Lewis Hamilton secured his sixty-second career pole position and his sixth in Australia as he set the fastest lap time ever seen at the Albert Park circuit on Saturday.
The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver set a time of 1:22.188 to grab top spot ahead of Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who ended up 0.268 seconds behind.
Hamilton made his debut in Formula 1 at this circuit back in 2007 and has two previous wins at the track, and is looking forward to making it three on Sunday as he begins his fight for a fourth World Drivers’ Championship.
“It’s been a fantastic weekend so far,” said Hamilton. “It’s amazing to be here for the 11th time. It feels like only yesterday that I came here for my first race in 2007.
“I’m just incredibly proud of the team. The rule change has been huge – it’s been such a massive challenge and the guys have worked so hard to get the car to where it is today. To be up here representing them is fantastic.
“I’m looking forward to the race. I think it’s close between us and Ferrari. Tomorrow is about putting all of the work that’s gone on over the winter and over testing into practice. I think Valtteri [Bottas] did a fantastic job in his first qualifying session, which is great for us.”
