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A big contrast between the Mercedes drivers as Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the 2018 Formula 1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix, while Valtteri Bottas crashed out of qualifying.

Hamilton looked under pressure after the first Q3 runs, but produced an incredible final lap to take pole position by 0.664 seconds from Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Sebastian Vettel had been just 0.034 seconds behind Hamilton after the first runs, but couldn’t find enough time on his final run to keep team-mate at bay or pressure the Mercedes driver – suggesting he had pushed too hard in Turn 13 on his final attempt.

Max Verstappen, who had been just over half-a-tenth off Hamilton after the first Q3 runs, ended up third position after losing the rear through the Turn 13 right-hander ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

While ultrasofts were the tyres of choice for the rest of the field throughout qualifying, the Red Bull drivers will start on the supersofts, having used them to set their Q2 times.

Despite qualifying fifth fastest, Ricciardo is set to start eighth thanks to a three-place grid penalty for a red flag infringement during Friday practice.

Haas pairing Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean made good on the team’s promising testing and practice pace with sixth and seventh fastest, albeit two seconds off the pace.

Thanks to Ricciardo’s penalty, this means Haas is set to start with a third-row lockout. An awesome result for the American team.

Renault pairing Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz were eighth and ninth, with The Hulk shading his team-mate by just under half-a-tenth.

Bottas ended up tenth after crashing at Turn 2 on his first flying lap in Q3.

The Mercedes driver hit the inside kerb at Turn 1, which appeared to push him deep mid-corner and meant he touched skimmed the damp grass with his left-rear wheel.

He attempted to hold it through the second part of the right/left, but lost the rear and backed into the wall – coming to rest in the middle of the track.

Fernando Alonso was eliminated in Q2 after failing to improve on his second run, having a moment in Turn 3 and ending up three-tenths slower than his earlier attempt.

That was enough to put him one place ahead of McLaren-Renault team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne.

Sergio Perez admitted Force India “has work to do” over the radio after ending up P13, one position ahead of Williams driver Lance Stroll.

Stroll, like Alonso, overdid it into Turn 3 but then ran through the gravel, meaning he was unable to improve on his first-run pace.

Esteban Ocon completed a difficult day for Force India, aborting his first run in Q2 and then lapping just over half-a-second slower than Stroll to end up P11.

Toro Rosso driver Brendon Hartley was quickest of the five drivers eliminated in the first segment of qualifying, missing out on a place in Q2 by just 29 thousandths of a second to Ocon.

The Sauber drivers completed three runs, with Marcus Ericsson ending up P17 and less than a tenth ahead of rookie teammate Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc complained of an error in the Turn 4 left-hander that cost him a shot at advancing to Q2.

Williams debutant Sergey Sirotkin was outside the drop zone after the first Q1 runs in 15th place, but was shuffled down to P19 by the end of the session despite improving by just over three tenths on his second run.

That put him ahead only of the second Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly, whose final attempt was ruined by locking up and running off track and through the gravel at the Turn 3 right-hander.

So a superb seventh pole position for Hamilton at Melbourne. The speed of that Mercedes W09 is impressive. It’s going to be challenge for everyone to catch the champ on race day. Hopefully the Ferraris can keep Lewis honest.

Qualifying positions, Melbourne:

1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m21.164s
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m21.828s
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m21.838s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Renault 1m21.879s
5 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1m23.187s
6 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1m23.339s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m23.532s
8 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m22.152s
9 Carlos Sainz Renault 1m23.577s
10 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes –
11 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 1m23.692s
12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 1m23.853s
13 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m24.005s
14 Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1m24.230s
15 Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1m24.786s
16 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso-Honda 1m24.532s
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.556s
18 Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.636s
19 Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 1m24.922s
20 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso-Honda 1m25.295s

Scuderia Toro Rosso has officially unveiled their 2018 Formula 1 racer with a presentation in the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya paddock.

The STR13 made its track debut at a wet Misano circuit, with Brendon Hartley in the driving seat.

The former WEC sportscar champion will take on driving duties for the first day of the Barcelona test, with Pierre Gasly taking over on day two.

Hartley will then be back in the car for day three, with Gasly completing the four-day test.

After images of the car were leaked online, Toro Rosso responded by sharing the first official photo on social media.

It then officially revealed the car, which sports a similar livery to the one it raced last season, in the pitlane ahead of the start of pre-season testing.

Toro Rosso will run Honda power for the first time in 2018, after the Italian team switched from Renault to the Japanese manufacturer.

This will be interesting times for both team and engine manufacturer, with the latter suffering from a nightmare three seasons with McLaren.

