Quinn Rooney/Getty Images Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets in both practice sessions ahead of the 2019 Australian Formula One Grand Prix on Friday. The Mercedes driver finished narrowly ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the first session of the new season at Albert Park, with the pair split by just 0.038 seconds. In the second, Hamilton's closest rival was team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who was 0.048 seconds behind the Englishman's time of 1:22.600. FP1 Recap Here's the classification from the first free practice session in Melbourne: Bottas was the first driver to set a time, and he led proceedings at the halfway point. The second half of the session went less well for the Finn, as he spun in sector three and found his time beaten by Hamilton, Ferrari duo Vettel and Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen. He wasn't the only one to go for a spin, as rookie Alexander Albon—in his first F1 practice session—took a trip into the barriers and ended his session prematurely: Video Play Button Videos you might like Meanwhile, Renault's Nico Hulkenberg managed to complete just 11 laps, having had to spend more than an hour in the pits dealing with electrical issues following his installation lap. Despite that, he managed to set the 10th quickest time. FP2 Recap Here's the classification from FP2: Bottas once again reached the halfway stage with the quickest time, but on this occasion only his team-mate was able to go quicker in the closing period. At Renault, this time it was Daniel Ricciardo's turn to spend some time in the pits, but he managed to complete 31 laps. Vettel managed 35 in his Ferrari, but his complaints to his team about an unknown issue and a trip to the garage midway through the session offer some insight as to why he wasn't able to challenge Hamilton on the timesheet. As for Albon, after an eventful first session, he continued to struggle a little at Albert Park: He'll have been relieved that he was far from the only driver to go for a spin, though, as Kimi Raikkonen and Leclerc also spent time on the grass. While the first session hinted Ferrari could give Mercedes a close run this season, the second was a reminder that it's early days and there are issues still to resolve. Saturday's final practice and qualifying will give us a better idea of what to expect from the race on Sunday.<doc-sep>Live: F1 Australian Grand Prix Welcome to our live coverage of the 2019 Australian Grand Prix practice and qualifying sessions. Australian hope Daniel Ricciardo has been downplaying his hopes for the 2019 Formula One season but even he didn’t see what was coming in qualifying. The 29-year-old dramatically failed to progress through to the final session of qualifying after being bundled out by 0.08 seconds in Q2. Ricciardo’s final lap wasn’t enough for him to sneak into the top 10 as both he and teammate Nico Hulkenberg failed to make the final session, finishing 11th and 12th. For reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, it was business as usual, equalling Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna’s record of eighth pole positions at one Grand Prix track with a spellbinding qualifying lap in Melbourne, Hamilton’s sixth consecutive pole in Melbourne. Hamilton was more than 0.4 seconds behind teammate Valtteri Bottas as he approached his final flying lap, but delivered an absolutely stonking final lap to steal pole. The result saw Mercedes lock out the front row of the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix with Sebastian Vettel more than 0.7 seconds behind. Max Verstappen made a late charge to finish fourth ahead of Charles Leclerc. “Mercedes smashed them to bits there,” Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle said. “Absolutely smashed Red Bull and Ferrari.” The pole position is Hamilton’s eighth pole in Melbourne and the sixth consecutive time he has secured pole in Australia It was also Hamilton’s 58th career pole with Mercedes. Hamilton said it was a tense qualifying session and that he was “shaking it was so close out there”. At the end of the second round of qualifying, Ricciardo and his teammate only did the one late run in the second session — and they came to regret it when neither of their cars could break the top 10. “Both Renaults out, a bit of a shocker there,” Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle said. Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat, Antonio Giovinazzi, Alex Albon, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg were the drivers eliminated. Ricciardo also suffered the added pain of finishing second to his teammate. Q2: Full classification New lap record for Hamilton 👊 Both Toro Rossos, Giovinazzi and the Renaults are out 🔽#AusGP 🇦🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/b77qhVrItU — Formula 1 (@F1) March 16, 2019 BREAKING: ELIMINATED (Q2) Double 🍌 as both Renaults leave qualifying 😯 11 HUL 12 RIC 13 ALB 14 GIO 15 KVY#AusGP 🇦🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/jthNotGEAy — Formula 1 (@F1) March 16, 2019 Ricciardo said that 12th wasn’t where the car was and he was confident to sneak into the points tomorrow. “I knew it was going to be tough but I did believe we had the pace for Q3,” Ricciardo said. “I don't know how deep we could have got into the top 10 but I was just half a tenth to get into Q3 and I knew that was there, it was in the car. I lost it in the first sector, I was down a bit, close to a tenth there. That's alone was why I was frustrated with myself because I knew it was there in the car. It’s alright, normally if I don’t qualify as well as I think I can, I seem to carry a little chip on my shoulder for the race, so I’ll use this fuel for tomorrow.” While Ricciardo wasn’t happy with where he ended up, he did beat out Pierre Gasly, the driver who replaced him at Red Bull. Gasly’s failure to escape the drop zone in Q1 was the biggest shock of the session. Ricciardo had to perform his own late escape in the opening qualifying session, setting a quick, late lap to jump Gasly and record the 13th quickest lap. Gasly was eliminated in 17th position. Q1: Full classification A puncture made Kubica's situation worse 💥 Gasly timed out in the pits ⌛️#AusGP 🇦🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/PWk3EzPSik — Formula 1 (@F1) March 16, 2019 Oops. Gasly's Red Bull is knocked out of Q1. And one of the latest runs that did it was - guess who? - Daniel Ricciardo's last lap in the Renault https://t.co/qWrZoZ7ssv — Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) March 16, 2019 Red Bulls not looking too happy... probably not the start Gasly was after. #F1 #AusGP — Phill Tromans (@PhillTromans) March 16, 2019 WTF Gasly out — Ivan Arizpe (@FlexZCoD) March 16, 2019 Gasly spoke after the elimination and couldn’t hide his disappointment. “Unfortunately it is going to be tough,” Gasly said of the race. “It is going to be a difficult now but it’s a long day it is important to stay positive and take that experience with the car and improve.” Red Bull shocked F1 commentators throughout the first qualifying as drivers Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly failed to beat Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg’s time midway through the session. “What is going on at Red Bull,” Sky Sports guru Martin Brundle said. “Red Bull really on the back foot.” Ricciardo then split the Red Bulls when he registered his first time, recording the eighth fastest lap, 0.17 seconds behind Hulkenberg with five minutes left in the session. Verstappen eventually responded by setting the third fastest lap behind the two Mercedes with four minutes remaining. The two Williams, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen and the huge shock of Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly were the drivers eliminated. AUSTRALIAN GP QUALIFYING TIMESHEET 1) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:20.486 2) Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) +0.112 3) Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) +0.704 4) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.834 5) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.956 6) Romain Grosjean (Haas) +1.340 7) Kevin Magnussen (Haas) +1,613 8) Lando Norris (McLaren) +1,818 9) Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) +1,828 10) Sergio Perez (Racing Point) +2.295 Out in Q2 11) Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) 1:22.562 12) Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) 1:22.570 13) Alex Albon (Toro Rosso) 1:22.636 14) Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) 1:22.714 15) Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1:22.774 Out in Q1 16) Lance Stroll (Racing Point) 1:23.017 17) Pierre Gasly (Red Bull) 1:23.020 18) Carlos Sainz (McLaren) 1:23.084 19) George Russell (Williams) 1:24.360 20) Robert Kubica (Williams) 1:26.067<doc-sep>First Name Last Name We will use the details you have shared to manage your registration. You agree to the processing, storage, sharing and use of this information for the purpose of managing your registration as described in our Privacy Policy. Would you like to receive The WeekDay email newsletter? We will use the details you have shared to manage your newsletter subscription. You agree to the processing, storage, sharing and use of this information for the purpose of managing your subscription as described in our Privacy Policy. We will use the information you have shared for carefully considered and specific purposes, where we believe we have a legitimate case to do so, for example to send you communications about similar products and services we offer. You can find out more about our legitimate interest activity in our privacy policy. If you wish to object to the use of your data in this way, please tick here. ‘We’ includes The Week and other Dennis Group brands as detailed here<doc-sep>Here are five things we learned from Saturday at the Australian Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo’s first qualifying session for Renault is in the books, although it wasn’t the result he or millions of Australians were after. Nonetheless, there is reason for Ricciardo fans to be excited for Sunday, as he prepares to do what he does best; overtake. Lewis Hamilton is