Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg (left) holds the trophy after winning the Australian Grand Prix ahead of McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne yesterday. (AFP)


Reuters/Melbourne


Nico Rosberg celebrated a dominant win for Mercedes in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix yesterday while Red Bull’s home hero Daniel Ricciardo suffered the heartbreak of being stripped of his first podium hours after the finish.
Pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and world champion Sebastian Vettel retired early on with reliability problems, the German’s exit ending his record run of nine successive victories racked up for Red Bull since last August.
Rosberg, Hamilton’s German teammate, capitalised on a brilliant start from third on the grid to snatch the lead before the first turn and roar to the fourth win of his career.
“Brilliant stuff, what a car you’ve given me! What a car!” the German shouted over the team radio after crossing the line.
Ricciardo crossed the finish 24.5 seconds behind but his joy at becoming Australia’s first driver to stand on the home podium was shattered more than five hours later when stewards disqualified the 24-year-old for a fuel flow irregularity.
That promoted McLaren’s Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen to second place, making the 21-year-old Formula One’s most successful debutant since Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in Melbourne in 1996.
Magnussen’s podium was also the first by a Dane in F1.
Teammate and 2009 world champion Jenson Button moved up to third with McLaren, who failed to finish in the top three all last season, leading the constructors’ standings.
The gaping margin of victory underscored Mercedes’ superior preparations for F1’s technical revolution, which saw all teams struggle during winter testing with the new V6 turbocharged hybrid engines.
Mercedes later clarified Hamilton’s car had suffered a misfiring cylinder.
Twelfth off the grid, Vettel also struggled at the start and retired only a few laps after Hamilton, complaining of engine performance problems.
Ricciardo, who replaced compatriot Mark Webber at Red Bull after crossing from sister team Toro Rosso, had thrilled home fans after seeing off Magnussen’s late challenge.
Two hours after the race, FIA officials said they were investigating Ricciardo for “consistently” exceeding permitted fuel consumption during the race. After deliberating late into the night, the FIA announced Ricciardo had been disqualified. Red Bull said they would appeal.
Ferrari’s two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was fourth with Williams driver Valtteri Bottas moving up to fifth after Ricciardo’s exclusion for his best F1 result.
The Finn raced from 15th on the grid and might have been on the podium but for a brush with the barrier that left him limping back to the pits on a rim. His 10-point haul was still double what his team scored in all of last season.
Bottas’s new Brazilian new team-mate Felipe Massa was unable to add to the tally, however, having been taken out of the race at the first turn by Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi, who suffered a brake failure.
Kimi Raikkonen’s eventual seventh-placed finish behind Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg capped a frustrating return to Maranello for the 2007 world champion, who started 11th on the grid after a crash during qualifying.
Russian rookie Daniil Kvyat was promoted to ninth on his debut for Toro Rosso, becoming at 19 years old the sport’s youngest points scorer, behind teammate Jean-Eric Vergne.
The other Force India, that of Sergio Perez was promoted to tenth.