Lewis Hamilton will start the first race of the season on pole position for Mercedes after dominating Saturday in Melbourne by topping all three sessions.
The Briton eased to the top spot, with both of his Q3 ‘flyers’ good enough to secure pole, whilst team-mate Nico Rosberg starts second – his best six-tenths down on Hamilton’s.
Felipe Massa starts third alongside the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Kimi Raikkonen secured fifth and the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas is sixth, but could have been higher after a late mistake.
Daniel Ricciardo struggled throughout qualifying but his final lap put him seventh, just ahead of Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz Jr, who outclassed his 17-year-old team-mate Max Verstappen down in 12th.
The Lotus cars complete the top ten ahead of 11th placed Felipe Nasr.
Meanwhile the second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat struggled and failed to escape Q2, just beating the Force India duo.
McLaren’s first qualifying session since switching to Honda was a forgettable one. Jenson Button starts 17th with Kevin Magnussen last in 18th following Manor’s non-participation. The Dane’s best lap was over five seconds down on the lead pace.
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
| 01. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:28.586 | 1:26.894 | 1:26.327 |
| 02. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:28.906 | 1:27.097 | 1:26.921 |
| 03. | F. Massa | Williams | 1:29.246 | 1:27.895 | 1:27.718 |
| 04. | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 1:29.307 | 1:27.742 | 1:27.757 |
| 05. | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:29.754 | 1:27.807 | 1:27.790 |
| 06. | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:29.641 | 1:27.796 | 1:28.087 |
| 07. | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:29.788 | 1:27.879 | 1:28.329 |
| 08. | C. Sainz Jr | Toro Rosso | 1:29.597 | 1:28.679 | 1:28.510 |
| 09. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:29.537 | 1:28.601 | 1:28.560 |
| 10. | P. Maldonado | Lotus | 1:29.847 | 1:28.726 | 1:29.480 |
| 11. | F. Nasr | Sauber | 1:30.430 | 1:28.800 | |
| 12. | M. Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:29.248 | 1:28.868 | |
| 13. | D. Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:30.402 | 1:29.070 | |
| 14. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:29.651 | 1:29.208 | |
| 15. | S. Perez | Force India | 1:29.990 | 1:29.209 | |
| 16. | M. Ericsson | Sauber | 1:31.376 | ||
| 17. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:31.422 | ||
| 18. | K. Magnussen | McLaren | 1:32.037 | ||
| 19. | W. Stevens | Manor | |||
| 20. | R. Merhi | Manor |
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