Australian Grand Prix LIVE: F1 result Valtteri Bottas wins ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton
Australian Grand Prix LIVE
Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Australia
Lewis Hamilton begins his Formula One world championship title defence in a perfect position after stealing pole ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
But the two Mercedes are likely to face a stern challenge from Ferrari star Sebastian Vettel, who has won the last two Australian Grands Prix at Albert Park.
Hamilton and Vettel went head-to-head in last year's championship, with the German eventually throwing in the towel after a number of indifferent displays towards the business end of the season. But the 30-year-old will be eager to atone for his title slip-up with a third successive win Down Under.
Max Verstappen split the Ferraris as the Red Bull sensation bids to get on the podium after a horror show in Melbourne last year, with Ferrari new boy Charles Leclerc starting in fifth.
There was an impressive debut in qualifying from McLaren teenager Lando Norris as he qualified in eighth position, but it was another forgettable session for Williams and George Russell, as they finished five seconds adrift of Hamilton at the back of the grid.
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Lap 11: Sainz retires (engine failure)
There's fire coming out of the back of Carlos Sainz's McLaren and it's a disaster for the Spaniard on his debut for his new team. He's crawled into the pits but he won't be rejoining the track - he's out of this race.
Lap 10: The midfield battle is shaping up nicely with just nine seconds covering 7th-14th so far.
Lap 6: Bottas has opened a 1.7 second lead over Hamilton while Vettel is a further 2.2s back.
Photo: Getty
Lap 3: Ricciardo and Kubica have both been into the pits after contact in separate incidents on the first lap. Not an ideal start for the Renault man at his home race.
What a start from Bottas there. He got supreme acceleration off the line and Hamilton had to yield into the first corner.
Haas's Kevin Magnussen has leapfrogged his team-mate Romain Grosjean on the first lap, while Lando Norris has dropped down to 10th.
After the first lap...
1. Bottas
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel
4. Verstappen
5. Leclerc
6. Magnussen
7. Grosjean
8. Hulkenberg
9. Raikkonen
10. Norris
LIGHTS OUT...AND AWAY WE GO!
Lap 1/58: Bottas gets down the inside of Hamilton and LEADS after the first corner!
The two Ferraris come together and Daniel Ricciardo has had a horrible start; he's lost his front wing! What a dramatic start to this race!
Photo: Getty
The engines are roaring, the drivers are waiting and the clock is ticking.
The tyre warmers are off and the formation lap is underway! We're minutes away now from the race start.
You can feel the tension, the excitement. Every team wants to get off to a good start and hopefully, that means we'll see some entertaining racing today.
THE GRID
This is how the drivers will line up on the grid today.
The sun is shining and the cars are on the grid. What a day it is to go racing Down Under!
We're set to get things underway for the formation lap at exactly 5.10am.