Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 1, Nico Rosberg 2)
Double world champion Hamilton picked up where he left off. His 34th career win, second in Australia, and from pole position. Mercedes have now won the last eight races and started the last 12 on pole. The two Mercedes finished more than 30 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s third-placed Sebastian Vettel.
FERRARI (Sebastian Vettel 3, Kimi Raikkonen retired)
Four-times champion Vettel started fourth and jumped Massa in the pitstops to finish on the podium in his debut race for Ferrari. Raikkonen was hit from behind and the right side at the start, damaging the floor. He had problems in both pitstops and was stopped after he was released without the left rear wheel being safely attached.
SAUBER (Felipe Nasr 5, Marcus Ericsson 8)
Sauber scored their first points since 2013. Both drivers were also scoring for the first time, Nasr on his F1 debut, on a weekend overshadowed by legal action against the team by former Dutch reserve Giedo van der Garde.
WILLIAMS (Felipe Massa 4, Valtteri Bottas did not start)
Bottas was ruled out before the start with a back injury sustained in qualifying. Massa started third and on a one-stop strategy. The Brazilian was jumped by Vettel in the pits after losing a second and a half behind Ricciardo on his out-lap following the pitstop.
RED BULL (Daniel Ricciardo 6, Daniil Kvyat did not start)
Kvyat had a gearbox problem on the way to the grid and had to stop. Ricciardo felt sixth was the best he could have hoped for in his home race, given the car’s problems.
FORCE INDIA (Nico Hulkenberg 7, Sergio Perez 10)
Both cars in the points after limited testing represents a solid return for the team. Both cars ran reliably. Perez made contact with Button early on and spun. He also had to give a place back to Ericsson after the safety car was deployed.
TORO ROSSO (Carlos Sainz 9, Max Verstappen retired)
Sainz scored on his F1 debut but would have finished higher but for a botched tyre change and a software setting issue after the safety car period. Verstappen, who became the sport’s youngest ever driver at 17, would have too had a smoking engine not forced the Dutchman to stop.
MCLAREN (Jenson Button 11, Kevin Magnussen did not start)
Without a win since 2012, just getting to the end of a race is now an achievement for misfiring McLaren. The first race of their new Honda partnership saw Button start and finish last and be lapped twice. Magnussen did not even get to the grid with his engine expiring on the way to it.
LOTUS (Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean both retired)
Maldonado was tagged at the start and crashed into the barriers, bringing out the safety car. Grosjean went out after a loss of power on the formation lap. The team had hoped for much, much more on their first race with Mercedes engines.
MANOR MARUSSIA (Will Stevens, Roberto Merhi did not start)
Took no part in practice or qualifying, which ruled them out of the race. They hope to overcome their software issues by the next race in Malaysia on March 29.
