Lewis Hamilton was back as the reigning world champion, back as a race winner, and gave every indication that he will be back on that top step many more times this season after sweeping to victory in Formula One’s season-opening race in Australia.
The Englishman led Nico Rosberg in a one-two finish for Mercedes as the team extended their dominance last season into the new year.
Hamilton led from start to finish and beat his teammate by 1.3 seconds at the Albert Park circuit, with Sebastian Vettel finishing third in his first race for Ferrari.
Rosberg once again finished runner-up, which was a position he occupied far too often last year.
With few people expecting anything but a one-two finish for all-conquering Mercedes, the real race in Melbourne was for best of the rest, and Vettel was delighted with taking that crown in his new scarlet race suit.
A series of pre-race incidents meant only 15 cars started the race, and only 11 finished, with Jenson Button last in the uncompetitive McLaren-Honda.
Williams driver Felipe Massa finished fourth and Felipe Nasr was fifth for Sauber, providing some welcome good news for that team after a week of legal battles and an entire season without a single championship point last year. Nasr’s fifth was the best finish by a driver on his debut since Hamilton finished third in Melbourne in 2007.
Local favorite Daniel Ricciardo was sixth in a disappointing race for Red Bull, who clearly have not solved the issues with their Renault engine. The Australian spent much of the race trying and failing to pass the Sauber in front of him, which was an alarming decline for a team that until recently was the sport’s pre-eminent power.
Force India drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez were seventh and 10th respectively in a good finish by a team who made a very late start to their season preparations.
Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson was eighth — the first championship points for a Swede in 26 years — and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr finished an encouraging ninth on debut.
Williams’ driver Valtteri Bottas was ruled out of the race by a back injury suffered in qualifying, while the McLaren of Kevin Magnussen and the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat both suffered engine failures on the installation lap and did not start.
It was a dismal day for Lotus, with Pastor Maldonado crashing out at the first bend after being clipped from behind, and Romain Grosjean retiring after just one lap.
Toro Rosso’s 17-year-old rookie Max Verstappen retired with yet more Renault engine trouble just after mid-race, and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen stopped after he was released from a pit stop with his left rear tire not properly fitted.
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