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

  1. The cars are sleeping

    Take a look inside the McLaren garage...

    Sadly, this year the general F1 public without a Sky subscription are going to need a lot more of these videos to see what's happening at the circuit.

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  2. What was going on on Friday at Albert Park?

    Final practice starts from 03:00 GMT

    Andrew Benson
    BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Melbourne

    Ferrari, who clearly had the fastest car in pre-season testing, were off the pace in the second session.

    Were they hiding their pace? Had Mercedes been doing the same in testing? Did Ferrari have a problem? The answer is that, yes, Ferrari were hiding their pace - the engine was turned right down, to the extent that Sebastian Vettel was barely any quicker than Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo on one lap, or Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault on a long run.

    But he also said he had been struggling with balance and Charles Leclerc the same with getting his tyres in the window. Meanwhile, the Mercedes looked fantastic out on track, and is clearly very quick. It’s all poised very nicely indeed for qualifying.

    Ferrari managementGetty Images

  3. It's Saturday

    The day we've been waiting for since pre-season testing in Barcelona last month - to see where these 20 drivers will put their mark in the sand with their new cars in qualifying.

    In both of yesterday's free practice sessions, Mercedes were the quickest; but we still don't have a good indication of where the teams are at in terms of pace - except Williams, who have been far slower than any other team so far this year.

    We've got one final practice session before it all unfolds.

    MelbourneGetty Images