Pole and record for Hamilton in Melbourne

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) did not go into detail during qualifying for the Australian GP. The reigning world champion set the new lap record at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne during his last attempt with a time of 1’21”164.

The four-time world champion scored his 73rd pole in F1, his seventh in Melbourne. The Mercedes driver has not been beaten in qualifying for this event since 2014.

The Briton was more than six tenths ahead of Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), its closest rival. The Finn preceded his teammate by a hundredth Sebastian Vettel.

The Ferraris are ahead of the Red Bull de Max Verstappen et Daniel Ricciardo and Haas de Kevin Magnussen et Romain Grosjean the Renault completed the Q3 rankings with Nico Hulkenberg before Carlos Sainz Jr. The R.S. 18 should nevertheless be separated by the RB14 from the Australian penalized by three places on the grid. The latter chose the super soft tires like his Dutch teammate for his first stint in the race.

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) hit the tire wall at turn 2 at the start of Q3. The Nordic driver lost control when he slipped a wheel into the grass and spun. The Finn was able to escape from his W09, but the Silver Arrow suffered heavy damage. He will move back five places on the grid following a gearbox change and will thus give up tenth place to Fernando Alonso (McLaren).

RED FLAG Q3

Heavy impact for Bottas at Turn 2#Which #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/yKgWbIfQW9

- Formula 1 (@ F1) March 24, 2018

Clear up ongoing Resumption of #Which coming up shortly #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/KJZ4yKTwrN

- Formula 1 (@ F1) March 24, 2018

Fernando Alonso failed a tenth behind Nico Hülkenberg (Renault), last qualifier for the last session in Melbourne. The Asturian was almost two tenths ahead of his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne. Lance stroll (Williams) finished in 14th place between the VJM11 of Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon.
In Q1, it is Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) which was the slowest. His teammate Brendon Hartley almost won a place for the second session by finishing just behind Esteban Ocon (Force India).

Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) beat his teammate Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque should start in front of Sergey Sirotkin (Williams).

The start of the Australian GP will be given tomorrow at 7:10 a.m. (French time). The race will be followed live with our live text. Be careful of the change to summer time which will cause you to lose an hour of sleep.