Sebastian Vettel has started off the 2018 Formula 1 season by winning the Australian Grand Prix after qualifying his Ferrari in third.
Vettel had to contend with polesitter Lewis Hamilton being around one second behind during the second half of the race, but the Mercedes driver backed off with four laps to go after not having a good chance to mount an overtake.
The German stayed in third when the race got underway behind his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and Hamilton, with the three pulling away from the rest of the grid.
While the two in front of him pitted on lap 18 and 19 of 58 respectively, Vettel stayed out until a virtual safety car came out due to Romain Grosjean stopping on track, and was able to stay ahead of Hamilton when exiting the pits.
Raikkonen finished in the final podium position after holding off Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, who had to settle for fourth in his home race. Ricciardo started the race in eighth after being given a three-place grid penalty earlier in the weekend.
Fernando Alonso ended his race in fifth in McLarens first race using a Renault engine after calling time on their partnership with Honda, who now power Toro Rosso.
Max Verstappen was passed by Kevin Magnussen for fourth place at the first corner on the first lap of the race, and span the car in the same place on lap 10 while trying to get the place back. The Red Bull driver dropped down to eighth but finished the race in sixth place.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean were both running in the top six during the opening third of the race, but both drivers had issues during their pit stops that led to them having to stop on track on the following lap.
Nico Hulkenberg ended his race in seventh for Renault ahead of Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas in eighth. Bottas started his race in 15th after having to replace his gearbox due to crashing in qualifying.
Stoffel Vandoorne finished in ninth while Renault’s Carlos Sainz rounded off the top ten.
Force India’s Sergio Perez was close enough to mount a challenge on Sainz during the final moments of the race, but him and his team-mate Esteban Ocon had to settle for 11th and 12th.
