Rosberg wins 2014 F1 season opener in Melbourne; Ricciardo disqualified

It seems the new regulations has turned the new Formula One season on its head, as the season opener of the 2014 Formula One championship proved to be unpredictable. Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg finished the Australian Grand Prix in P1 and delivered on Mercedes’ promise to have a dominant season opener.

The German driver pulled a lead at the very start, a lead that he maintained until the finish. Joining him on the podium was Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull Racing in P2 and McLaren's Kevin Magnussen in P3. Ricciardo's first podium was short-lived as the FIA deemed that his team violated the prescribed fuel flow rate in the rules, prompting the sanctioning body to exclude his results from the race. Due to his disqualification, Magnussen and teammate Jenson Button were elevated to P2 and P3, respectively.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel couldn’t make it to ten consecutive wins as he had to pull into the pits and retire early in the race. The 4-time world champion was plagued with problems all weekend, failing to make it into the second session during qualifying. Unusually when Vettel boxed his car in the pits, the Aussie crowd cheered in jubilation.

Completing the top ten finishers are the following:

4^th – Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)

5^th – Valterri Bottas (Williams)

6^th – Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)

7^th – Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)

8^th – Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

9^th – Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)

10^th – Sergio Perez (Force India)

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who was sitting in pole position on the grid had engine problems. His car’s cylinder failed to fire from the start of the race that caused him to slide down to fourth position behind Rosberg and Ricciardo on the first turn. The engine problem continued to haunt Hamilton and after the first lap he was called to the pits.

There were eight cars who had failed to finish the Australian GP with F1’s new high-tech turbo hybrid engines and a limit of no more than 100kg of fuel.