Lewis Hamilton scored his 73rd Formula 1 Pole Position with a storming lap and will start the 2018 Australian Grand Prix at the front. The Briton reached Pole at Melbourne for the seventh time in his career, which is a record at this race and achieved his fifth consecutive top spot at Albert Park.
Lewis Hamilton On Pole At Melbourne
HAM: “My heart is racing right now. I’m so grateful to the Aussies having us here every year. I’m so happy with that lap” #Quali #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/bdCRnlF25y
— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 de marzo de 2018
The Briton’s best lap was a 1:21.164 on the ultrasoft tyres. Hamilton’s lap represents a new record at Albert Park. The Englishman shattered his previous record by 1.024 seconds.
Ferrari‘s Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel finished second and third. After a tight first lap in Q3, when Hamilton led but Vettel and Max Verstappen were less than a hundredth behind and the top 5 was very close. Ferrari and Red Bull looked strong and appeared to have a shot at pole position. But Hamilton proved to be untouchable on his second flying lap and led his rivals by more than 0.6 seconds.
RAI: “It was a decent job, obviously the lap time difference is very big… but we have to be happy with where we’re starting the race” #Quali #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/v3u69ESqe8
— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 de marzo de 2018
VET: “It was really close. Shame that Lewis had quite a big gap at the end but looking forward to tomorrow” #Quali #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/PZI0eZuvuH
— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 de marzo de 2018
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo line up fourth and fifth. Kevin Magnussen edged Romain Grosjean to take sixth and relegate the Frenchman to seventh. Although both of them will take advantage of Ricciardo’s grid penalty. Renault‘s Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz were eighth and ninth in Q3. Mercedes‘ Valtteri Bottas had a tough start to his season as he crashed out of qualifying in his first flying lap of Q3. The Finn couldn’t register a lap time in the third part of Qualifying and is currently tenth.
Q1: Haas showed their speed, McLaren joined the party
The first part of qualifying seemed to confirm the pecking order one inferred during pre-season testing. Haas and McLaren demonstrated their improvement and had both their respective drivers into Q2. Renault was another team that manifested their competitiveness as Carlos Sainz was sixth and 0.7 seconds behind Hamilton’s time. Fernando Alonso finished seventh and Romain Grosjean eighth, both in front of Bottas’ W09. Brendon Hartley, Marcus Ericsson, Charles Leclerc, Sergey Sirotkin and Pierre Gasly were the first drivers to be eliminated in qualifying in 2018.
BREAKING: ELIMINATED, Q1
16 HAR
17 ERI ?
18 LEC
19 SIR
20 GAS#Quali #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/fSwKPZEkSY— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 de marzo de 2018
Q2: Red Bull’s strategy and McLaren’s fall
As Q2 approached its ends, the track started to get better and favor faster times. Sebastian Vettel moved to the top and established the then-record lap in Albert Park with an astonishing 1:21.944. The first lap under 82 seconds in Melbourne. But the main story in Q2 was Red Bull’s strategy with their two drivers. Verstappen and Ricciardo both started Q2 with the Super Soft tyre and are set to start the race with that compound, assuming Sunday is rain-free.
The second slot of drivers eliminated included McLaren’s Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, Sergio Pérez, Williams‘ Lance Stroll, and Pérez’s teammate at Force India Esteban Ocon.
INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF Q2): Game on between Vettel and Hamilton ⬇ #Quali #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/VIOVZHU1Ev
— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 de marzo de 2018
Q3: Bottas’ crash and Hamilton’s “party mode”
With the Q3 ready to start and emotions running high, Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes went off the track at the exit of turn 2 and crashed into the wall. The rear of the car was damaged, and caused a red flag. The stoppage lasted around ten minutes until action resumed.
?RED FLAG ? Q3
Heavy impact for Bottas at Turn 2#Quali #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/yKgWbIfQW9
— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 de marzo de 2018
With Bottas out, Mercedes’ hopes were on Hamilton’s shoulders. And the 33-year-old driver delivered a perfect lap to put the Silver Arrows ahead of the competition.
Fastest lap ever (1:21.164s) at Albert Park? Piece of cake ✌#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/tlXpCifaCc
— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 de marzo de 2018
The first race of the year is tomorrow when the Australian Grand Prix will get underway on Sunday. Hamilton enjoys the top spot but Ferrari and Red Bull will put pressure on the reigning World Champion.
Provisional Starting Grid
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m21.164s | – |
| 2 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m21.828s | 0.664s |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m21.838s | 0.674s |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Renault | 1m21.879s | 0.715s |
| 5 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1m23.187s | 2.023s |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1m23.339s | 2.175s |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1m23.532s | 2.368s |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1m22.152s | 0.988s |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | Renault | 1m23.577s | 2.413s |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Renault | 1m23.692s | 2.528s |
| 11 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren/Renault | 1m23.853s | – |
| 12 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m24.005s | – |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Williams/Mercedes | 1m24.230s | – |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Force India/Mercedes | 1m24.786s | – |
| 15 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | – | – |
| 16 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso/Honda | 1m24.532s | – |
| 17 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m24.556s | – |
| 18 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m24.636s | – |
| 19 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams/Mercedes | 1m24.922s | – |
| 20 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso/Honda | 1m25.295s | – |
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