Australian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton storms to pole position before firing playful shot at rival Sebastian Vettel

Hamilton was in a class of one here at Albert Park in Melbourne as he produced yet another one-lap masterclass to fire an all-too familiar warning to his rivals

Lewis Hamilton lit the blue touch paper on his rivalry with Sebastian Vettel by storming to pole position before goading the Ferrari driver by declaring he had wiped the smile off his face.

The Briton didn’t just pull the fat from the fire for Mercedes in Albert Park this afternoon, after his team-mate Valtteri Bottas had brought the final qualifying session to a halt with a heavy crash.

The reigning world champion kept his cool during the resultant delay then pulled out a brilliant lap in which he turned a 0.107s deficit to Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari in the second qualifying session into a whopping 0.664s advantage by the finish.

His best lap was an absolute blinder that blew away the waspish pre-season suggestion from his former team-mate Nico Rosberg that his weakness is inconsistency. This was his record seventh pole position here, and a record 73rd of his career.

The signs were there as Hamilton was fastest in both of Friday’s sessions, but after heavy rain here this morning it had been Vettel who grabbed the advantage in the final hour of practice.

Hamilton was 0.272s faster than Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari in the first qualifying runs, and just slower than Vettel in the second.

Then the crucial final session was only moments old when Mercedes suffered their catastrophe. Going through Turn 1, Bottas made a small mistake which had massive consequences. On the exit to Turn 2 he took too much kerb, and spun heavily into the outer wall, smashing off his rear wing and seriously damaging his W09. It remains to be seen whether a heavy impact on the right rear wheel has also caused gearbox damage, which could result in grid penalties if a replacement is needed. As things stand, he will start 10th on the grid.

The Finn was unharmed, but the resultant red flag ruined Hamilton’s preparation for his first flying lap. When the session resumed after a rapid nine-minute clean-up by the marshals, Hamilton was just 0.34s quicker than Vettel after their first runs.

But then he really turned it on with an electrifying lap reminiscent of Ayrton Senna at his best. Four-tenths up in the first sector, he kept stretching his advantage as he annihilated the red cars.

“You would think with the results we’ve had that this would be the norm,” Hamilton said, “but this was just as intense as ever and my heart is racing right now. That was such a nice lap. I’m always striving for perfection, and that was the closest I could get.”

Much has been made about Mercedes having what Hamilton was alleged to have described as a “party mode” setting on their engine – which they have had for several seasons now – to boost power in the final qualifying session despite some engine rules being tightened up this year. But Hamilton denied that there was anything particularly different in his settings between the second and third sessions.

The defending champion finished an eye-watering six tenths of a second ahead of the rest (Getty)

“It was about hooking up the tyres, getting good temperatures and keeping them, and putting the lap together. I can assure you there is no party mode, no magic button to press.”

“What were you doing before, then?” Vettel asked.

“I was waiting to get a good lap to wipe the smile off your face,” Hamilton responded, bringing the house down.

Hamilton was in good spirits after producing close to the 'perfect lap' (Getty)

Prompted later for a response, Vettel replied: “What goes around comes around. At the end of the day if he wants to have fun on a Saturday, if that’s what he likes, he’s free to have a party tonight. And we’ll have a party tomorrow when we win.”

“It was a joke, dude,” Hamilton said, adding with a snigger, “And Kimi parties all the time.”

As Vettel scowled, once again out-manoeuvred in the humour stakes, Raikkonen looked as if he had fallen into a stupor and did not react.

“It was definitely not straightforward and it was a real surprise to see how fast the Ferraris were,” Hamilton continued, “the speed they had on the straights. Their power mode was definitely quite strong. Getting the tyres working optimally and staying in the right zone all through the lap was difficult, particularly with the rears, so it was tricky.

“That last lap was definitely for me the best of the weekend and I was very, very happy with that. One of my best, I would say. We are the best prepared that we can be. I’m excited. The track had dried out and was getting better, and you were constantly discovering new grip as you went along, which is probably why I’m so happy.”

A general view of Melbourne’s Albert Park (Getty)

In the end it was Raikkonen who got closest to Hamilton’s lap of 1m 21.164s, with 1m 21.828s, leaving Vettel third on 1m 21.838s.

“I think we did a really decent job,” the Finn said. “We didn’t know what to expect of this first qualifying. The lap time difference is still quite big but it was not a straightforward session with the disturbance, so we have to be happy where we are starting. But there is still an awful lot to be done.”

Vettel said he was happier than he had been on Friday. “Yesterday I couldn’t feel the car, but it kept improving in qualifying. But I tried to brake late in Turn 13 and it didn’t really work, so I lost some time. It’s a shame that Lewis had quite a big gap at the end. But I think we did improve the car, and I look forward to tomorrow. I hope they [Mercedes] turned it on today so that they have to turn it off for tomorrow. But we’ve had a good result, so let’s get going.”

Vettel and Hamilton joked with each other throughout the post-qualifying press conference (Getty)

Adding spice to the race prospects, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo qualified their Red Bulls fourth and fifth on 1m 21.879s and 1m 21.152s, and did so on the supersofts Pirelli tyres which are slower than the ultrasofts on which the top four set their times. So they could be in strong shape for the race too, though the Australian drops to eighth on the grid thanks to a three-place penalty for speeding under a red flag yesterday.

Behind the big guns, the Haas team ran as fast as had been expected, with Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean qualifying sixth and seventh (and starting fifth and sixth), ahead of the Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz. The improved McLaren-Renaults of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne qualified 11th and 12th, can thus start with free tyre-compound choice, and will also be part of what promises to be a close-fought midfield battle. A tough Australian Grand Prix seems likely.