Hopefully this new technical partnership will showcase Honda’s potential to succeed without the heavy pressure of winning demanded by McLaren. Best of luck to Toro Rosso in the season ahead.

As pre-season testing was about to begin, Force India pulled off the covers of its 2018 Formula 1 challenger to the media at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.

Development driver Nikita Mazepin will be at the wheel for the Mercedes-powered car’s first run on day one of testing, before Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez will then take turns in the car later on.

Ocon and Perez will then have two days apiece in the VJM11 for the second pre-season test.

Force India has finished fourth in the constructors’ championship for the last two seasons.

The team insisted that it is not considering any offers to sell the team, following recent speculation linking it with an energy drinks company.

As for the rumour name change to the team’s identity, Force India says there is a high chance it will be rebranded before the start of the championship in Australia, Melbourne.

In the meantime, the popular ‘pink panthers’ colour scheme works well for the team and best wishes for the year ahead.

The historic papaya orange makes a welcome return to McLaren as the team presented their 2018 Formula 1 racer.

The Renault-powered MCL33 was unveiled online, just three days before the first pre-season test at Barcelona.

McLaren’s MCL33, which will be driven by Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne this season, has all-orange bodywork with a hint of blue and black.

The move to a papaya orange will please many fans who felt last year’s switch to an orange-and-black design was not close enough to the colours used by founder Bruce McLaren in the team’s early years in Formula 1.

The new design is similar to the one used by Alonso when he drove a McLaren-branded Andretti entry in the Indianapolis 500 last year. So its refreshing to see the famous livery on the Grand Prix car.

With Renault power, the competitive order should help McLaren back to winning ways after three nightmare seasons with Honda. Hopefully Alonso and Stoffel can score points and podium finishes.

This is the Ferrari SF71H that will challenge rival Mercedes in this year’s Formula 1 world championship.

The halo-fitted new racer was shown off at Ferrari’s Maranello base, four days before the start of pre-season testing at Barcelona.

It features the Italian outfit’s traditional red livery, although the colour white has been reduced in contrast to its immediate predecessors.

The SF71H is the first Ferrari Formula 1 car since the 2009 machine not to feature Santander branding, following the Spanish financial giant’s decision to end its sponsorship deals.

The Scuderia heads into the season with the same driver line-up as it’s fielded in the past three years, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

Both were present at the launch, alongside the team’s new development driver Daniil Kvyat and Ferrari-backed Sauber reserve Antonio Giovinazzi.

The 2017 car’s predecessor, the SF70H, was Ferrari’s most competitive offering in years, helping Vettel to five race wins.

It sustained a credible title challenge against the hybrid era’s dominant team Mercedes for most of the season, before late-campaign accidents and engine reliability woes allowed the Silver Arrows to break away.

Ferrari’s tech chief Mattia Binotto confirmed the SF71H was an “evolution” of last year’s design, but also revealed the team has moved to a longer-wheelbase design, akin to the one preferred by Mercedes in 2017.

On the engine side, Ferrari is to start the season with an evolution of last year’s design. It is thought to have focused on reliability in particular, given last year’s problems and with Formula 1 moving to a limit of three engines per season.

High hopes rests on the success of the SF71H in terms of victories. Ferrari and the passionate race fans are expecting a more competitive and trouble-free season that will lead to that elusive Formula 1 title. Best of luck to the Scuderia.

The current Formula 1 world champions Mercedes presented their 2018 racer at Silverstone.

Valtteri Bottas was the lucky driver to experience the W09 at a cold and overcast day at the British Grand Prix venue, with Mercedes using one of its two filming days to complete a shakedown.

Bottas will carry out a series of laps in the morning before handing over the car to four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in the afternoon.

Mercedes officially launch the car with a presentation with a live social media stream.

The four-time world champion team will be the sixth F1 team to launch its 2018 challenger, following Haas, Williams, Red Bull, Sauber and Renault.

The W09 certainly looks the business and it will be fascinating to see what main challenger Ferrari has in store later.

This is the Renault R.S.18, sporting a revised livery that features more black than yellow.

The Enstore-built car will be driven by Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz, with the latter joining Renault in the last four races of the 2017 season.

Renault improved from ninth in the 2016 constructors’ championship to sixth in 2017, beating Toro Rosso at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The team’s development through 2017 was dramatic and it ended the campaign with the fourth-fastest car on merit, behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul wants to continue that upward trajectory this term.

“Last year was successful in many ways,” he said. “It was the second year in our rebuilding and a further step towards our long-term plans and aims.

