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Charles Leclerc will start the 2022 Australian Grand Prix on pole position as Ferrari aim to continue their strong start to the new season.
The 24-year-old won the opening race of 2022 in Bahrain and followed it up with a P2 finish in Saudi Arabia, with the Scuderia resurgent after an overhaul of the regulations in the sport over the off-season.
Defending champion Max Verstappen will complete the front row at Albert Park which has undergone some dramatic changes to the circuit since the last Australian Grand Prix in 2019.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is still struggling to get to grips with his Mercedes W13, although he still managed to out-qualify new teammate George Russell with the two Silver Arrows starting in P5 and P6, respectively.
MORE: Albon backs Verstappen to retain F1 crown in TSN exclusive
Lando Norris managed to put his McLaren on the second row after a difficult start to the season, with teammate Daniel Ricciardo also finding some improved pace, qualifying in 7th.
In contrast to his Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz could only qualify in 9th, although the Spaniard will be looking to compete at the front of the pack on race day.
Sporting News will be following the race live and providing updates, commentary and highlights as they happen below.
Lap 39: MAX VERSTAPPEN IS OUT!! A second DNF of the season in only the third race of the season for the world champion.
Lap 36: Russell is advised by Mercedes to allow Perez past for third spot if fighting him means he is risking damaging his tyres. After moaning "I don't want to hear that" the Briton allows the Red Bull driver through at Turn 11. Perez is back up in the podium places. It has not been an easy afternoon for the Mexican but he has driven smartly. He is 11 seconds behind Leclerc at the front.
Lap 33: Martin Brundle on Sky Sports in the UK has made the valid point that the safety car periods and the improved speed of Mercedes has hurt Red Bull today. It has bunched the pack up and there is no real pit window for them to pit Verstappen if they wanted to try a two-stop strategy and try and force Leclerc to do something different.
Lap 31: Great overtake by Perez at Turn 3 on Lap 30 to take fourth from Alonso, whose tyres must be feeling very old now. Hamilton then passes the Spaniard at the start of Lap 31 and surely the Alpine driver needs to pit soon. At front Leclerc is dominant, already 3.2 seconds up on Verstappen.
LAP 30/58Perez moves back past Alonso into P4 🙌Checo can now sets his sight on George Russell in P3 👀#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/IIn5Ym1Rkx— Formula 1 (@F1)
Lap 28: Leclerc has survived his scare and is now already 2.1 seconds up the road again. We are halfway through and the top 10 is Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Alonso (not pitted yet), Perez, Hamilton, Magnussen (not pitted), Norris, Ricciardo and Albon (not pitted).
Lap 27: We are racing again! Leclerc makes a mess of the restart, running wide out of the final corner and he has to be very defensive to keep Verstappen behind him.
Lap 26: With possible reference to Abu Dhabi 2021, Hamilton sighs on the pit radio "I'm not having much luck with safety cars" as his team tell him he has lost track position to teammate Russell during this full course caution period. Plenty of time still for the Briton, who is sixth.
Lap 24: Safety car is out again! Vettel crashes on exit of Turn 4 after losing control of his Aston Martin as he ran over kerb. Leclerc will lose his sizeable lead as Verstappen can now close up again. The big winner is Russell who pits under the safety car full caution and leapfrogs both Perez and Hamilton and is now third. Alonso, who hasn't pitted, is fourth in his Alpine.
LAP 24/58 ⚠️ SAFETY CAR ⚠️Vettel has hit the wall and stopped on trackA tough weekend for the Aston Martin driver 😫#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/JEBFJZGcVz— Formula 1 (@F1)
Lap 23: Leclerc pits from the lead and he retains the lead after a 2.7 seconds stop. Hamilton also pits and he leapfrogs Perez and is ahead of the Red Bull but that doesn't last long as the Mexican bravely passes him at Turn 9.
Lap 21: Well this wasn't in the script. Red Bull are badly struggling with their tyres as Perez is slipping and sliding and he has to hold off a serious lunge from Hamilton at T3. He survives to hold position and pits at the end of the lap. But Red Bull's early pit stops will hurt them later on so a Mercedes podium is now suddenly a possibility.
Lap 19: Verstappen pits. The Dutchman is 9.1 seconds behind Leclerc and finally gets rid of those struggling medium tyres. He comes out in seventh and this feels like a damage limitation, take second spot and hope for better later on in the season, then an attempt to win today.
Lap 17: Behind the front three it is Hamilton leading the best of the rest fight in fourth. The Mercedes is no match for Red Bull or Ferrari but he is almost two seconds ahead of teammate George Russell, with the two McLarens of Norris and Daniel Ricciardo close behind in sixth and seventh.
