Lewis Hamilton set a new track record - and then beat it again - as he took pole position for the Australian Grand Prix.
The reigning world champion clocked a one minute 21.014-second lap in Q2 and went more than half a second faster to claim his 84th career pole and sixth consecutive at Albert Park.
He will start alongside team-mate Valtteri Bottas who went faster than Hamilton with his first flying lap in Q3 but was pipped by 0.112 seconds to complete a Mercedes lockout of the front row.
Hamilton had been top of every practice session going into Saturday's qualification under blue skies in Melbourne and set a new track record with a tidy lap in the second qualifying session, surpassing it in the top 10 shootout.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel qualified third, 0.704 seconds behind the five-time world champion, and will be joined on the second row by Red Bull's Max Verstappen who was 0.130 seconds further behind.
Vettel's team-mate Charles Leclerc starts fifth ahead of Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, while British rookie Lando Norris clocked a lap of one minute 22.304 seconds and will start eighth.
There was to be no home luck for Renault's Daniel Ricciardo who failed to make it out of Q2 by 0.038 seconds, while Verstappen's team-mate Pierre Gasly was a shock exit in the first qualifying session and will start Sunday's race in 18th, ahead of the Williams duo of George Russell and Robert Kubica.
Australian Grand Prix qualifying results
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1min 20.486secs |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1min 20.598secs |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1min 21.190secs |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1min 21.320secs |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1min 21.442secs |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1min 21.826secs |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1min 21.826secs |
| 8 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1min 22.304secs |
| 9 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo Racing | 1min 22.314secs |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 1min 22.781secs |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1min 22.562secs |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1min 22.570secs |
| 13 | Alexander Albon | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1min 22.636secs |
| 14 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing | 1min 22.714secs |
| 15 | Daniil Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1min 22.774secs |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 1min 23.017secs |
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull | 1min 23.020secs |
| 18 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | 1min :23.084secs |
| 19 | George Russell | ROKiT Williams Racing | 1min 24.360secs |
| 20 | Robert Kubica | ROKiT Williams Racing | 1min 26.067secs |
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