McLaren's Lewis Hamilton starts from the front row at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne.

WE ARE GO GO GO DOWN UNDER!!!!

The drivers find their spots on the grid after that lap with no incedents.

Ready for the formation lap. Michael Schumacher is on soft tyres. We have hard and soft compounds this weekend.

Christian Horner did not give anything away regarding whether Red Bull are running KERS today - but is very confident that the car complies with race regulations.

A lot has been said about the tyres, but they have performed better than expected so far. Degredation is actively encouraged though so expect at least two pitstops per driver.

The skies are blue and the sun is shining - no chance of rain it seems after two days of inclement weather. The sun will set late in the race though.

On the second row Mark Webber will start alongside Jenson Button as Red Bull and McLaren locked out the top four spots.

A fly-past screams above the grid - a Boeing 747 - as the drivers prepare to get into their cars. Excitement building.

As we edge towards the race start, check out what's new in F1 for 2011 with our interactive graphic tool.

With 15 minutes to race time, the grid observes a minute's silence to honour the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

However it was less good news for HRT - an appeal to be allowed to race despite not setting the required qualifying time was dismissed by race stewards.

Red Bull's world champion Sebastian Vettel picked up where he left off by dominating qualifying to claim pole position Down Under for the second year in a row.