a man who likely won’t have to do much of that after he once again blitzed the field - as did teammate Valtteri Bottas - with a record-making pole position. Here are five things we learned from Saturday at the Australian Grand Prix. RACE CENTRE: Qualifying results, times AUS GP STARTING GRID: Ricciardo ‘shocker’; champ smashes records Live stream the Formula 1® Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2019 on KAYO SPORTS. Every practice, qualifying & race live & anytime in HD. Try 14-Days Free Now > RICCIARDO CAN SALVAGE A GOOD RESULT Few expected Ricciardo to light up the timesheets in his new Renault on Saturday. Qualifying 12th, however, was undoubtedly a few positions below the mark. The Australian put his hand up after qualifying, admitting he left some time out on the track. He missed Q3 by just 0.038 seconds, and was outqualified by his teammate Nico Hulkenberg by just 0.008. Had he made it through, eighth position would have been on the cards, with McLaren driver Lando Norris taking the spot in Q3 with a time just 0.266 seconds quicker than Ricciardo on a more evolved track. Nonetheless, the 29-year-old can see the positive to his disappointing Saturday, and explained why he’s in a good position for race day. “Normally, if I don’t do so well in qualifying, I seem to carry a chip on my shoulder for the race which helps me out, so I will use it as fuel for tomorrow,” he told Sky Sports. “I was more comfortable in the car today. I don’t think 12th is a representation of where we are, I feel we are better. “The changes we made today have me more confident for tomorrow ... I’m very optimistic for the race it’s just a matter of if we can pass and attack.” READ MORE: RICCIARDO FINALLY DRAWS BLOOD IN TEAMMATE BATTLE AS FERRARI GO TOE-TO-TOE WITH MERCEDES ‘I’M NOT SURE THEY’VE GOT ENOUGH’: F1 EXPERTS DOUBT RICCIARDO’S RENAULT REVOLUTION I HAVEN’T GOT FAT!’ RICCIARDO EXPLAINS FRUSTRATING AUS GP DELAY MERCEDES CAN NO LONGER HIDE THE TRUTH Mercedes have never warmed to being earmarked as the fastest team after pre-season testing. From the drivers to the team principal, the team has always preferred to point fingers elsewhere when asked before race one who has the fastest car. Last year we were led to believe Ferrari were the quickest, as we were this year, too. But either Mercedes are liars or Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel is far from his best, because the Silver Arrows appear to be title favourites once again. Even if Ferrari do have the faster package, five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton continuously finds a way to gain the upper hand, as he did comfortably on Saturday. Hamilton will lead the pack for the season opener after setting a record time of 1.20.486, 0.112 seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. Vettel finished qualifying a distant third (+0.704), and his teammate Charles Leclerc fifth (+0.956). Hamilton also equalled the record for the most pole positions at a single circuit, making it eight in Melbourne. Only legends Ayrton Senna (Imola) and Michael Schumacher (Suzuka) have claimed eight at one track. Indeed, it once again appears as if either Ferrari’s testing pace was over-estimated, Mercedes were sandbagging, or both. Hamilton, however, insists the gap to the Ferraris has come a surprise. “It’s a real shock,” he said. “But I know Ferrari will be pushing hard tomorrow and they will put up a good fight.” Mercedes have never warmed to being earmarked as the fastest team after pre-season testing. Source: AFP GASLY MUST LEARN QUICKLY Ricciardo’s Red Bull replacement got off to a nightmare start to his career with his new team after crashing out at the first stage of qualifying. Red Bull have struggled for pace all weekend but the theory was they were waiting for the perfect moment to use their ‘party mode’ with the new Honda engine. But if they were waiting to use that, then they waited too long as Gasly could only manage 17th in Q1, meaning that is where he will start on the grid. The 24-year-old qualified last on the grid in his first Melbourne experience last year and only lasted 13 laps on track and his torrid time at Albert Park continued on Saturday afternoon. Red Bull only failed to qualify from Q1 once in the whole of last season and that was because Max Verstappen crashed his car into the wall at Monaco. Verstappen himself could only manage P10 after the first qualifying session too as question marks were beginning to get asked of Red Bull. Joining Gasly in being eliminated in Q1 were Williams duo Robert Kubica and George Russell, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll. Ricciardo’s Red Bull replacement Pierre Gasly got off to a nightmare start to his career with his new team after crashing out at the first stage of qualifying. Source: Getty Images WILLIAMS HAVE FOUND ROCK BOTTOM Williams have slipped through the mid-table net and will start the 2019 season as F1’s slowest team. The English outfit have a brand new driver line-up, recruiting homegrown 21-year-old George Russell and miracle man Robert Kubica, who last raced in F1 in 2010 before a rally crash almost claimed his life. Both are great individual stories and their places on the grid at Albert Park should be celebrated. But those places will be 19th and 20th - second-to-last and dead last respectively. Williams were miles off the pace in all three practice sessions, too. Both drivers were more than four seconds off the pace in FP1 and then more than three seconds in FP2.<doc-sep>
