Rosberg trumps Hamilton, Alonso escapes collision

Nico Rosberg claimed victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after holding off Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Rosberg started the race from second but lost a place on the opening corner after a blistering start from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

The German managed to get past Raikkonen and into second but a red flag on lap 19 saw the race halted following a frightening crash between McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez in the Haas.

The stoppage worked in Mercedes’ favour, with Rosberg able to take the lead on lap 35 after Vettel was forced to stop for a new set of tyres.

Rosberg led the rest of the grand prix to win for a second time in Melbourne, claiming a fourth-successive victory in F1 after taking out the last three races of the 2015 season.

Defending world champion Hamilton came home in second after fending off a late charge from Vettel, while Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth at his home grand prix.

FORGETTABLE START FOR MERCEDES

It was a Mercedes lockout on the front row of the grid but a blistering start from Vettel saw him take first place into turn one. Rosberg and Hamilton had a small collision which saw the latter lose a piece or two off his front wing, allowing Kimi Raikkonen to move up into second place. The incident with Rosberg saw Hamilton drop down to sixth behind Felipe Massa and Max Verstappen, but the Brit managed to claw his way back up the field.

UNLUCKY RAIKKONEN

Raikkonen was on course for a podium finish but a technical problem with his Ferrari saw his race cut short, while Verstappen was another driver who would like to forget his performance. The Dutchman started the race in fifth and was holding on for a decent finish but he was furious after Toro Rosso decided to pit Carlos Sainz ahead of him, meaning he came out behind his team-mate. A number of angry radio messages followed, and Verstappen ended up finishing behind Sainz in 10th despite his pleas for the team to let him through.

ALONSO WALKS AWAY

Alonso is another driver who would like to forget the Australian Grand Prix after a nasty collision saw his race come to an early end. After colliding with the left-rear tyre of Gutierrez going into turn three, Alonso crashed off the wall and his McLaren flipped several times before coming to a halt upside down in the barriers. Thankfully, the Spaniard walked away unharmed and was cleared by medical staff.

DREAM START FOR HAAS

While Gutierrez’s afternoon ended after 18 laps, his Haas team-mate Romain Grosjean drove one of the races of his life. The Frenchman started the race from fourth-last on the grid but the red flag gave Haas the opportunity to change Grosjean’s tyres during the stoppage, meaning he did not have to pit all race, giving the new boys eight points to their name after their F1 debut.

RARE RED

Alonso’s shunt brought out the red flag in Melbourne for the first time since they hosted an F1 race in 1996. Ironically, the crash that brought out the red flag that day also occurred at turn three, after Martin Brundle’s Jordan broke in two following a barrel roll. He had collided with Sauber’s Johnny Herbert and McLaren’s David Coulthard.

IN THE POINTS

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +8.060secs
3. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) +9.643s
4. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) +24.330s
5. Felipe Massa (Williams) +58.979s
6. Romain Grosjean (Haas) +72.081s
7. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) +74.199s
8. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) +75.153s
9. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) +75.680s
10. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) +76.833s

 Report by OmniSport