Sebastien Vettel outpaced Lewis Hamilton to win the season opener in Melbourne.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel beat Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes in the first race of the season down-under.
It was Vettel’s first win since the Singapore GP in September 2015 and the first time he has won the opening race since 2011, whilst it was the first time Ferrari had won the opening race since Fernando Alonso in 2010.
Hamilton was the early front-runner but after an early pit stop he lacked the pace to pass Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Vettel capitalised. Hamilton had to settle for second, while his new Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas took third.
Hamilton said: "It is going to be a close race. I truly believe we can beat them. It's great to see Ferrari there.
"It's good we had this close battle. I'm looking forward to the next."
This could signal a new era in Formula 1 – for three years Mercedes have been the team to beat – but it seems Ferrari’s increase in speed means they are now the team holding the aces going into the Chinese Grand Prix.