Daniel Ricciardo has had a less than ideal start to his life at Renault, qualifying for his home Grand Prix in 12th. Daniel Ricciardo’s start to life at Renault has been less than ideal, qualifying for his home Grand Prix in 12th on a day Lewis Hamilton once again stole the show. Ricciardo was narrowly outperformed on Saturday by teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who will start Sunday’s race at Albert Park in 11th after posting a time eight hundredths of a second quicker. “Both Renaults had a bit of a shocker there,” former F1 driver Martin Brundle said on Sky Sports. RACE CENTRE: Qualifying results, times FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED: Ricciardo has ‘chip on his shoulder’, champs can’t hide: Live stream the Formula 1® Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2019 on KAYO SPORTS. Every practice, qualifying & race live & anytime in HD. Try 14-Days Free Now > The day once again belonged to five-time world champion Hamilton, who broke the track record on his way to pole position. He will lead the pack for the season opener after setting a record time of 1.20.486, 0.112 seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished qualifying a distant third (+0.704), while Max Verstappen was fourth (+0.834). Hamilton also equalled the record for the most pole positions at a single circuit, making it eight in Melbourne. Only legends Ayrton Senna (Imola) and Michael Schumacher (Suzuka) have claimed eight at one track. “I didn’t know about that. It is news to me,” Hamilton said when told about his record-equalling effort. The record wasn’t the only shock for Hamilton. He couldn’t believe Mercedes had made such great strides at Melbourne since Ferrari had dominated recent testing in Spain. “It’s a real shock. But I know Ferrari will be pushing hard tomorrow and they will put up a good fight,” he said. READ MORE: RICCIARDO FINALLY DRAWS BLOOD IN TEAMMATE BATTLE AS FERRARI GO TOE-TO-TOE WITH MERCEDES ‘I’M NOT SURE THEY’VE GOT ENOUGH’: F1 EXPERTS DOUBT RICCIARDO’S RENAULT REVOLUTION I HAVEN’T GOT FAT!’ RICCIARDO EXPLAINS FRUSTRATING AUS GP DELAY SANDBAGGING? FERRARI MYSTERY AS DELAYED DAN LEFT BEHIND BY TEAMMATE Earlier in Q1, Australian hearts were in mouths as Ricciardo languished in the dropzone when the clock ran out. The Australian flirted with an early exit, but pulled himself out of the bottom five after the buzzer by less than a tenth of a second. Red Bull new boy Pierre Gasly wasn’t so lucky and was shockingly dumped out in Q1 to make the worst possible start to his life as Ricciardo’s replacement. Gasly said he was happy with his lap but added: “Clearly the track evolution was big and it was quite a surprise (to be eliminated).” Also eliminated in Q1 was Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, and new Williams pair George Russell and Robert Kubica. Kubica was in his first F1 qualifying session since 2010, when his career, and life, were nearly ended by a serious rally crash. On Saturday, he kissed the wall twice - once in practice and once in qualifying - and ended up on the grass in Q1. The biggest shock of Q2 was reserved for McLaren youngster Lando Norris, who scraped into the final session on F1 debut. Elsewhere, Ferrari recruit Charles Leclerc qualified in fifth, while Haas pair Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen were quick enough for sixth and seventh respectively. Kimi Raikkonen was ninth in his new Alfa Romeo. AUSTRALIAN GP QUALIFYING TIMESHEET 1) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:20.486 2) Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +0.112 3) Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +0.704 4) Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.834 5) Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.956 6) Romain Grosjean Haas +1.340 7) Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.613 8) Lando Norris McLaren +1.818 9) Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo +1.828 10) Sergio Perez Racing Point +2.295 Out in Q2 11) Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:22.562 12) Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:22.570 13) Alex Albon Toro Rosso 1:22.636 14) Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:22.714 15) Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:22.774 Out in Q1 16) Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:23.017 17) Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1:23.020 18) Carlos Sainz McLaren 1:23.084 19) George Russell Williams 1:24.360 20) Robert Kubica Williams 1:26.067 Relive all the action in the blog below. PROBLEM AROUND RICCIARDO’S GENTLEMAN AREA’ On Friday, Practice 2 didn’t start well for Ricciardo after a problem with his seat meant he missed a chunk of time at the start. “It was a bit frustrating,” he said.