sec
3	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:28.890	+2.823sec
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:31.680	+5.613sec
5	Carlos Sainz	Renault	1:33.172	+7.105sec
6	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:34.043	+7.976sec
7	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:34.174	+8.107sec
8	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:34.225	+8.158sec
9	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:34.233	+8.166sec
10	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:34.298	+8.231sec
11	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:34.990	+8.923sec
12	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	1:35.438	+9.371sec
13	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	1:35.589	+9.522sec
14	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:35.828	+9.761sec
15	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:36.171	+10.104sec
16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	1:36.448	+10.381sec
17	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:36.807	+10.740sec
18	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	1:38.482	+12.415sec
19	Esteban Ocon	Force India
20	Sergio Perez	Force India

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