australian gp f1 2014 qualifying
Lewis Hamilton qualifies pole at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix. Reuters

Qualifying ended with Lewis Hamilton coming out on top for the pole position of the 2014 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. Of course, Hamilton's pace is no surprise given Mercedes' performance on Friday and Saturday.

"Today was so much harder for everyone in these conditions," Hamilton said. "These cars are a lot harder to drive in the wet and the first time for me driving this car in the rain. To be up here is a great showing for the team."

However, Daniel Ricciardo's qualifying results comes to an enormous surprise for the grid. The 24-year-old Australian was only 0.3 seconds slower in the wet than the Mercedes.

Heavy rain ahead of Q3 received mixed responses as Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg sets an early lap. However, Daniel Ricciardo emerged onto the track with intermediates to edge the German driver by 0.05 seconds. Ultimately, Hamilton on full wets immediatey answered Rosberg with a new fastest lap. So where is Vettel, you ask? All the way down in 12th.

Vettel suffered issues with handling as qualifying unfolded. Vettel ending up 2.4 seconds behind Ricciardo in Q2. "There is not much I can do now but we are disappointed," Vettel said. "I struggled with drivability. We have lost that overnight, so we need to find out why that was."

1. Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 44.231s
2. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 44.548s
3. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 44.595s
4. Kevin Magnussen Denmark McLaren-Mercedes 1m 45.745s
5. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 45.819s
6. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 45.864s
7. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 46.030s
8. Daniil Kvyat Russia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 47.368s
9. Felipe Massa Brazil Williams-Mercedes 1m 48.079s
10. Valtteri Bottas Finland Williams-Mercedes 1m 48.147s*
11. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 44.437s
12. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 44.494s
13. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 44.668s
14. Adrian Sutil Germany Sauber-Ferrari 1m 45.655s
15. Kamui Kobayashi Japan Caterham-Renault 1m 45.867s
16. Sergio Perez Mexico Force India-Mercedes 1m 47.293s
17. Max Chilton Briton Marussia-Ferrari 1m 34.293s
18. Jules Bianchi France Marussia-Ferrari 1m 34.794s
19. Esteban Gutierrez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 1m 35.117s*
20. Marcus Ericsson Sweden Caterham-Renault 1m 35.157s
21. Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault 1m 36.993s
22. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Lotus-Renault no time