Summary

  • Hamilton on pole, Bottas 2nd, Vettel 3rd

  • Big gap from Hamilton to Vettel - seven tenths of a second

  • Brit Norris 8th for McLaren

  • Get involved #bbcf1

Live Reporting

Niamh Lewis

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  2. Get Involved

    David M: Fantasy grid - Hamilton, Norris, Ricciardo, Russell. Realistically I hope for - Ham, Bottas, LeClerc, Vettel

    Kayleigh: It’s so very early! But it’s quali time so excited! Hoping for a little Ferrari sandwich! Vet, Ham, Lec. Top 10 for both Renaults, Sainz into Q2.

    Joanna Harran: Good morning all. Up at silly o'clock time again. Lets get this new season started. Hoping @McLarenF1 have decent season. Brilliant to see @alo_oficial doing so well elsewhere (we knew he would).

  3. Valtteri Bottas has changed over winter

    He now has a beard and spent the winter rallying in Lapland, as well as working on coming back stronger - as he says.

    He's been near the top of the leaderboard in practice only a fraction of a second off his team-mate, so what can we expect to see from the Finn in this session?

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  6. BBC coverage

    BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

    Our commentary team of Jack, Jennie and Jolyon will be back at 05:55 GMT on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra.

  7. Get Involved

    What's your guess for the line-up first two rows of the grid tomorrow?

    Who's looking quick? Who's having a shocker (apart from Williams)?

    Tweet us with #bbcf1

  8. #UnleashTheLion

    Honda engines, so far so good? Difficult to tell since we haven't had a race yet. What can we expect from Max today? Wildcard, anyone?

    Max VerstappenGetty Images

  9. Tributes to Charlie Whiting

    Qualifying 06:00 GMT

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  10. The Secret Aerodynamicist reveals all

    Formula 1 cars are fast. That is taken as read. But exactly how fast they are is perhaps not something people dwell on too often.

    I can't tell you my name, or where I work, because my team would not want me to be doing this. F1 is a secretive world. So let's just call me The Secret Aerodynamicist.

    In this first column, I am going to explain how the two cars expected to battle for this year's world championship differ in a crucial aspect of aerodynamic philosophy - and how it could mean that, although Ferrari have looked very strong in pre-season testing, they might find themselves down a dead end when it comes to developing and improving their car through the season.

    The secret aerodynamicistBBC Sport

  11. Right then, qualifying

    So Lewis Hamilton has been quickest in all three practice sessions, and he's been on pole here for the last five years... so there's something here which seems inevitable.

    However, who knows what could happen; we haven't really seen any driver's true pace yet, except for Haas, who seem to have something to show off.

  12. When football and F1 collide

    Watch Jack Nicholls' latest F1 breakdown.

    Australian Grand Prix: Formula 1 Breakdown - Are Ferrari fastest?

  13. Listen to the Aussie GP preview podcast

    What's eating Hamilton?

    Our BBC Radio 5 live commentary team of Jack Nicholls, Jolyon Palmer and Jennie Gow preview the first race of the 2019 season in Melbourne.

    Listen and download the podcast on BBC Sounds.

    Lewis HamiltonGetty Images

  14. Andrew Benson
    BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Melbourne

    A bit more information on Ferrari’s Friday. Sebastian Vettel was complaining over the radio to the team about the car “feeling odd” during second practice. He said there “seemed to be something wrong” and that the car felt “a bit wobbly”.

    So, yes, they were running the engine down on power, but they were also struggling. Still, both Vettel and Charles Leclerc said they were confident the team could get on top of whatever was wrong.

  15. Meet Williams' newest driver

    One of three rookies on the grid this year. BBC Sport went to see George Russell...

    Falling in love with racing, doing your washing & special 63 - meet F1's George Russell

  16. We're back for qualifying

    Melbourne is quite beautiful.

    Melbourne viewF1 Twitter

  17. Andrew Benson
    BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Melbourne

    Lewis Hamilton looks in good shape ahead of qualifying at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after a strong performance in final practice.

    The world champion set the pace by 0.264 seconds from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and has looked to have an edge all weekend so far.

    The second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc was 0.193secs behind his team-mate, with the impressive Haas cars of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen fourth and fifth after a mistake by Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas on his fastest lap.

    The Finn was also pipped by Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly, whose team-mate Max Verstappen was only ninth.

    Red Bull’s gap to the front - 1.075 seconds - will be chastening for a team that had hoped to make a step forward this season, if the result is matched in qualifying.

    Qualifying at 1700 local time (0600 UK) will finally reveal the true pace of the cars for the first time.

  18. Final practice is over

    Lewis Hamilton is quickest, and has been on pole in the last five Australian Grands Prix, but he's only won once in that time in 2015.

    Plus an impressive performance from Haas too, finishing in fourth and fifth in that session.

    What else have Ferrari got to show us in qualifying?

    We're going to take a break for a little while, we'll be back at 05:00 GMT.

  19. Hamilton is top once again. We have one minute left on the timer.

    1. Hamilton 1:22.292
    2. Vettel 0.264
    3. Leclerc +0.347
    4. Grosjean +0.820
    5. Magnussen +1.042
    Lewis HamiltonGetty Images

  20. Our track this weekend

    One-stop, or two-stop strategy this weekend?

    We have the hard, mediums, and soft tyres, naturally...

    They translate to the C2, C3, and C4s.

    australian gp track grpahicBBC Sport