“2016 was all about recruiting, investing, bringing in new sponsors, new talents and building our brand. It was a quantified progression towards what we want to become and challenging the top teams.

“Our headline target [for 2018] is to show continued progression through results. We want to be able to showcase our progression in every regard; power unit, chassis, operations, drivers.

“Everything must improve and we must continue to grow.

“We want to demonstrate this in many different ways, from the teams we will be directly racing against, to the gap to the leaders, including also our fan base and the respect that our team will inspire in our way we behave on and off track.”

Renault is the fifth team to reveal its 2018 design, after Haas, Williams, Red Bull and Sauber.

Liking the bold colours from Renault with the increase of black against the yellow. It does remind me of Jordan GP back in the days of Benson and Hedges sponsorship.

Best of luck to Renault in the upcoming Formula 1 season, challenging the other similar powered cars that is Red Bull and McLaren.

Sauber have unveiled their new-look 2018 Formula 1 racer thanks to an exciting tie-up with Alfa Romeo.

The C37 features a new colour scheme as part of a close partnership with Ferrari this season, with team boss Fred Vasseur concluded a title sponsorship deal with Alfa Romeo for 2018.

The logos of the Italian car manufacturer, a sister brand of Ferrari, prominently feature on the engine cover.

The car itself adopts a new aerodynamic philosophy, which technical director Joerg Zander hopes can deliver a step forward in performance.

“The 2018 challenger is the result of the hard work that everyone in the factory has put in over the last few months,” he said.

“Speaking about the C37, the car philosophy is much different to that of the C36. The aerodynamic concept has changed significantly and the C37 has several new features in comparison to its predecessor.

“We are positive that the new concept offers us more opportunities and will help us to make improvements during the course of the season.”

The new Sauber is fitted with Ferrari’s current power unit, with the team having run a year-old version throughout 2017.

Speaking earlier this year, driver Marcus Ericsson reckoned there was no reason why the team could not challenge strongly in the midfield thanks to progress on the engine and aero front.

“We’re up against Haas and Toro Rosso,” he said. “I think next season will be very unpredictable in some races.

“It could go very well and at points we could also challenge Renault and Force India. But there will be other races where there will be problems and we will be further down.

“The goal is simply to get into the group of teams that are in the midfield – but it is clear that there will be a very open battle grand prix after grand prix.

“I want to be in the best shape possible to find the satisfaction that was missing in 2017.”

Great to have Alfa Romeo back in Formula 1 and it’s refreshing to see a new look for Sauber. Best of luck to Charles Leclerc too, as the Formula 2 champion steps up into his first season of Grand Prix racing.

Red Bull Racing has become the latest Formula 1 team to unveil its new car ahead of the upcoming 2018 season.

The new racer, the RB14, will be driven by Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who combined for three race wins with its predecessor last year.

Fitted with the mandatory halo cockpit protection device, the RB14 has been unveiled with a striking and beautiful blue camouflage-style livery instead of the familiar red and dark blue concept the team had used for the past two seasons.

However, Red Bull has made it clear the livery is “special edition”, and that the paint job that will be used in race trim will only break cover at pre-season testing in Catalunya.

British car manufacturer Aston Martin has prominent branding on the camo livery, and the RB14’s rear wing in particular. The marque will serve as Red Bull’s title sponsor this season, having decided to step up its involvement with the outfit.

The RB14 will be powered a Renault V6 turbo hybrid, which will remain branded as TAG Heuer for a third straight season.

Hopefully this 2018-spec racer will be very competitive and can challenge the might of Mercedes and Ferrari for the championship. Best of luck to Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo for the upcoming season.

Williams Martini Racing has become the second Formula 1 outfit to officially reveal its 2018 car at an event in London.

The FW41 is the first race car designed by chief technical officer Paddy Lowe and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer.

The Mercedes-powered design looks significantly different to its predecessor, as Williams followed through on its plan to change the team’s aerodynamic philosophy.

Williams was a regular podium contender at the start of the V6 engine era and finished third in the constructors’ championship in 2014 and 2015, but has since dropped down the competitive order.

It finished fifth for second year in succession in 2017 with 83 points, 55 fewer than in 2016 and 104 points adrift of Force India in fourth.

Lance Stroll and rookie Sergey Sirotkin, who replaces Felipe Massa, will form the team’s driver line-up this season, with Robert Kubica fulfilling the role of reserve and development driver.

Still not keen on that halo safety device. Blame the FIA in pushing this feature through… Anyway, best of luck to Williams in the upcoming Formula 1 world championship.