Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 for his sixth successive Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix pole position, and eighth overall at the event.
Hamilton trailed Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas after the opening Q3 runs, following a scruffy effort through the first turn, but bounced back in the final push lap to snatch top spot.
Hamilton posted a new circuit record of 1:20.486 to beat Bottas by 0.112s, with the Finn unable to improve on his final Q3 effort.
It means Hamilton remains unbeaten at Albert Park over a single lap in the hybrid era, and joins Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher in taking eight pole positions at a single Grand Prix.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel emerged as Mercedes’ nearest challenger but was never realistically in the fight for pole position as he wound up seven-tenths down on Hamilton.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen split the Ferrari drivers to take fourth, leaving Charles Leclerc in fifth place, the Monegasque youngster nonetheless taking a career-best result.
Haas continued its strong practice pace by taking sixth and seventh, with Romain Grosjean in front of Kevin Magnussen, while Lando Norris stunned on his debut by classifying eighth for McLaren.
Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen finished ninth while Racing Point’s Sergio Perez completed the top 10.
Neither Renault driver made it through to Q3, with Nico Hulkenberg finishing 0.030s behind Perez in Q2, while Daniel Ricciardo was just 0.008s behind his team-mate. He’ll start 12th for his home event.
Toro Rosso also suffered a double Q2 elimination but it was rookie Alexander Albon who got the better of the returning Daniil Kvyat, with the pair 13th and 15th respectively.
They were split by Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, who had a wide moment through Turn 12 on his hot lap.
Lance Stroll was 16th for Racing Point while Red Bull and Pierre Gasly were caught out by the rate of improvements in Q1 and he was gradually shuffled down the order.
Gasly was eventually pushed out of safety and will start his first race for Red Bull from a low-key 17th position.
Such was the tightly-contested nature of Q1 that Gasly finished just over a tenth behind Verstappen in the session, but the Frenchman and Red Bull paid the price for the lax approach.
Carlos Sainz Jr. was unable to match rookie team-mate Norris and will take his first start for McLaren from 18th position, having pinned his early exit on losing time behind Robert Kubica on his hot lap.
Williams’ lacklustre weekend continued as George Russell and Kubica qualified firmly at the rear of the field.
Reigning Formula 2 champion Russell was 1.3s behind Sainz Jr., while Kubica was a further 1.7s in arrears, having brushed the wall on his final push lap, causing damage to the right-rear of the FW42.
It marked the worst qualifying result of Kubica’s Formula 1 career and he is set to bring up the rear of the 20-car grid when he makes his first start in eight years on Sunday.
Sunday’s 58-lap Australian Grand Prix will begin at 16:10 local time
