Nico Rosberg took the first win of the 2016 F1 season in Melbourne after a strategy mistake by Ferrari gifted Mercedes victory.
Sebastian Vettel had lead the Australian Grand Prix after jumping both Lewis Hamilton and Rosberg at the start. But the race fell apart as quickly as elimination qualifying for the German following a red flag for a crash between Fernando Alonso and Esterban Gutierrez.
The McLaren driver was looking to overtake the Mexican in the Haas having recently pitted on lap 17. However the Spaniard attempted to go down the outside at turn three but braked too late hitting the left rear of Gutierrez.
The McLaren hit the wall on the left hand side of the track causing the car to go sideways into the gravel trap. The car dug in and somersaulted down the run off into the barrier.
The incident bought out the red flag hurting drivers that had recently pitted like Hamilton. However it allowed the teams to change the tyres on the cars without the need to make a pit stop.
Sebastian Vettel had lead the Australian Grand Prix after jumping both Lewis Hamilton and Rosberg at the start. But the race fell apart as quickly as elimination qualifying for the German following a red flag for a crash between Fernando Alonso and Esterban Gutierrez.
The McLaren driver was looking to overtake the Mexican in the Haas having recently pitted on lap 17. However the Spaniard attempted to go down the outside at turn three but braked too late hitting the left rear of Gutierrez.
The McLaren hit the wall on the left hand side of the track causing the car to go sideways into the gravel trap. The car dug in and somersaulted down the run off into the barrier.
The incident bought out the red flag hurting drivers that had recently pitted like Hamilton. However it allowed the teams to change the tyres on the cars without the need to make a pit stop.
The majority of the field put on the Medium compound Pirelli tyre to do the rest of the 57 lap race on, whereas Ferrari, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and McLaren made the errors to put the Super Soft or the Soft compound on.
The red flag worked in favour for Romain Grosjean in the Haas as he hadn't pitted in the Grand Prix and managed to do the race without having to pit. But the stoppage hindered the world champion Hamilton who found himself seventh.
The Brit soon moved up a place when Kimi Raikkonen was forced to retire his Ferrari on lap 23 after an engine fire saw him join Alonso, Gutierrez, Rio Haryanto and Daniil Kvyat on the sidelines. The Red Bull had ground to a stop on the formation lap and the Manor had broken down during the red flag period.
Marcus Ericsson soon joined them after a drive train issue. The Swede was down the field after he had received a drive through for a tyre blanket got caught on a wheel at the 15 second signal.
The red flag worked in favour for Romain Grosjean in the Haas as he hadn't pitted in the Grand Prix and managed to do the race without having to pit. But the stoppage hindered the world champion Hamilton who found himself seventh.
The Brit soon moved up a place when Kimi Raikkonen was forced to retire his Ferrari on lap 23 after an engine fire saw him join Alonso, Gutierrez, Rio Haryanto and Daniil Kvyat on the sidelines. The Red Bull had ground to a stop on the formation lap and the Manor had broken down during the red flag period.
Marcus Ericsson soon joined them after a drive train issue. The Swede was down the field after he had received a drive through for a tyre blanket got caught on a wheel at the 15 second signal.
Vettel pitted on lap 35 for the Soft compound tyre but fell behind both Mercedes and after desperately hunting down Hamilton, locked up while lining up a move and ran onto the grass ending his charge.
There had been drama at the German's former team Toro Rosso, with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. The Dutchman had dropped behind his team mate after a poor pit stop and the undercut for the Spanish driver.
The frustrated teenager was desperate to make up for a poor second half of the race with had seen the Italian team's cars slip from fourth and fifth to ninth and tenth. Verstappen produced some spicy team radio but eventually his hotheadedness caught up with him as he hit Sainz and spun with four laps left.
At the chequered flag Rosberg took his fourth win in a row from Hamilton and Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo got fourth place for Red Bull. But the real star was Romain Grosjean who got sixth place giving Haas points on their F1 debut and the first team to do so since Toyota in 2002.
There had been drama at the German's former team Toro Rosso, with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. The Dutchman had dropped behind his team mate after a poor pit stop and the undercut for the Spanish driver.
The frustrated teenager was desperate to make up for a poor second half of the race with had seen the Italian team's cars slip from fourth and fifth to ninth and tenth. Verstappen produced some spicy team radio but eventually his hotheadedness caught up with him as he hit Sainz and spun with four laps left.
At the chequered flag Rosberg took his fourth win in a row from Hamilton and Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo got fourth place for Red Bull. But the real star was Romain Grosjean who got sixth place giving Haas points on their F1 debut and the first team to do so since Toyota in 2002.
2016 Australian Grand Prix Race Results:-
Kimi Raikkonen DNF
Rio Haryanto DNF
Esterban Gutierrez DNF
Fernando Alonso DNF
Daniil Kvyat DNS
- Nico Rosberg 1:48:15.565
- Lewis Hamilton
- Sebastian Vettel
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Felipe Massa
- Romain Grosjean
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Valtteri Bottas
- Carlos Sainz
- Max Verstappen
- Jolyon Palmer
- Kevin Magnussen
- Sergio Perez
- Jenson Button
- Felipe Nasr
- Pascal Wehrlein
Kimi Raikkonen DNF
Rio Haryanto DNF
Esterban Gutierrez DNF
Fernando Alonso DNF
Daniil Kvyat DNS