Lewis Hamilton breaks Australian hearts and clinches pole position

English sports enthusiasts finally had something to cheer about in Australia. After a disappointing Ashes series, Lewis Hamilton broke Australian hearts by snatching pole position from home-favorite Daniel Ricciardo by 0.317 seconds, on a wet Saturday afternoon at Albert Park. The Englishman notched up his 32nd pole position of his career and is now joint-sixth in the all-time list, alongside Nigel Mansell.

Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate dominated throughout free practice and for much of the qualifying. The rain did nothing to hamper the duo’s spirits as they kept marching on. It looked like there was no stopping a front row lockout by Mercedes at Albert Park on Sunday. But, that was until Red Bull’s Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo sneaked into second spot, with his career-best qualifying finish. The ecstatic Aussie crowd cheered on and will be hoping that Sunday brings an end to Australia’s win-less streak in the Grand Prix.

Whilst there was joy for Ricciardo, it wasn’t all good news for Red Bull, as team-mate and quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel failed to get into Q3 for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix in 2012 – a streak stretching back 27 races. Whilst it was a bad day at the office for Vettel, rookies Kevin Magnussen, of Mclaren and Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso had a great day as the pair will start fourth and eighth respectively. The Dane out-qualified his more illustrious teammate Button, who will start in 10th place whilst Kvyat, finished just two places behind teammate Verne.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished a disappointing fifth, whilst Valtteri Bottas will start in 15th as a result of a gear box change. Jean-Eric Verne and Nico Hulkenberg will start sixth and seventh respectively, whilst Felipe Massa will start in ninth place in his first start for Williams, since moving from Ferrari.

Earlier on, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikonnen and Sergio Perez all failed to make it beyond Q2. It was no fairytale return to Ferrari for Kimi Raikkonen as the Finn will start a disappointing 11th, after failing to make any impact during qualifying. The Finn crashed his Ferrari towards the end of Q2, causing yellow flags, which ultimately led to both Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel slowing down and not making the cut for Q3.

Before the start of qualifying, rain was imminent and soon after Ricciardo had displaced McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen for the fastest time with 1m 30.775s, a drizzle turned into a sharp downpour which sent everyone scurrying back to the pits. In the end, Hamilton’s decision to stay on the wet-weather tyres paid dividends as he came out on top in one of the most entertaining qualifying sessions in recent memory, one that saw plenty of thrills and spills, and not mention some top quality racing.

Final Qualifying Results (top ten):

1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)

2. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)

3. Nico Rosberg (McLaren-Mercedes)

4. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren)

5. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)

6. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)

7. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)

8. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)

9. Felipe Massa (Williams)

10. Jenson Button (McLaren)