Easy win for Mercedes duo in season opener

Lewis Hamilton is set to repeat his world championship win this season as he finished 1.3 seconds ahead of teammate, Nico Rosberg, in the season opener that took place in Albert Park, Australia. Perhaps more astonishing is that the pole-sitting Brit finished the race with a wide, and we mean wide, 34-second gap from third place winner, Sebastian Vettel.

Daniel Ricciardo tweeted a picture of the
huge turnout at his home GP in Melbourne

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas couldn’t compete because of a back injury and Marussia’s failure to qualify reduced the expected starters on the grid to only 17; but when McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen and Red Bull’s Daniel Kvyat both suffered car failures on the way to the grid, that number was reduced to only 15.

The lack of contest and cars have caused fans to lament the lack of excitement, with the only saving grace being the appearance of actor and former governer of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who performed podium duties and conducted some amusing albeit rather awkward interviews.

During the post-race media conference, the 1-2 winners tried to be gracious, ignoring the general opinion that the Formula One season was just a one-team race. Hamilton made a generous statement with Vettel, who was making his debut season with Ferrari, sitting on his left: "I think the Ferraris have taken a huge step forward and have made one of the biggest steps.

"I anticipate we might have a good fight with them at some stage this year."

Rosberg, runner-up in last year’s championship, was more straightforward when he admitted that Mercedes would “be leading the way for sure” during the earlier part of the season. "But it would be good if they can come a bit closer,” he said. “As long as they don't get too close."

Perhaps the more frank of them all was four-time champion, Vettel, who snorted and quipped, “Seriously? You finish 34 seconds ahead of us and you hope it's going to be closer? You hope you'll slow down?" Hamilton and Rosberg won 16 out of 19 races for Mercedes in last year's championship and took 18 out of 19 poles.