Lewis Hamilton grabs pole position at Australian GP, while Sebastian Vettel finished third.

The Mercedes pilot tops all three practice sessions and he reached his eighth Melbourne pole position with a new circuit record (1 min 20.486 sec / lap).

The British driver’s eighth Australian pole matches Ayrton Senna's eight at Imola and Michael Schumacher's eight at Suzuka for the most poles by one driver at one circuit in F1 history.

"Coming from winter testing we had no idea where we would be," Hamilton said.

Starting grid:

1. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MER)
2. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/MER)
3. Sebastian Vettel (GER/FER)
4. Max Verstappen (NED/RBR)
5. Charles Leclerc (MON/FER)
6. Romain Grosjean (FRA/HAA)
7. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/HAA)
8. Lando Norris (GBR/MCL)
9. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/ALF)
10. Sergio Perez (MEX/RAC)
11. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/REN)
12. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/REN)
13. Alexander Albon (THA/STR)
14. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/ALF)
15. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/STR)
16. Lance Stroll (CAN/RAC)
17. Pierre Gasly (FRA/RBR)
18. Carlos Sainz jr (SPA/MCL)
19. George Russell (GBR/WIL)
20. Robert Kubica (POL/WIL)

By Barbara Andrea Albert

Image: Motorsport Images-LAT