Hamilton, Bottas finished 1-2, Ferrari’s Vettel ran third.
MELBOURNE, Australia- March 16th: Lewis Hamilton continued his dominance in Australian Grand Prix qualifying by securing the best lap times this week in all three practice sessions. The sessions were held at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.
Lewis’ reward was his eighth consecutive pole position at the Australian Grand Prix. The 2019 version will be run Sunday in Melbourne. Lewis did it in style, too, breaking the lap record with a 1: 20:486 top time.
But Hamilton’s feat wasn’t the only story for Mercedes. Teammate Valtteri Bottas, locked out the front row. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel settled for third.
Lewis Hamilton (photo, Sky Sports)
Hamilton, who was surprised by how the car responded, gave credit to his team for working hard during the off-season. “Coming from testing in winter, we had no idea where we would be,” Hamilton said in a cautious tone. “And the guys in the factory were working hard and to perfection.’
“Valtteri (Bottas) was exceptional and it was very close,” Hamilton continued. “It is good to see 16 or 17 teams close to one second of one another, showing that the new regulations are working.”
Hamilton broke the track record earlier in the second session with a 1:21:014, and topped it off with an even faster time in the final session following a slow beginning. Charles LeClerc took the fastest time in the opening period.
Some drivers were disappointing in their performances and four of them were out-qualified by younger teammates.
Max Verstappen could not get up to the top two teams, finishing his best in fourth, while the American Rich Energy Haas F1 Team had Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen began the season by taking sixth and seventh.
McLaren rookie Lando Norris was the big talk of the day, placing eighth, while Kimi Raikkonen was ninth in the Alfa Romeo. Sergio Perez took tenth in the Racing Point entry.
Equaling the same amount of pole victories as his boyhood hero (the late Ayrton Senna) didn’t seem to phase Hamilton. “I do not know about that,” Hamilton told the press afterward. “All I can say is that without my family I wouldn’t be able to do what I am doing.”
