Australian Grand Prix 2017 Qualifying: Saturday's F1 Results, Times, Final Grid

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s Formula One Australian Grand Prix in pole position after he topped a dramatic qualifying session in Melbourne.

The three-time world champion, who posted a time of one minute, 22.188 seconds, eventually held off Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari, who will start alongside Hamilton on the front row of the grid. In his first qualifying session for Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas secured third position ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Meanwhile, it was a disappointing day for home crowd favourite Daniel Ricciardo, who crashed out in Q3 in the Red Bull.

These are the results in full from the first session of qualifying of the campaign, per the Formula One Twitter feed:

Here’s a recap of Saturday’s action from Albert Park as the drivers secured their respective spots on the grid for the first race of 2017.

Saturday Recap

Having fallen short of Mercedes on Friday in practice, Ferrari flexed their muscles early on Saturday, with Vettel particularly impressive.

The four-time world champion was just shy of half a second ahead of Bottas, with Hamilton a little further back in third. As noted by the Channel Four F1 Twitter feed, it was little surprise that nobody managed to get near Vettlel, as he set a new lap record:

However, the session was curtailed early after Williams man Lance Stroll suffered a heavy crash, which brought out red flags.

Ferrari’s recovery after a barren couple of years at least triggered some excitement ahead of qualifying, with the potential for a Mercedes monopoly on the front row of the grid no longer such a sure thing.

Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Initially the focus was on other teams, though, as the battle to make it past the first qualifying cull of the year started. There were no major shocks in Q1, although there was a fine display from Antonio Giovinazzi in the Sauber, having only stepped in to replace the unfit Pascal Wehrlein in the morning; the 23-year-old finished in a respectable 16th.

In Q2 we started to get an idea of the pace of the leaders, as they continued to lower the benchmark. Indeed, there was still little between the top teams as they safely qualified for the final session.

World champion and retired Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was looking forward to what was shaping up to be an intriguing Q3:

Just to add to the drama, there were reports on the team radio that rain was heading toward the circuit, prompting the drivers to get out early to set a lap.

Of the initial runs it was Hamilton who was the quickest, although Vettel was able to split the two Silver Arrows with a fine lap of his own. Sport statistician Sean Kelly offered an insight into just how fast the top guys were going at this point:

It was a pace that left the other teams taking desperate measures in an attempt to keep pace, including Aussie hope Ricciardo in the Red Bull.

Ricciardo was going flat out through Turn 14 when he lost control of the rear of his Red Bull. He spun backwards into the barriers, stopping the clock on the session. Per Sky Sports F1, it didn’t look good for the Aussie:

When the racing got started again, Bottas snatched provisional pole from his team-mate, although Hamilton had something left in the tank, as he lit up the leaderboard with purple in response to pull clear of the Finn, hammering in a 1:22.188.

With time expired the only man who could usurp the Mercedes duo was Vettel. And while the German was able to nudge ahead of Bottas, the mark of Hamilton proved unreachable for the Ferrari star.

"It has been a fantastic weekend so far," said Hamilton afterwards, per BBC Sport. "It feels like only yesterday I came here and had my first race here in 2007. Such an incredible journey. I am really proud of my team, the guys have worked so hard to make the car what it is today."

SAEED KHAN/Getty Images

All eyes will be on Ferrari on Sunday to see if they can carry such impressive pace over longer stints in the race. If they can, expect an enthralling spectacle to start what promises to be a fascinating year in Formula One.