Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Melbourne

Red Bull have not had a good weekend to start the season. Never mind that Daniel Ricciardo, generally the faster of the two drivers this weekend, crashed on his first lap in Q3h. Or that Max Verstappen had a “really troubled weekend” struggling to get a balance. More important is that the car is not quick. “We are behind,” Verstappen said, “lacking grip and power. It was similar in testing, it was quite tricky as well to find a good balance - and, yeah, we definitely need to work on that.” 

But he said was “not disappointed - because form day one I never had any illusions. You never know. I went into the season very neutral and as soon as we went testing I could just see we didn’t have the pace, so for me it was very clear straight away that we were not going to be that competitive in maybe the beginning of the year. So it is not like I am really disappointed not because I could see it coming. A second is a lot. but luckily with these cars when you find a better balance it is more lap time to gain.”

Image source, .

Daniel Ricciardo's penalty means this is probably the only place we will see Shoeys today...

"It is not perfect," Daniel Ricciardo said about his penalty.

"But it is how it is and it is more motivation to carve through the field and give the crowd more to cheer me on with. In this race there are always incidents, not everyone finishes it usually."

Image source, Getty Images

It looks like the wait for an Australian to win his home race will go on as Daniel Ricciardo's weekend goes from bad to worse.

Yesterday he crashed out in the final part of qualifying as he pushed for competitive time and today he has been hit with a five-place grid penalty after an unscheduled change of the gearbox in his Red Bull.

That means Ricciardo will line up 15th on the grid. If he should somehow pull off an unlikely victory he will make history. The previous lowest starter to win this race was Britain's Eddie Irvine from 11th in 1999 for Ferrari.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Ever had it when a ball has been kicked over a fence at a school or five-a-side pitch and landed near you, leading to that high-pressure moment when you have to kick it back over and hope you don't fail embarrassingly? Well that's kinda just happened to Max Verstappen.

He has just gone over to loads of cheering fans behind a fence to lob a cap over but fails, leading to ironic cheers as he sheepishly goes to pick it back up.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Melbourne

Although he knew what was coming, Fernando Alonso was in a good enough mood when he arrived this weekend, laughing and joking with Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo in the Thursday news conference. But as the weekend has gone on, he has left no doubts about his feelings about the lack of performance of the McLaren-Honda - and particularly the engine. 

In the context of testing, 12th on the grid is perhaps not as bad it might have been. But the car is 3.2 seconds off the pace. And when it was suggested a point or two might be achievable, Alonso's feelings were clear. “One or two points, it’s OK, but it will not change my life,” he said. “We are McLaren-Honda, if we are not in the top five, in the podium, the rest is losing time.” And one statement in particular resonated in the mind. Where’s your head at, I asked him, how do you motivate yourself to go through all this again? “I expect a big change in the team, a big reaction," he said. "We will not be 13th all season, or I will not be.

Image source, Getty Images

Good to see Fernando Alonso still has his sense of humour, even if he might not find the goings on at McLaren a laughing matter.

He lines up 12th on the grid today, a good position after McLaren's poor pre-season suggested they would be in real trouble in Australia.

Image source, Getty Images

The Australian Grand Prix has been won from pole position on nine previous occasions. 

Lewis Hamilton will be hoping history does not repeat as he started at the front of the pack in Melbourne last year but Sebastian Vettel got the jump on him at the start.

In the end Hamilton finished second with Nico Rosberg taking victory. Vettel came home third.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Melbourne

Lewis Hamilton has been in fantastic form this weekend and pole position never looked in doubt, even if it was closer in the end than it looked like it might be. 

“I’m very happy with how it’s gone,” he said. But as he has discovered many times here in Melbourne, it is no guarantee of a race win. 

The start, in particular, will be crucial with overtaking expected to be limited and an expected one-stop strategy.

A weakness of Hamilton’s last year, he has been working hard on it over the winter but increased variability as a result of rule changes that mean the driver is in full control of the launch for the first time in years means there are no guarantees.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The class of 2017, ladies and gentlemen. 

Pascal Wehrlein, looking like Cristiano Ronaldo on the back right, will be watching the race from sidelines after deciding to pull out yesterday, saying he is not yet fully fit after a pre-season crash at the Race of Champions.

Antonio Giovinazzi stepped in for qualifying and put in an impressive performance. I'm very excited to see what he can do on his race debut today.

Image source, Getty Images

Morning!

If you are reading this in the UK then I trust you haven't been caught out by those pesky clocks going forward, stealing an hour of sleep. Grrr.

No matter, because adrenaline will keep us going because here we are! The first race of the season. 

There's a real buzz in the paddock about seeing just how the shiny new machines look in a race. The drivers have just had their class of 2017 photo and are now rolling around the circuit for the drivers parade.

Lights out at 06:00 BST.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Melbourne

The atmosphere is buzzing and anticipation is high ahead of the first race of a new era that Formula 1 could deliver something really spectacular. 

With Lewis Hamilton on pole, but the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel between him and team-mate Valtteri Bottas and apparently more than fast enough to take the fight to the Mercedes, plenty of action and drama is expected. 

There might not be much overtaking, but with walls so close, and the fastest and most demanding cars in years, contact of one kind or another is virtually guaranteed. Overtaking is expected to be difficult, and pit stops limited. But the drivers will be on the limit - both of the cars and themselves - for the first time in a long time. 

Image source, Getty Images

He said Ferrari are favourites...

Image source, Getty Images

... and he said Mercedes are favourites.

Image source, Getty Images

... but the time for talking is over. 

Image source, Getty Images

Both Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel line up on the front row for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in what is likely to be the first of many battles between the title rivals.

But who will land the first blow?