The 2014 Formula 1 World Championship got off to a thrilling but wet start with Lewis Hamilton stealing pole position for the Australian Grand Prix, from Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, on his final flying lap of qualifying with Red Bull new boy Daniel Ricciardo stealing the show with he second best time, in a session which saw some big reputations take a mighty knock and the young guns making their mark early.
Interestingly, Hamilton qualified on full wets while Ricciardo used the Pirelli intermediate tyres.
Rosberg had to settle for third while McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen claimed fourth place ahead of double World Champion Fernando Alonso.
Below the complete results:
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.699 | 1:42.890 | 1:44.231 | 22 |
| 2 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:30.775 | 1:42.295 | 1:44.548 | 20 |
| 3 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:32.564 | 1:42.264 | 1:44.595 | 21 |
| 4 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:30.949 | 1:43.247 | 1:45.745 | 19 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:31.388 | 1:42.805 | 1:45.819 | 21 |
| 6 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Renault | 1:33.488 | 1:43.849 | 1:45.864 | 21 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:33.893 | 1:43.658 | 1:46.030 | 20 |
| 8 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | STR-Renault | 1:33.777 | 1:44.331 | 1:47.368 | 20 |
| 9 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:31.228 | 1:44.242 | 1:48.079 | 21 |
| 10 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:31.601 | 1:43.852 | 1:48.147 | 19 |
| 11 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:31.396 | 1:44.437 | 13 | |
| 12 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:32.439 | 1:44.494 | 13 | |
| 13 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:31.931 | 1:44.668 | 13 | |
| 14 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:33.673 | 1:45.655 | 12 | |
| 15 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | 1:34.274 | 1:45.867 | 13 | |
| 16 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:34.141 | 1:47.293 | 13 | |
| 17 | 4 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | 1:34.293 | 5 | ||
| 18 | 17 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Ferrari | 1:34.794 | 5 | ||
| 19 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:35.117 | 7 | ||
| 20 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | 1:35.157 | 5 | ||
| 21 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:36.993 | 6 | ||
| 22 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | No time | 3 | ||
| Q1 107% Time | 1:37.129 |