Hamilton starts first in Australia – Telegraph

The Formula 1 world champion started with Mercedes dominating. At the Melbourne circuit, the team’s two world champion drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, took over the starting line for Sunday’s race after recording the fastest times in qualifying.

The Briton, the reigning world champion, covered the Australian track in these tests with a time of 1 minute 20 seconds and 486 thousandths, winning his 84th career pole and sixth in a row in Melbourne.

The only one who created problems for the Briton was his teammate Valteri Bottas, who was only 112 thousandths away from him, reports Top Channel.

Behind the Finn, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third, 702 thousandths ahead of Hamilton, followed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with the Dutchman only ahead of Charles Leclerc in the closing moments. stole a place on the second starting line.

Two Haas team drivers, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, showed very good results in these tests, finishing sixth and seventh respectively.

Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez finished in the top 10 qualifying drivers, while Renault drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo finished official testing in 11th and 12th place respectively.