Hamilton takes 2014 Australian GP pole position 

Ricciardo in P2, Rosberg P3. Button, Vettel and Raikkonen out in Q2.

Written by David on March 15th, 2014 at 9:43 amLast Update: March 16th, 2014 at 5:14 pm

2014 Australian GP QualifyingMercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has grabbed the first pole position of the 2014 season in an eventful and rain-hit qualifying session ahead of Sunday’s season opener Grand Prix in Albert Park, Australia.

Hamilton clocked a best time of 1:44.231 on full wet Pirelli tyres, beating by 0.317 seconds local hero Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull (1:44.548, intermediate tyres).

Team-mate Nico Rosberg ended up third (1:44.595) ahead of McLaren’s rookie Kevin Magnussen (1:45.745), Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso (1:45.817), Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne (1:45.864) and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg (1:46.030).

Toro Rosso’s rookie Daniil Kvyat (1:47.368) ended his Q3 session prematurely after crashing between Turn 10 and Turn 11 but qualified 8th and was followed by Williams’ Martini duo with Felipe Massa (1:48.079) ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas (1:48.147) who is carrying a 5-place gearbox penalty.

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel failed to enter Q3 by qualifying 13th as he, and several other drivers, were unable to improve their lap times following yellow flags caused by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen crash at the exit of Turn 3.

*Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez, will drop five places on Sunday’s grid following gearbox change penalties.

2014 Australian Grand Prix, Qualifying Session results:

Pos. No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.699 1:42.890 1:44.231 22
2 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:30.775 1:42.295 1:44.548 20
3 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.564 1:42.264 1:44.595 21
4 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.949 1:43.247 1:45.745 19
5 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:31.388 1:42.805 1:45.819 21
6 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 1:33.488 1:43.849 1:45.864 21
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:33.893 1:43.658 1:46.030 20
8 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 1:33.777 1:44.331 1:47.368 20
9 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:31.228 1:44.242 1:48.079 21
10 77 Valtteri Bottas* Williams-Mercedes 1:31.601 1:43.852 1:48.147 19
11 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.396 1:44.437 13
12 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:32.439 1:44.494 13
13 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:31.931 1:44.668 13
14 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:33.673 1:45.655 12
15 10 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1:34.274 1:45.867 13
16 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:34.141 1:47.293 13
17 4 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:34.293 5
18 17 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:34.794 5
19 21 Esteban Gutierrez* Sauber-Ferrari 1:35.117 7
20 9 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1:35.157 5
21 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:36.993 6
22 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault
Q1 107% Time 1:37.129

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