A sorry Daniel Ricciardo made a mess of his car and dented his ego a little in the process, as Lewis Hamilton took his customary pole position for the Australian grand prix.
The local hope inexplicably spun and crashed into a barrier on a routine corner during Saturday's qualifying sessions, leaving his dream of a home grand prix win in tatters.
Ricciardo will start 10th on the grid on provisional results but could slip further back depending on the nature of repairs to his battered car.
While the rear-end smashed and will need replacing, if a new gear box is required he could be penalised a further five spots ahead of Sunday's race.
"I'm fine physically. Emotionally I'm a little bit disappointed," Ricciardo said.
"It was a little bit messy ... it has put me back to 10th as opposed to fifth or sixth.
"And unfortunately there's going to be a bit of work tonight for the mechanics, I feel for them.
"Its frustrating, more so because I don't tend to find myself in the barriers much.
"I want to beat myself up a bit."
Ricciardo's blunder came on an unassuming corner - turn 14 - and during a qualifying session controlled by Mercedes ace Hamilton.
The Englishman set a record lap time around the Albert Park circuit - one minute 22.188 seconds.
Hamilton now has four consecutive pole positions at the Australian grand prix and six overall, equalling Brazilian great Ayrton Senna's all-time record at the Australian race.
Hamilton's Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel (1:22.456) and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas (1:22.481) were next-best, followed by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, Ricciardo's Red Bull Racing teammate Max Verstappen and Haas' Romain Grosjean.
But all are long odds to catch triple world champion Hamilton, who vowed a relentless approach to the season-opening race.
"Our job is to put the car where it is most uncomfortable," he said.
"We we are going to take it over the edge or just hold it on the edge of that cliff through the whole laps, that is the fun.
"You can always try and improve. The laps are never perfect so there's little bits of time (to shave off) here and there.
"But we're very happy with how it has gone and it's a great step into tomorrow.
"Now it's just focusing and making sure we do our homework."
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