Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix 2015: Results, Times for Practice and Qualifying

The 2015 Formula 1 season kicks off on Sunday with the Australian Grand Prix on the streets of Melbourne, with Mercedes once again expected to dominate the pack. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were the only real challengers for last year's title, and judging by the pre-season tests, little has changed.

Several teams experienced significant issues with their cars during testing and Sauber enters the race weekend with major controversy surrounding its choice or drivers, via BBC Sport, so the practice sessions will serve as a benchmark to see who is truly ready to compete on Sunday.

The biggest battle will likely be fought behind Rosberg and Hamilton, although Ferrari impressed during testing and will be looking to bridge the gap with Williams and Red Bull. 

Read on for full results and recaps of every practice and qualifying session.

Qualifying: Lewis Hamilton Claims Pole Position with Dominant Performance

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World champion Lewis Hamilton got his title defence off to the perfect start as he took pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Saturday's qualifying session in Melbourne.

Hamilton had come out on top in the final practice session on Saturday, and continued his good form as he went fastest in qualifying, with a time of 1:26.327, over half a second up on second-placed teammate Nico Rosberg.

The Mercedes cars were a class apart as Williams' Felipe Massa claimed third spot on the the grid, the Brazilian beating Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel into fourth.

McLaren's disastrous weekend continued as their drivers—Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen—filled the bottom two spots, and they will start at the back of the grid in Sunday's race.

Hamilton's was a bravura performance in qualifying, with a first pole of the season rarely in doubt, and the Briton was clearly delighted with his day's work, per BBC Sport's Andrew Benson:

"

It has been a great start to the weekend. It doesn't feel that long since the last race. It has been a big rush and huge effort form the factory to get us here with this performance. It is so much fun in qualifying and I am just massively grateful for all the hard work.

"

Ferrari had a decent day as Kimi Raikkonen filled fifth spot behind teammate Vettel, with Valtteri Bottas finishing sixth in the Williams—an error in his final flying lap costing the the Finn a better grid position.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo recovered somewhat after some issues in practice, the Australian driver claiming seventh position ahead of impressive Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz.

Sainz's teammate Max Verstappen finished in 12th, while Daniil Kvyat's 13th-place finish on Saturday made it a poor qualifying session for Red Bull.

Felipe Nasr claimed 11th for Sauber—his teammate Marcus Ericsson only managing 16th fastest—while Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado finished ninth and 10th respectively for Lotus.

Hamilton has won in Melbourne only once, back in 2008, the year of his first world championship win.

However, it would be foolish to bet against him claiming victory on Sunday, as he looks the man to beat after Saturday's performance.

Here are the results from Saturday's qualifying session, per Formula1.com:

P	Name	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes			1:26.327
2	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes			1:26.921
3	Felipe Massa	Williams			1:27.718
4	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari			1:27.757
5	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari			1:27.790
6	Valtteri Bottas	Williams			1:28.087
7	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull			1:28.329
8	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso			1:28.510
9	Romain Grosjean	Lotus			1:28.560
10	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus			1:29.480
11	Felipe Nasr	Sauber		1:28.800
12	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso		1:28.868
13	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull		1:29.070
14	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India		1:29.208
15	Sergio Perez	Force India		1:29.209
16	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:31.376
17	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:31.422
18	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	1:32.037
DNQ	Will Stevens	Marussia	No time
DNQ	Roberto Merhi	Marussia	No time

P3: Lewis Hamilton Fastest, Daniel Ricciardo's Struggles Continue

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Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets in his Mercedes in the final practice session on Saturday in Melbourne, the Briton putting himself in a perfect position ahead of qualifying.

It was not a complete lockout for Mercedes at the top of the standings though, as Hamilton's teammate Nico Rosberg could only go third fastest, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in second.

Hamilton's lap-time of 1:27.9 was over half a second faster than Vettel as the Mercedes continued to look like the car to beat, as was the case last season.

Home favourite Daniel Ricciardo continued to struggle after he was forced to sit out of the second practice, the Australian having further issues on Saturday—his car had to be wheeled back to the pits at one point—as he went only 15th fastest.

Williams set themselves up well for qualifying in third practice as Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa went fourth and fifth resepctively.

Meanwhile, Vettel's teammate Kimi Raikkonen went sixth-fastest with the two Lotus drivers—Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado—just behind.

Both McLarens finished the session some way off the pace as their rotten Australian form continued, with Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button in 16th and 17th respectively, only Red Bull's Daniil Kyvat going slower.

Hamilton looks in good shape to take a first pole of the season in Saturday's qualifying session and Mercedes, once again, look like the team to beat.

