7:20. So there you have it, Lewis Hamilton is on pole as McLaren make up the back of the grid, thanks for joining me so early in the morning as we can now look forward to the race, which we also will be broadcasting live here on VAVEL, I've been Aaron Irwin and thanks for watching.
7:15. This is Lewis Hamilton's 39th Pole Position of his career, stunning that Mercedes are so much faster than the rest of the pack.
7:10. So your grid in full:
1st) Lewis Hamilton, 2nd) Nico Rosberg, 3rd) Felipe Massa, 4th) Sebastian Vettel, 5th) Kimi Raikkonen, 6th) Valterri Bottas, 7th) Daniel Ricciardo, 8th) Carlos Sainz, 9th) Romain Grosjean, 10th) Pastor Maldonado, 11th) Felipe Nasr, 12th) Max Verstappen, 13th) Daniil Kvyat, 14th) Nico Hulkenberg, 15th) Sergio Perez, 16th) Marcus Ericsson, 17th) Jenson Button, 18th) Kevin Magnussen, DNQ) Will Stevens, Roberto Merhi.
7:06. Also a great effort from Felipe Massa to secure third, with Ferrari looking a real threat in fourth and fifth. Still hard to believe McLaren are so far down.
7:05. Stellar effort from Carlos Sainz, starting 8th on his debut, as did Daniil Kvyat last season on his debut here.
Q3: Chequered Flag! LEWIS HAMILTON TAKES POLE! The Brit goes fastest with a 1:26:3. Rosberg 2nd, Massa 3rd, Vettel 4th, Raikkonen 5th, Bottas 6th, Ricciardo 7th, Sainz 8th, Grosjean 9th, Maldonado 10th.
Q3: All ten cars on track, Bottas and Rosberg yet to set a time.
Q3: Approaching the end of the session here, with Hamilton looking to have locked down Pole, Vettel currently second, Massa third and Raikkonen fourth.
Q3: Bottas locks up on his lap, he abandons this one and will try again next time round. Hamilton sets a 1:26:4! Blistering from the Brit, Rosberg goes wide at the last corner and heads into the pits.
Q3: Drivers are on track, would love to see someone like Ricciardo or Vettel separate the two Mercedes cars. But that's highly unlikely.
Q3: Here we go Q3 is underway, with the Mercedes' looking certain for a front row lockout, it's going to be intriguing to see how well the rest do, will Vettel go third? let's find out!
6:45. Lewis Hamilton set a stunning time of 1:26:8 as he looks strong for Pole position, having gone fastest in both Qualifying sessions so far.
Q2: Chequered Flag is out, and Nasr, Verstappen, Kvyat, Hulkenberg and Perez are out after a flurry of times coming after the chequered flag, Carlos Sainz has made the top ten on his debut, great work from the Spaniard.
Q2: With four minutes remaining, Kvyat, Nasr, Hulkenberg, Perez and Maldonado make up the drop zone places. There's still plenty of time remaiining for them to make a challenge for the top ten.
Q2: Felipe Massa heads out on track in his Williams FW37.
Q2: Hamilton out on track, and posts a 1:26:8, smashing the former fastest of 1:28:0 set by Bottas of Williams.
Q2: It's rumoured that McLaren are four seconds off the pace here, that's some margin, Magnussen said: "The main priority will be to finish the race and learn from this weekend."
Q2: We're back racing here, who will make it through to the shootout? let's find out!
6:25: First time since Silverstone 2012 that Jenson Button has been eliminated from Q1.
Q1: Chequered Flag! McLaren's make up back row, wow never thought I'd be saying that, disappointing start to the MLaren Honda era. Ericsson, Button, Magnussen, Stevens and Merhi out here in Q1.
Q1: Marcus Ericsson takes to the track:
Q1: Scratch that, Hamilton in fact posts a 1:28:5, fastest on track by three tenths, Rosberg second, Maldondo, Sainz, Kvyat, Stevens and Merhi occupy the drop zone currently.
