Lewis Hamilton on Australia pole, with Sebastian Vettel down in 13th

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton grabbed a last-ditch pole position in a thrilling wet qualifying session at the Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton edged out Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo by 0.317 seconds with the very last lap of the session. Ricciardo's world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel was only 13th. Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg took third ahead of an impressive debut from McLaren's Kevin Magnussen in fourth and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in fifth. It was an exhilarating way to start a new season that has seen the introduction of the biggest rule changes in F1 for a generation. Red Bull's recovery from a troubled pre-season programme has been impressive but Vettel was not the beneficiary. The German, who has won the last four world championships, had a scrappy qualifying session. It was the first time he had failed to make it into the top 10 shoot-out since the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix. Vettel pitted towards the end of the second session for a fresh set of intermediate tyres, hoping to benefit from their increased grip on the slippery track. But while Ricciardo, who stayed out on track on his tyres, finished the session second fastest behind Rosberg, Vettel could not improve.