Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button showed that McLaren mean business ahead of the new season by claiming a 1-2 in the Australian Grand Prix qualifying.

The British pair finished ahead of Lotus's Romain Grosjean in third while reigning champion Sebastian Vettel could only place sixth for Red Bull.

Hamilton will sit on pole for tomorrow's season opener in Melbourne after recording a time of 1:24.922, with Button joining him on the front row.

German Vettel was six tenths of a second behind the McLaren duo, who were impressive in their new-look pacey car.

Meanwhile there was no place in the top 10 for Ferrari, as both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa failed to progress to the final round of qualifying.

Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher will line up alongside Grosjean in the second row after finishing fourth in his Mercedes, ahead of Vettel's Red Bull teammate Mark Webber in fifth.

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