Q1: Hamilton doesn't look comfortable in his car, the Brit is posting competitive times but I'm assuming he isn't getting the optimum out the car. Button posts a 1:32:2, which is an impressive time considering the McLaren's pace.
Q1: A lot of drivers are locking up at turn one, Verstappen and Hulkenberg being two examples, with the latter drifting into the gravel trap as he returns to the track.
Q1: Sainz posts a 1:33:0, a benchmark but the young Spaniard will want to improve on that time. Hamilton is out on track here on the soft tyres. Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari is now fastest with a 1:30:1.
Q1: We're Underway here!! Carlos Sainz is the first driver out on track, we see five drivers eliminated here in Q1, and with Manor unlikely to compete, it's looking ominous for McLaren.
6:00. Drivers are getting in their cars, it's showtime here in Melbourne, all the testing over the winter has led to this moment.
5:55. Weather looks good here, no rain looks likely, meaning a Mercedes whitewash is on the cards here.
5:50. T-10 minutes! What's your predictions? Tweet me at @AaronIrwin7 or use the hashtag #VAVELF1 and let us know what you think will happen here in Melbourne!
5:45. Nico Rosberg must be the favourite for Pole, with the German achieving 11 poles in 2014. Not long until Qualifying now!
5:40. Jenson Button believes that the McLaren-Honda package can challenge Mercedes, he made the statement in an interview and showed his real commitment to the McLaren cause.
5:35. I wonder what the targets McLaren have in place, getting out of Q1 will be a real challenge here I believe. Which is terrible to say considering the calibre of the drivers and the people within the team.
5:30. And on that point how will Red Bull fare without their talisman? or do they have their own new talisman in Daniel Ricciardo? and how will Daniil Kvyat do after his promotion from Toro Rosso? I'm sure we'll get all these questions answered in due course.
5:25. It'll be intriguing to see how Sebastian Vettel settles in to his new team, with the German being so accustomed to ways at Red Bull, but it's clear he's emulating another certain German who drove for Ferrari...
5:20. It could be the final season of a few drivers on the grid, with Kimi Raikkonen being 35, and Jenson Button also being 35, and with their contracts up soon, this could be the end for two of the modern era's finest drivers.
5:15. In terms of surprises, I'd keep an eye on Toro Rosso. Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz are certainly performing well in the Practice sessions, and for a 17 year old (Verstappen) to be so competitive is shocking.
5:10. Manor are looking unlikely to make it out for Qualifying, with boss Graeme Lowdon stating that they've "run out of time". The Manor Marussia outfit have performed miraculously to get this far but it looks like Qualifying is too soon. He also called the fans "exceptional" in their support of the team.
5:05. Unfortunately McLaren are still way off the pace, with Magnussen and Button finishing 16th and 17th respectively, out of 18 runners...
5:00. Lewis Hamilton went fastest in P3, ending Rosberg's dominance of the top of the time sheets. Ferrari and Williams continue to battle it out for the title of best of the rest, with Sebastian Vettel finishing third in his Ferrari SF15-T.
4:55. Interestingly, Lewis Hamilton chose to keep his number 44 on his car, snubbing the chance to have the number 1, which is allocated to the World Champion. It's the first time since 1994 there hasn't been a number 1 on a car.
4:50. It was announced this morning that Giedo Van Der Garde has dropped his legal action, leaving Sauber to race with Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr as planned. "I have decided to give up my legal rights to race this weekend at the Melbourne Grand Prix," Van Der Garde said on Facebook.
4:45. Ironically McLaren are the most successful team round here, with a staggering 12 wins, beating Ferrari’s ten. However I can’t see either team managing to add to their tallies here.
4:40. The most successful driver on the grid at Melbourne is McLaren’s Jenson Button, the 35 year old Brit has won here in 2009, 2010 and 2012. With 2009 being the first win en route to the title with Brawn. Will Manor be another Brawn style story? Maybe not…
4:35. The F1 scene is missing someone, Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard suffered a horrible crash in Barcelona during testing and is sitting out the Australian Grand Prix on advice from his doctors, get well soon Fernando!