Here are the full results from the third practice session in Melbourne, via Formula1.com:

P	Name	Team	Best	Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	01:27.9	11
2	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	01:28.6	13
3	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	01:28.8	14
4	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	01:28.9	14
5	Felipe Massa	Williams	01:29.0	18
6	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	01:29.0	13
7	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	01:29.5	12
8	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus	01:29.9	15
9	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	01:29.9	19
10	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	01:29.9	24
11	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	01:30.0	16
12	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	01:30.6	21
13	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	01:30.7	14
14	Sergio Perez	Force India	01:31.0	17
15	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	01:31.2	10
16	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	01:31.4	14
17	Jenson Button	McLaren	01:31.7	13
18	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull	01:32.8	6

P2: Mercedes Fastest, McLaren's Kevin Magnussen Crashes

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Mercedes' advantage over the other cars faded slightly during the second practice session, but Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were still significantly faster than the rest of the pack.

Ferrari and Williams gained on the duo and are definitely trending in the right direction, while McLaren's problems continued, as Kevin Magnussen crashed into a wall at Turn Six and Jenson Button complained of a loss of power, clocking a fastest lap over three seconds slower than the top duo.

Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson completed their first laps of the season, while Giedo van der Garde watched from the paddock, and the Dutchman could still be behind the wheel of either car on Saturday.

Mercedes continues to blow the competition out of the water, but the switch to the soft compound tires saw Ferrari bag the third and fourth fastest times with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, and the Scuderia impressed with their consistency in the longer runs.

Williams still looks like the team to beat after Mercedes, but the early signs are promising for Ferrari. Red Bull again looked somewhat disappointing during the second practice session, while Torro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr. built on his great performance during the early session, finishing seventh in P2.

Rosberg twice managed to pip team-mate Hamilton for quickest lap, but as he told Sky Sports, the differences were too small to draw any conclusions:

"

It's better than being second quickest! It won't make that much difference because there is so little between us but it's been a better day for the team. We've definitely shown we have a strong car. With Lewis, it's close, he's driving well, it's going to be a big battle. I need to nail car set-up because I am not quite there yet. It's a particular challenge here.

"

Manor still hasn't completed a single lap, but Sauber was allowed to send its drivers out during the second session, as reported by Sky Sports' Mike Wise. Van der Garde and his legal team will meet with Sauber officials on Saturday.

The full results of the second practice session, via Formula1.com:

P	Name	Team	Best Time	Laps
1	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:27.697	29
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:27.797	25
3	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:28.412	33
4	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:28.842	33
5	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:29.265	32
6	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull	1:30.016	27
7	Carlos Sainz Jr	Toro Rosso	1:30.071	41
8	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus	1:30.104	11
9	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	1:30.205	37
10	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:30.473	30
11	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	1:30.755	33
12	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:30.980	32
13	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:31.387	21
14	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	1:31.395	6
15	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:32.303	14
16	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	1:33.289	4

P1: Mercedes Dominates, Sauber Cars Stay in Paddock

Clive Mason/Getty Images

Mercedes predictably made a strong statement during Friday's first practice session, as Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton both clocked fastest lap times under the 1:30.00 mark, more than a second faster than the rest of the pack.

The Sauber duo of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr didn't complete a single lap during the early session, and Dutch former test driver Giedo van der Garde was present and wearing team overalls ahead of a possible run during qualifiers, via Sky Sports' James Galloway.

Sauber wasn't the only team grounded during the first session—Manor, using a modified car from 2014, was busy sorting out problems with its software and likely won't be competing in the second practice session, either.

Only 16 cars in total ventured onto the track, and in keeping with pre-season testing, McLaren's first session was cut short due to problems with the power-unit component. Jenson Button completed just six laps and was nearly five seconds off the pace; team-mate Kevin Magnussen managed one more before calling it quits.

Rookie drivers Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen both made an impression for Torro Rosso, finishing the first session in the top six and well ahead of the Red Bull duo of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat.

But the team to beat remains Mercedes, who looked as dominant as ever during the first session. The gap between Rosberg and last year's champion Hamilton was minimal, with the German just edging his team-mate, and with the rest of the teams more than a second off the pace, it seems the two will once again battle it out for the win on Sunday.

The full results of the first practice session, via Formula1.com:

P	Name	Team	Best Time	Laps
1	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:29.557	19
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:29.586	19
3	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:30.748	20
4	Carlos Sainz Jr	Toro Rosso	1:31.014	32
5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:31.029	13
6	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	1:31.067	31
7	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:31.188	19
8	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:31.310	14
9	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus	1:31.451	22
10	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:31.570	9
11	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull	1:32.073	18
12	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:32.247	22
13	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:32.261	19
14	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:34.542	6
15	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	1:34.785	7
16	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	2:17.782	5