Lewis Hamilton held off team-mate Nico Rosberg to give Mercedes a dominant victory as the season-opening Australian Grand Prix was hit by a series of withdrawals on Sunday.
Reigning world champion Hamilton led from the start to the chequered flag, beating last year’s winner Rosberg by 1.3 seconds, with Sebastien Vettel third in his Ferrari debut. The two Force India drivers, despite starting from the back of the grid, managed to pick seven points.
Only 11 cars finished the race after mechanical problems and an injury to Valtteri Bottas left just 15 on the starting grid - the lowest number for a season opener since 1963.
Max Verstappen’s record-breaking debut at the age of 17 years and 166 days ended on a sour note when his Toro Rosso suffered a power unit failure on the 34th lap.
At the front, Mercedes were in ominous form with Hamilton finishing a whopping 34 seconds in front of Vettel, indicating a tough year ahead for the Silver Arrows’ rivals. It was Mercedes’ eighth straight victory, dating back to Belgium last August, and their 20th race in a row with at least one driver on the podium.
Hamilton, 30, has now won seven of the last eight races and 34 from 149 grands prix, although this was his first in Australia since 2008.
“Nico was quick throughout the race,” he said of his fierce rival. “In terms of tyres we did not know how far they could go. When Nico turned up the heat I was able to react which was good.”
Rosberg, who will have much to ponder after pole-sitter Hamilton’s supreme opening week, insisted it was a “nice feeling to be second”.
“Lewis has done a fantastic job, he drove like a world champion all weekend. I’ll give my maximum and try to beat him all year,” he said
Four-time world champion Vettel yelled “Forza Ferrari!” as he celebrated a morale-boosting podium finish on his debut for the team after switching from Red Bull.
Despite starting from the back of the grid, Sahara Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez collected seven points on Sunday.
Starting from 14th on the grid, Hulkenberg finished an impressive seventh while Perez, who started 15th, collected the last available point by finishing 10th.
Force India had missed the first two pre-season tests but the team did a good job to bring the cars among points in the opening race of the 2015 Formula One season.
“It was a good race. I didn’t make any mistakes and, while the reliability of our car helped us take advantage of the problems of others, at this stage in the season it is important to capitalise on any opportunity,” Hulkenberg said.