Nico Rosberg wins the Australian GP

Being on pole with a superior car is half the battle, but only half the battle. That's what Lewis Hamilton must have thought when he didn't get going at the start and had to let his teammate Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo on Red Bull pass him, and later Magnussen as well. The culprit was allegedly the failure of a cylinder. Why this problem suddenly appeared must now be clarified by the Mercedes engineers, but it was logical that Hamilton was called from the pits to abandon the race in order to save the engine after it was discovered that the sixth cylinder did not want to come back, after all, only five engines or power units are available in the current season and there is a need to economize. So the crown favorite was naturally out of the race. Another victim of technology, somewhat less surprisingly, was Sebastian Vettel, who already had trouble yesterday during qualifying. Here the current talk is of a fault with the boost pressure. For him, it was a matter of returning to the pits on the fifth lap and saving the car for the next races. "Of course", one almost has to say, this start didn't go off entirely smoothly either: the impetuous Kobayashi shot Massa down as early as in the first corner due to a braking error, which is why the two of them finished the race first. Kobayashi's apology was fair and kind, but de facto it did Massa no good, because the retirement remained a fact.

The cards are reshuffled
From then on, the leading Nico Rosberg on Mercedes headed for a commanding start-finish victory, followed by Daniel Ricciardo, whom he shook off in the very first laps. The new season showed a real fight on the track and a lively exchange of places, especially in the first laps. A big surprise at today's race was the superior performance of the McLaren and Magnussen's third place. To finish on the podium in the first Formula 1 race is an impressive achievement. And if the engineers hadn't whistled Magnussen back in the final laps, when he was getting closer and closer to Ricciardo and set off on an overtake, he might even have taken second place. Jenson Button showed a tactically intelligent race: He was the first to turn into the pits during the safety car period on lap 12, working his way up from 10th to 6th, and his early second pit stop allowed him to make up another two places. For Daniel Ricciardo, of course, it was a huge deal to take his first podium in Formula One and in his native Australia, he was overjoyed to stand on the podium and wave to the cheering crowd. Vettel said of his exit: "For me it's a rather modest weekend. The hard work has paid off, at least with Dany. If one component fails or doesn't run smoothly, the others don't work either. We tried everything, but nothing helped. That's life. Cheer up, it's a long year. Other cars are struggling too. A lot can still happen." For quite some time, Alonso and Hülkenberg (new on Force India) engaged in a hot battle, but in the end Alonso prevailed, finishing the race in fifth place. But Hülkenberg can also be more than satisfied that he closed in 8th place. He continues the consistently good performance he showed last year on Sauber. Sauber should not be entirely satisfied, both cars at the finish, but as almost last, placed only ahead of Marussia, that can not be the goal of the Swiss racing team. Lotus should be even more unhappy with its two technical failures.

Overall, the Australian Grand Prix proved to be a revealing race. The engineers still have some work to do, as was evident from the failures of Mercedes, Red Bull and Lotus. And new teams are currently taking a leading role, with McLaren, Williams and Toro Rosso putting in impressive performances. It will now be up to the teams to prepare well for the high temperatures in Malaysia, which will put even more strain on man and machine. One thing is certain the change in the rules has certainly brought about: The cards are being reshuffled, making Formula 1 exciting.

Results Australian Grand Prix 2014
1 Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, Winner
2 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, +24.5 sec.
3 Kevin Magnussen, McLaren, +26.7 sec.
4 Jenson Button, McLaren, +30.0 sec.
5 Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, +35.2 sec.
6 Valtteri Bottas, Williams, +47.6 sec.
7 Nico Hülkenberg, Force India, +50.7 sec.
8 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, +57.6 sec.
9 Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, +60.4 sec.
10 Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, +63.5 sec.
11 Sergio Perez, Force India, +85.9 sec.
12 Adrian Sutil, Sauber, +1 lap
13 Esteban Gutiérrez, Sauber +1 lap
14 Max Chilton, Marussia, +2 laps
Out of service
Jules Bianchi, Marussia, +8 laps
Romain Grosjean, Lotus, +14 laps
Pastor Maldonado, Lotus +28 laps
Marcus Ericsson, Caterham, +30 laps
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing, +54 laps
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +55 laps
Felipe Massa, Williams, +58 laps
Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham, +58 laps

Extensive picture gallery (click and view)
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