Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg has won a dramatic Australian Grand Prix to claim his fourth consecutive win and 15th career victory. Although it is only the season opener, it is the first time Rosberg has led the drivers’ championship since the 2014 Italian Grand Prix.
However, it wasn’t a straightforward day for the Silver Arrows. The Mercedes’ looked in trouble as Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen took a Ferrari 1-2 from the start. Rosberg was third, with Hamilton sixth on the first lap.
The race changed after it was red-flagged on lap 18 after Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez retired from the race in a massive collision. Alonso crashed into the rear of the Haas and flipped in the gravel, an incident which the Spaniard walked away from.
Rosberg’s teammate Lewis Hamilton recovered from being sixth at one point and being unable to pass Max Verstappen’s Toro Rosso, to claim second.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel had to settle for third after leading much of the beginning of the race. His stint on soft tyres was not enough to beat the Mercedes on the mediums.
Daniel Ricciardo finished a fine fourth in his home race, ahead of Williams’ Felipe Massa. Romain Grosjean brought Haas into an amazing sixth-place finish on their Grand Prix debut.
Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh for Force India, ahead of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen finished ninth and tenth after a heated battle, in which Verstappen even spun after slightly colliding with his teammate.
Renault’s Jolyon Palmer finished a fine 11th on his debut, where he showed some brilliant defensive driving, ahead of team-mate Kevin Magnussen.
Sergio Perez finished 13th for Force India, with Jenson Button 14th for McLaren, Felipe Nasr 15th for Sauber and Pascal Wehrlein in 16th for Manor.
Marcus Ericsson was the first of the retirements after being given a drive-through penalty for having his car worked on at the 15 second signal at the restart of the race.
Kimi Raikkonen retired with fire coming out of his airbox while Manor’s Rio Haryanto retired with a driveline problem. Gutierrez and Alonso were the other two non-finishers.
Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat failed to start the race after stopping on the grid with an electrical problem at the end of the first formation lap.
