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First qualifying highlights for the 2018 Formula 1 Season

Lewis Hamilton took home the pole position for tomorrows race in Australia, the first race of the 2018 Formula 1 season. He is followed closely behind the two Ferraris driven by Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel and then by the Red Bull Team. Teammate Valterri Bottas suffered a massive crash during qualifyings giving the Silver Arrows mixed feelings before the race tomorrow.

Interesting points to note:

  • Hamilton’s pole was his fifth straight in Melbourne, and his seventh overall in Australia – a new all-time record (he’d previously shared the record with Ayrton Senna)
  • The pole time of 1m 21.164s is the fastest lap time ever in Albert Park
  • Valtteri Bottas’s crash means Mercedes will have a car starting outside the top three for the first time in Melbourne since F1 switched to the current V6 turbo engine regulations
  • Kimi Raikkonen outqualified Sebastian Vettel for the first time in six races
  • Haas achieved the best set of qualifying results in their history with Magnussen sixth and Grosjean seventh. With Ricciardo’s grid penalty, Magnussen will start fifth – the American team’s highest-ever starting position
  • Prior to Melbourne, Magnussen hadn’t made it to Q3 since Brazil 2014
POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:22.824 1:22.051 1:21.164 20
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:23.096 1:22.507 1:21.828 17
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:23.348 1:21.944 1:21.838 20
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:23.483 1:22.416 1:21.879 18
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:23.494 1:22.897 1:22.152 17
6 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:23.909 1:23.300 1:23.187 17
7 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:23.671 1:23.468 1:23.339 17
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:23.782 1:23.544 1:23.532 16
9 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:23.529 1:23.061 1:23.577 17
10 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:23.686 1:22.089 DNF 16
11 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 1:23.597 1:23.692 14
12 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN RENAULT 1:24.073 1:23.853 14
13 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:24.344 1:24.005 14
14 18 Lance Stroll WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:24.464 1:24.230 13
15 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:24.503 1:24.786 16
16 28 Brendon Hartley SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:24.532 8
17 9 Marcus Ericsson SAUBER FERRARI 1:24.556 9
18 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 1:24.636 9
19 35 Sergey Sirotkin WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:24.922 8
20 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:25.295 7