4:30. 90 minutes until Q1, the teams are preparing for the first Qualifying session of 2015, will we see any surprises? Will McLaren really qualify on the back row? Will anyone stop Mercedes? Only time will tell.
4:25. Here’s the circuit map, it’s a stunning track, which is fun to race on and is a challenge for drivers, if not already why not read our track guide on the Albert Park Circuit.
4:20. With the new season beginning, it’s important we don’t forget the last, and the people within it. After both Michael Schumacher and Jules Bianchi suffered horrible accidents in 2014, of course the whole Formula One community continues to send their well wishes and hopes that the two make a full and successful recovery.
4:15. Merhi though is only contracted until at least April as he’s set to race in the Formula Renault Series also. But with Nico Hulkenberg competing in Le Mans this season, he could maybe juggle the two.
4:10. It’s great to see Manor back in F1, you may remember them as Marussia, who almost folded last season before being resurrected as Manor F1. The team recruited Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi, both P1 regulars last season for the backmarkers.
4:05. Also if you have any comments, predictions or simply thoughts, you can tweet me at @AaronIrwin7, and I’ll do my best to get back to you, or use the hashtag #VAVELF1.
4:00. If you fancy reliving some famous races, feel free to read our article on classic races, not too many surprises but some really entertaining races in there.
3:55. With Mercedes’ power in P1 and P2, it’s hard to see past them for pole position, but with Williams, Red Bull and Ferrari all leading the chase, it could be a surprise session if rain indeed falls.
3:50. The tyres available to the teams are the soft and medium compounds, with the intermediates and wets of course should it start to rain here in Melbourne.
3:45. Here’s Hamilton’s pole lap from 2014, pure magic from the Brit.
3:40. Lewis Hamilton managed to grab pole position here last season, as the rain fell Hamilton put his Mercedes on the front row with a 1:44. However he couldn’t hold on to the win as his car broke down only five laps in, handing victory to Nico Rosberg.
3:35. The thought of Vettel in a Ferrari sounds weird, trust me it doesn’t look any less weird, the German swapped the blue of Red Bull for the red of the famous Scuderia.
3:30. For anyone unaware, here are the 2015 driver line-ups as follows:
Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, Williams – Felipe Massa, Valterri Bottas, Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren – Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso*, Force India – Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez, Toro Rosso – Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Lotus – Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado, Manor – Will Stevens, Roberto Merhi, Sauber – Marcus Ericsson**, Felipe Nasr**
*Replaced by Kevin Magnussen for Australia, **To be confirmed amid Van Der Garde legal proceedings.
3:25. The question is who do Sauber drop? Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr both bring in a lot of money to the Swiss team through sponsorship. Ericsson’s experience in F1 is a slight advantage as Nasr is scheduled to make his debut.
3:20. Sauber are currently still embroiled in a legal battle. Giedo Van Der Garde has taken the Swiss team to court as the team went back on a deal for the Dutchman to drive for 2015.
3:15. McLaren continued to struggle, with only 13 laps completed in the first session, and P2 saw Kevin Magnussen crash the MP4-30, while Jenson Button could only post a time 3.7 seconds off the pace.
3:10. The rest of the field had to play catch-up as no one could breach the Mercedes duo. Williams’ Valterri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel, now of Ferrari, were the two closest but were still around a second apiece off the pace of the W06’s of Rosberg and Hamilton.
3:05. Yesterday we saw just how dominant Mercedes still are, as both sessions were dominated by Nico Rosberg with team mate Lewis Hamilton closely behind.
3:00. Good morning, and welcome to the live commentary of the Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix! I’m Aaron Irwin and I’ll be keeping you up-to-date with all the going's on as we prepare to see who takes the first pole position of the 2015 season.