Vettel wins kick off Grand Prix in Melbourne

Sebastian Vettel won the first Formula 1 race of the season in Australia ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen. Local favorite, Ricciardo finished fourth.

It was a victory of a spontaneous strategy and it was a victory with the help of the safety car. At the start Lewis Hamilton once again demonstrated his perfection; over 20 laps he fended off all attacks of the two Ferrari drivers. In the 20th lap, Kimi Räikkönen came to the pits, followed by Lewis Hamilton. Both exchanged the Ultrasoft for the soft tires, only Vettel remained for more laps with the softest tire compounds outside.

And just before half-time Sebastian Vettel got the support of a safety car phase. Exactly at that moment, the German picked up fresh tires and remained ahead of Lewis Hamilton. But the Briton was not going to give up, of course and increased the pressure more and more. But Vettel held on, holding the lead mostly at over a second and Hamilton never really came into the window for the DRS zones.