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 | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:22.824 | 1:22.051 | 1:21.164 | |
| 2 | 1:23.096 | 1:22.507 | 1:21.828 | |
| 3 | 1:23.348 | 1:21.944 | 1:21.838 | |
| 4 | 1:23.483 | 1:22.416 | 1:21.879 | |
| 5 | 1:23.494 | 1:22.897 | 1:22.152 | |
| 6 | 1:23.909 | 1:23.300 | 1:23.187 | |
| 7 | 1:23.671 | 1:23.468 | 1:23.339 | |
| 8 | 1:23.782 | 1:23.544 | 1:23.532 | |
| 9 | 1:23.529 | 1:23.061 | 1:23.577 | |
| 10 | 1:23.686 | 1:22.089 | DNF | |
| 11 | 1:23.597 | 1:23.692 | ||
| 12 | 1:24.073 | 1:23.853 | ||
| 13 | 1:24.344 | 1:24.005 | ||
| 14 | 1:24.464 | 1:24.230 | ||
| 15 | 1:24.503 | 1:24.786 | ||
| 16 | 1:24.532 | |||
| 17 | 1:24.556 | |||
| 18 | 1:24.636 | |||
| 19 | 1:24.922 | |||
| 20 | 1:25.295 |
