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 The new system, based on progressive elimination during the three
sessions rather than at the end of them, was intended to instill
more excitement but instead proved a monumental flop at Melbourne's
Albert Park circuit.
Rather than battle to the finish of each session, drivers posted
early laps and then were content to return to their garages.
The last few minutes of both the second and final qualifying periods
petered out with no drivers on track, sapping the entire process of
suspense.
Hamilton, however, will be delighted by the work he did put in that
allowed him to celebrate his 50th pole after posting a lap of one
minute 25.351 seconds, with second-placed team mate Nico Rosberg
nowhere near his time.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are third and fourth
on the grid, having confined themselves to the garage after one
flying lap apiece, not bothering to even attempt to catch Hamilton's
time.
 The top three qualifiers wasted little time in condemning the format
as a "wrong" decision and bad for fans.
"We said at the beginning it wasn't the right way," three-time world
champion Hamilton told reporters.
Four-times world champion Vettel said: "We all knew what was going
to happen. I didn't think it was very exciting.
"And in the end for the people in the grandstands, I don't feel it's
the right way to go."
STATUS QUO REMAINS
Ironically, the new format saw little change in Formula One's status
quo, with no major surprises in the top eight positions.
Max Verstappen will line up fifth for Toro Rosso, with his team mate
Carlos Sainz seventh behind Williams's Felipe Massa.
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Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo will line up eighth on the grid as the
first eliminated from Q3. His team mate Daniil Kvyat was among the
first seven knocked out of Q1, however, along with both drivers from
Manor Racing, Haas and Sauber.
Renault rookie Jolyon Palmer will start 14th behind McLaren drivers
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, the Briton sneaking into Q2 after
the clock had run down on the initial session with a last flying lap
that tipped Sauber's Marcus Ericsson out.
Recriminations for the qualifying format, which was approved only
two weeks before the season opener, continued to fly around the
paddock well after the last chequered flag waved with no drivers on
track.
"That qualifying didn't really work for me and we should apologize
to the fans here," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told the
BBC.
"We didn't put on a great show.
"We need to learn from it. The important things is not to stick our
heads in the sand, address it properly first. I would prefer to go
back to the qualifying sessions we had but that is my personal
opinion."
(Editing by John O'Brien)
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