2014 AUSTRALIAN GP: ROSBERG SECURES DOMINANT WIN

Nico Rosberg dominated the first race of Formula 1's new turbocharged hybrid engine era to win the 2014 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne for Mercedes. The German made a superb start from third on the grid, passing Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull and the polesitting Mercedes of team-mate Lewis Hamilton to grab the lead. Rosberg made the most of the W05's pace advantage to streak away from the field at will and record the fourth grand prix victory of his career, despite an early interruption by the safety car when Valtteri Bottas clipped a wall and shed the right-rear tyre from his Williams. Rosberg's team-mate Hamilton slipped back to fourth on the first lap as he struggled with an engine problem and retired from racs.

New Red Bull recruit Daniel Ricciardo raced his RB10 to second position. Starting from second, the Australian kept his position throughout the race, withstanding pressure at the end of the race from McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen. Sebastian Vettel retired on lap 5 after a misfire on the Power Unit caused a loss of power. Daniel Ricciardo was excluded from the race following a breach of Article 3.2 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and Article 5.1.4 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations. The Team has notified the FIA of its intention to appeal with immediate effect.

Dream start of his F1 career for Kevin Magnusen, with a third place finish ahead of McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, who fought through the field from tenth on the grid. Two seconds behind the Red Bull, Magnussen became the first Dane to finish on a Formula 1 podium, remarkably taking third in his debut grand prix and leading home his veteran McLaren teammate Jenson Button who finished fourth after starting tenth, ensuring that McLaren leave Australia top of the constructor’s points..

Ferrari had a difficult time of it today in Albert Park, with Fernando Alonso coming home fifth, three places ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. The rest of the points went to Bottas, Hulkenberg, Vergne, Kvyat and Sergio Perez.

 P.    Driver              Team                 Time/Gap 
 1.  Nico Rosberg       Mercedes AMG          1h32:58.710
 2.  Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull               +   24.525
 3.  Kevin Magnussen    McLaren                +   26.777
 4.  Jenson Button      McLaren                +   30.027
 5.  Fernando Alonso    Ferrari                +   35.284
 6.  Valtteri Bottas    Williams               +   47.639
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg    Force India            +   50.718
 8.  Kimi Raikkonen     Ferrari                +   57.675
 9.  Jean-Eric Vergne   Toro Rosso             + 1:00.441
10.  Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso             + 1:03.585
11.  Sergio Perez       Force India            + 1:25.916
12.  Adrian Sutil       Sauber                 +    1 lap
13.  Esteban Gutierrez  Sauber                 +    1 lap
14.  Max Chilton        Marussia i             +   2 laps
* Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull has been excluded
from second place for fuel-flow irregularities.

Not classified/Retirements:
Jules Bianchi      Marussia       50 laps
Romain Grosjean    Lotus          43 laps
Pastor Maldonado   Lotus          29 laps
Marcus Ericsson    Caterham       27 laps
Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull        3 laps
Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes AMG    2 laps
Kamui Kobayashi    Caterham        0 laps
Felipe Massa       Williams        0 laps

Fastest Lap: Nico Rosberg 1:32.478                       

After 1 race:
 Driver:                     Constructor:                
 1. Nico Rosberg      25     1. McLaren         33
 2. Kevin Magnussen   18     2. Merecedes AMG   25
 3. Jenson Button     15     3. Ferrari         18
 4. Fernando Alonso   12     4. Williams        10
 5. Valtteri Bottas   10     5. Force India      9
 6. Nico Hulkenberg    8     6. Toro Rosso       6
 7. Kimi Raikkonen     6
 8. Jean-Eric Vergne   4
 9. Daniil Kvyat       2
10. Sergio Perez       1