Postpublished at 07:09 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Just 0.061 separating the top three - a Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. Who's taking pole position? No room for error.
Image source, Getty ImagesSummary
Hamilton on pole, Bottas crashes heavily
Raikkonen 2nd, Vettel 3rd, Verstappen 4th
Both McLarens out in Q2, Sirotkin, Toro Rossos out in Q1
Postpublished at 07:09 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Image source, Getty ImagesPostpublished at 07:08 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Everyone is leaving the pits to begin their final runs.
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End of twitter postPostpublished at 07:06 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Jack Nicholls
Radio 5 live Formula 1 commentatorThis might be the most exciting qualifying session in a long, long, long, long time. Incredibly tight.
Postpublished at 07:06 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driverHow close is that! That's five cars all with a shot at pole.
Postpublished at 07:06 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Not quite enough for Sebastian Vettel as he goes second quickest, just 0.034s down on Lewis Hamilton.
Max Verstappen third quickest after that initial run with Kimi Raikkonen fourth (1:22.251) and Daniel Ricciardo fifth (1:22.386).
Just three tenths of a second separating the top five. We wanted a closer battle and it's looking like we might just have that...
Image source, Getty ImagesPostpublished at 07:04 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Max Verstappen is second quickest, 0.061s down on Lewis Hamilton's time.
Here comes Sebastian Vettel...
Image source, Getty ImagesPostpublished at 07:03 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
It's a 1:22.051 for Lewis Hamilton but Sebastian Vettel is quickest of all through the first sector...
Postpublished at 07:03 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Lewis Hamilton is the first to start a timed lap. Time to see what he's really got in his locker...
Image source, EPAPostpublished at 07:01 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
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End of twitter postPostpublished at 07:00 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Toto Wolff looked utterly exasperated by that crash. A little mistake, where Valtteri Bottas hit the grass, proved hugely costly and leaves Mercedes with a lot of work to do before tomorrow's race.
The clean up job is complete and the session is restarted.
Get involved #bbcf1published at 06:58 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Ian qurgatt: I slept in on a Saturday nearly missed Q3 only to find out it was red flagged. At least something good came out of it Bottas.
Postpublished at 06:57 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
There's a whole host of marshals on the scene to complete the clean up job where Valtteri Bottas crashed. A fair bit of work for them to do as the crash led to loads of debris spreading across the circuit.
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End of twitter postPostpublished at 06:54 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
The recovery truck is on the scene to recover that heavily damaged Mercedes while Valtteri Bottas is picked up and given a lift back to base.
Postpublished at 06:53 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
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End of twitter postPostpublished at 06:52 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in MelbourneThat is a bad start to the season for Valtteri Bottas. A huge crash at Turn Two in the first qualifying session of a year in which he needs to impress early on to convince Mercedes to keep him on for 2019. Now he's in negative territory almost before the season has started.
Postpublished at 06:52 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driverSo much damage to the car. It is a high speed corner there. He got on the grass, there are shards of debris littered from the wall up to where the car came to a rest.
Red flagpublished at 06:50 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Big crash by Valtteri Bottas straight from the off!
He carried too much speed into Turn 2 and slides into the wall.
"Let us know you're OK," he is asked.
"Yep, I'm OK."
Postpublished at 06:49 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driverYou can't see past Lewis Hamilton. I will stick to my guns from pre-season.
Final qualifying startspublished at 06:49 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Here we go then. The battle for pole position is a go!
Get involved #bcbf1published at 06:48 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018
Matthew James Webb: Here we go #AusGP, external Q3. Let’s see some true pace
Kayleigh: Righto, refocus- Vet/Ham/Bot top 3. Hulk top 7.