Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole position for the 2014 Australian Grand Prix this morning in a wet Melbourne.

The 29-year-old Mercedes AMG Petronas racer dramatically edged out Silver Arrows colleague Nico Rosberg and Red Bull rookie Daniel Ricciardo and will line-up at the front of the grid at the Albert Park track.

Hamilton’s pole lap was 1m 44.231s in very difficult conditions. It’s the 32nd pole of Hamilton’s F1 career, equalling Nigel Mansell’s record in second place for a British driver, behind Jim Clark.

Ricciardo will line-up on the front row alongside Hamilton for his home race, with Rosberg third fastest in qualifying.

McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen qualified fourth in a thrilling session in treacherous conditions, with Fernando Alonso fifth for Ferrari in the provisional qualifying results.

Rosberg was unlucky not to take provisional pole, but locked up and ran wide on what was a flying lap.

Red Bull newcomer Ricciardo then claimed provisional pole but was immediately beaten by Hamilton.

On their final flying laps it became a straight fight between the two Silver Arrows men and Ricciardo for pole and it was Hamilton who snatched it.

With very changeable conditions on a wet track, there were some big name casualties in Q2.

Both Mercedes drivers successfully got through, with Rosberg fastest and Hamilton fourth on the timesheets behind Ricciardo and Alonso.

However, Red Bull’s reigning F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel could only manage 13th place, missing the top 10 shootout for the first time in 27 races, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo was second fastest.

Jenson Button also failed to make it in his McLaren, and he will line-up 11th on the starting grid.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen crashed into the wall in the final 30 seconds of the qualifying period, sustaining front-end damage to his car and leaving him P12 in qualifying.

Adrian Sutil and Sergio Perez also went out in Q2.