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Formula 1
Australian GP
2015 Australian Grand Prix Saturday - Qualifying
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McLaren watch - Magnussen is 14th, Button 16th.
Oooh, Hamilton sets two fastest sectors and then aborts the lap. No need to set that time in this session if he doesn't fancy it.
Replays show a very angry Sergio Perez seemingly being held up by Kevin Magnussen at Turn 15 there.
Hamilton is on course for another improvement here.
Massa moves ahead of Raikkonen for fifth with a 1m28.988s.
Grosjean currently sits best of the rest in the chasing pack behind the big three teams - he's seventh.
Top 6:
1 Hamilton
2 Vettel
3 Rosberg
4 Bottas
5 Raikkonen
6 Massa
1 Hamilton
2 Vettel
3 Rosberg
4 Bottas
5 Raikkonen
6 Massa
Twitter
Something extremely popular with the fans this weekend are the sparks most cars are kicking up at various points throughout the lap.
"@MercedesAMGF1: How much are we loving the showers of #F1 spark #BestFans? We think they're just mega! But then, we are part magpie...#TweetTweet #F1 #AusGP."
"@MercedesAMGF1: How much are we loving the showers of #F1 spark #BestFans? We think they're just mega! But then, we are part magpie...#TweetTweet #F1 #AusGP."
Stopwatch
Hamilton goes fastest by nearly a second with a 1m27.867s. Vettel is up to second (+0.6s) in the Ferrari.
Raikkonen and Massa jump Hamilton, slotting in behind Rosberg, who has improved to a 1m28.821s.
Commentators curse, Raikkonen has a little lockup entering Turn 9.
Rosberg is reporting something strange when he changes from 4th to 5th gear.
Hulkenberg pops up to P6 in the Force India, as the timing screen starts to light up with new personal bests.
Raikkonen glides the Ferrari beautifully through Turn 1, fully committed.
Lots of cars appearing on soft tyres now as we're inside the final 10 minutes. Here we go then, let's see what people have got up their sleeves for qualifying.
BEN ANDERSON from trackside: "Ericsson came very close to repeating his Turn 12 moment. He is all at sea through here."
Ericsson completes a messy lap on softs, moving from 17th to 11th in the Sauber.
Maldonado continues to impress on the speed trap - as he has done all weekend - recording 316.2 KPH
Rosberg is clearly having a cool-down lap on those soft tyres - he's backed off a lot through the first sector.
Stopwatch
Rosberg's first lap on the softs moves him to P1, 0.189s faster than Hamilton's previous best on mediums.
BEN ANDERSON witnessed Ericsson's spin earlier:
"He carried way too much speed into Turn 11, tried to stay on it for 12, ran wide on the exit and lost the rear. The off started in Turn 11, really. The Sauber won't stick at that speed."
"He carried way too much speed into Turn 11, tried to stay on it for 12, ran wide on the exit and lost the rear. The off started in Turn 11, really. The Sauber won't stick at that speed."
Hamilton's chart topping lap time is still only just over 0.2s quicker than Rosberg's time last year, a 1m29.375s.
Rosberg starts his lap having just baulked a pit-bound Sainz.
Rosberg is the first big-hitter to appear on softs.
Onboard action shows Sainz Jr wrestling the Toro Rosso onto the pit straight with some difficulty.
Current top 10:
1 Hamilton
2 Rosberg
3 Bottas
4 Vettel
5 Raikkonen
6 Massa
7 Nasr
8 Grosjean
9 Sainz
10 Ricciardo
1 Hamilton
2 Rosberg
3 Bottas
4 Vettel
5 Raikkonen
6 Massa
7 Nasr
8 Grosjean
9 Sainz
10 Ricciardo
Most cars are in the pits at the moment, but it's only a matter of time before they start appearing on the soft tyres to prepare for qualifying. Less than 15 minutes to go.
It was a great save from Ericsson, as cars losing the rear at the exit of Turn 12 there usually end up in the opposite wall...
Ericsson tells Sauber "all is ok", although he confirms that the team will need to change the tyres that he has clearly flat-spotted.
Yellow flag
And now Ericsson is off in the Sauber. A spin at the exit of Turn 12
Maldonado is the latest to have a slide through Turn 1, although a car exiting pits could have caused that.
Ricciardo climbs to ninth on the first lap of this run, while in Red Bull's junior outfit, Verstappen tells Toro Rosso he's coming in because he's not happy with the car.
One second covers the current top four: Hamilton, Rosberg, Bottas, Vettel.
Red Bull decided against keeping those soft tyres on, so he's re-appeared on mediums.
Twitter
Mercedes points to the "chess game" commencing between its drivers via Twitter as Hamilton pipped Rosberg to top the order a short while ago.
Ricciardo heads back out after that drama when he stopped just after the pit exit a few minutes ago.
Top 10:
1 Hamilton
2 Rosberg
3 Bottas
4 Vettel
5 Raikkonen
6 Massa
7 Grosjean
8 Nasr
9 Verstappen
10 Maldonado
1 Hamilton
2 Rosberg
3 Bottas
4 Vettel
5 Raikkonen
6 Massa
7 Grosjean
8 Nasr
9 Verstappen
10 Maldonado
Stopwatch
Hamilton makes good on the promise shown on that previous lap, going fastest by 0.2s with a 1m29.128s on mediums.
No improvement for Hamilton after all, as an excursion at Turn 9 (he's hardly alone there) ruins his lap.
Hamilton gets a bit excitable at Turn 1, a significant dab of oppo from the 2014 champion as he keeps the Mercedes on the road.
By: Glenn Freeman, Jack Benyon, AUTOSPORT staff, Ben Anderson, Edd Straw, Lawrence Barretto
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