Alonso, who will make his McLaren debut after winning the Formula One championship for the past two years with Renault, had to make do with second place on the starting grid.
Hamilton's flying lap of one minute 22.188 seconds set a new record at Albert Park but was only 0.268 seconds in front of German Vettel, offering the tantalising prospect of a competitive championship after three years of domination by the Silver Arrows.
Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa says compatriot Fernando Alonso should have no worries about joining McLaren from Renault in 2007.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Wednesday that another batch of athlete data has been leaked by the same Russian cyber espionage group that published confidential data earlier this week.
Quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel continued to set the pace at the U.S. Formula One Grand Prix, topping the final practice time sheets in another Red Bull one-two on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton led every lap from pole position to chequered flag, banging in a fastest lap for good measure to emphasise his supremacy
Fernando Alonso passed a final medical examination on Thursday and will be able to participate in the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend after the Spaniard missed the Formula One season-opener in Australia due to concussion.
Images from the first one-dayer between India and South Africa at the New Wanderers ground in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday ahead of Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg as the Silver Arrows continued to underline their dominance.
The 1998 and 1999 F1 champion was the slowest man on the track in his first test for McLaren in more than five years.
Double world champion Mika Hakkinen will drive a F1 car for the first time since 2001 when he tests for McLaren.
The Finn's lap of one minute 17.221 seconds around Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya was the second fastest of the eight days of winter testing and slower only than team mate Sebastian Vettel's best on Thursday.
Sebastian Vettel has never been one for social media or had much time for esports but even the four-times world champion has shifted his stance, however slightly, under Formula One's coronavirus lockdown. Although the 32-year-old Ferrari driver is still not remotely tempted by Twitter or Instagram, he has acquired a gaming rig. Just how much the German uses it remains to be seen.
F1, Silverstone still optimistic despite UK quarantine rules
Force India principal and co-owner Vijay Mallya has silenced any further talk of a Formula One boycott, saying his team never intended to do anything other than race.
Partial sanctions against Russian athletes over the country's state-run doping system are preliminary, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said on Sunday, defending the organisation's position amid vocal criticism.
Triple Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday to seize the championship lead from team mate Nico Rosberg for the first time this season.
Hamilton already has plenty of records, including 87 pole positions and 33 successive scoring finishes, and his 83 wins put him on course to surpass Schumacher's record tally of 91 next year.
Ferrari are considering whether to lodge a protest that could lead to the result of the Formula One world championship being overturned.
Claiming to have accessed WADA's database, Fancy Bears' hack team claimed to have leaked dozens of files allegedly relating to United States athletes on the internet.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Prolific batsman Hashim Amla (81) hit a splendid half-century before Ryan McLaren took four wickets as South Africa mauled Pakistan by 67 runs to keep themselves in the race for the ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals, in Birmingham, on Monday.
A glaring error by Ferrari denied Charles Leclerc the chance to shine at home, with the 21-year-old failing to make it through the first phase and qualifying only 16th after going fastest in final practice.
Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez described his Force India team's financial situation as 'critical' on Thursday, and recognised that his own future remained uncertain.
Formula One title contender Kimi Raikkonen accused McLaren's Sergio Perez of driving like an idiot after a Monaco Grand Prix collision that almost ended the Finn's 23-race run of scoring finishes.
Sahara Force India had a remarkable outing at the Circuit de Monaco as comeback man Adrian Sutil and teammate Paul di Resta finished a creditable fifth and ninth respectively in the crash-strewn Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, earning the team 12 World Championship points.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton seized his first win for Mercedes in the Hungarian heat on Sunday while Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel forged 38 points clear in the Formula One championship after finishing third.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Pune Warriors and Kolkata Knight Riders in Pune.
'Renault Sport Racing managing director Cyril Abiteboul told reporters that Ricciardo could be the spark needed to ignite the team on track'
Kimi Raikkonen went further, saying he had no intention of leaving McLaren.
Formula One rolls into Malaysia this week for the second round of the championship at the Sepang International Circuit, where talk surrounding the utter dominance of Mercedes will for once take a back seat to the belated arrival of Fernando Alonso.
The decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), imposed a four-year ban on Russia participating in a range of top-flight sporting tournaments, a period covering the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2022 soccer World Cup.
Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position for his home British Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday with German team mate Nico Rosberg qualifying alongside him in an all-Mercedes front row.
Bruno Senna has been given a five-place grid penalty for the Singapore Grand Prix after his Williams team changed his gearbox ahead of Sunday's race.
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