Lewis Hamilton took pole position at the Australian Grand Prix in a farcical debut for Formula One's new qualifying rules.
Hamilton held a margin of 0.360s over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg as they completed their fastest laps, but the new rules resulted in the session being decided with over three minutes left on the clock and none of the suspense of the previous format. The live knock-out formula failed to provide the mixed up grid F1's rule makers had hoped for and neutered Q3 as Ferrari opted to complete just one run in what appeared to be a bid to save tyres for the race. As a result, the gap between Hamilton on pole and Sebastian Vettel in third stood at 0.838s, with Kimi Raikkonen in fourth and 1.196s off the lead Mercedes.
Max Verstappen finished fifth after a single Q3 attempt, with Felipe Massa's Williams sixth and Carlos Sainz in seventh. Home hero Daniel Ricciardo dropped out in eighth. The new rules resulted in the bottom three in Q3 limited to just one lap before the clock caught up with them and they were knocked out. The top eight will all start the race on the super-soft tyres they used to set their fastest time in Q2.
The two Force Indias failed to make it through to the final session, but will start ninth and tenth with free choice on tyres for the start of the race. Valtteri Bottas ran wide on his final lap, meaning he was unable to improve and will start 11th ahead of the two McLarens, which only attempted one lap in Q2 and were both knocked out while sitting in the garage. The two Renaults will start 14th and 15th, with Jolyon Palmer beating Renault team-mate Kevin Magnussen on his debut.
Amid confusion in the Q1 session, it was Daniil Kvyat who lost out and missed the cut for Q2 along with the Sauber, Haas and Manor drivers. Palmer just managed to knock Marcus Ericsson out with a last gasp lap at the flag, while Felipe Nasr, Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez all mis-timed their laps and were knocked out while they were on a quick lap. Kvyat meanwhile, was knocked out while he was in the pits.
Following the session, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff labelled the new qualifying as "rubbish", while Red Bull boss Christian Horner called for it to be scrapped before the next round.