Lap 15: This is a headache for Red Bull. Verstappen is dropping ground fast to Leclerc and it is now 6.5 seconds the gap. The world champion is struggling with his tyres but it is too early for an one-stop strategy to work. It is Leclerc, Verstappen, Perez, Hamilton, Russell and Norris as your top six.
Lap 12: Verstappen complains his front left tyre is "completely grained" and it shows in the lap times as he is dramatically losing ground to Leclerc. He has gone from 1.5 to 4.2 seconds in quick time and his victory hopes are in trouble.
LAP 12/58Verstappen has a big lock-up into the final set of corners 😅He's onto the radio quickly complaining of big graining on his left front tyre 👀#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/DNm34lS9sB— Formula 1 (@F1)
Lap 10: Leclerc has a 1.4 seconds lead over Verstappen as Perez gets the job done and lunges past Hamilton at Turn 3 on Lap 10 to get third place. He is six seconds down on Leclerc but he can still be a factor on race tactics from there so it it still game on for Red Bull.
Lap 7: We are racing again. Leclerc got a little out of shape coming out of final turn but he still holds lead from Verstappen while Red Bull will be hoping Perez can find a way past Hamilton quickly to get to third so he can still be a factor in the strategic fight at the front.
Lap 4: So we can take stock while the marshals remove Sainz's car. The top 10 is Leclerc, Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Russell, Norris, Ricciardo, Ocon, Gasly and Alonso. Aston Martin have pitted Stroll behind the safety car - that is unlikely to make to much of an impact at the front but could possibly move the Canadian up the order in the midfield later on.
LAP 3/58 ⚠️ Virtual Safety Car ⚠️SAINZ IS OUT!The Ferrari driver is in the gravel, driver is OK #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/FOBd484hAU— Formula 1 (@F1)
Lap 2: Sainz is out! An awful day for the Ferrari driver. He runs wide trying to pass Mick Schumacher's Haas for 13th place and he spins into the gravel at Turn 9. The Safety Car is out to allow the Spaniard's car to be rescued from the gravel.
RACE START: We are go! Leclerc holds on to the lead from Verstappen but the big winner is Hamilton who makes up two places to get up to third in his Mercedes. Perez had made a good start from third but found his way blocked at Turn 1 and lost momentum allowing Hamilton through. Sainz has had an awful start, dropping down to 14th, five places dropped on the first lap.
2 minutes to race start: The cars all leave the grid for the final parade lap before the 58 laps of action in Melbourne gets underway. No signs of any issues for any of the drivers so it should be all 20 forming up for the run to Turn 1.
10 minutes to race start: UK TV viewers are being shown on Sky Sports replays of previous crashes and incidents at the start of past Australian Grand Prix. The 2002 one, where Ralf Schumacher vaulted over the top of Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari on the way to Turn 1, is especially brutal. Albert Park is a street track that is very fast but with minimal run-off areas in places. Hopefully the 20 drivers can provide an entertaining but safe 90 minutes or so entertainment today.
15 minutes to race start: After two red flag incidents in qualifying as Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi had a spectacular coming together and then Fernando Alonso crashed, the chances of a safety car period in the race is very likely. There have been one in both the previous races this season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and it does have the chance to change the course of the event so the team strategists will be wary.
25 minutes to race start: Lando Norris gave McLaren a welcome boost after a tough start to the season with fourth place in qualifying. But the Briton is being realistic on where his race hopes are. The Briton told Sky Sports he does not believe he can fight with the Ferrari or Red Bull cars. "They are a bit up the road from us," he said. "Our fight today is with the Mercedes."
35 minutes to race start: Leclerc's pole position on Saturday was Ferrari's first in Melbourne since Kimi Raikkonen started there in 2007. The positive omen for the Italian team to come from that is the Finn not only went on to win the race that day but he would also go on to win the title that year, the last time Ferrari had a drivers' world champion.
Meanwhile, the cars are now heading on track to complete their last-minute preparations before they head to the grid.
🟢 GREEN LIGHT 🟢The pit lane is now open! 🤩#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/tiGJKIBWsL— Formula 1 (@F1)
45 minutes to race start: The cars will start leaving their garages in five minutes to head towards the grid to prepare for the third round of the season. To put in context how dominant Lewis Hamilton has been in recent years this is the first time since 2013 that the seven-time world champion will not be on pole position in Melbourne.
Fifth looked as good as he could realistically get in Saturday's qualifying with the Mercedes no match whatsoever either in the corner
