F1 2017 is alive and kicking after Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel beat pre-race favourite Lewis Hamilton in a straight fight in the season-opening Australian GP.
Vettel drove a perfectly-judged race to claim the Scuderia's first victory since 2015 in the new Ferrari car and an inspired strategy combined to deliver what was ultimately a comfortable victory, as Formula 1's new era started at the Australian Grand Prix.
"It's a great relief for everyone," said Vettel. "This is just the beginning."
Vettel storms to victory in Australia
Great performance from him, he was excellent from the start, and kept Hamilton within striking distance en route to win the first race of the season. But the assist of the day came from Max Verstappen who made sure that Mercedes and Ferrari work hard for the win. Let's hope that the remaining races of the season are close between Ferrari, Mercedes and hopefully Red Bull and for the other F1 teams to.
A quick shout out from Scuderia Ferrari to all of the people in the Northern Hemisphere who didn't want to wake up and early and witness a Hamilton victory from start to finish.
Congratulations Sebastian Vettel Hopefully a sign of things to come more exciting in the new 2017 Formula 1 season.
Australian Grand Prix race result
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:24:11.670
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +9.975s
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, +11.250s
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, +22.393s
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +28.827s
6. Felipe Massa, Williams, + 83.386s
7. Sergio Perez, Force India, +1 lap
8. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, + 1 lap
9. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, + 1 lap
10. Esteban Ocon, Force India, +1 lap
11. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, + 1 lap
12. Antonio Giovinazzi, Sauber, +2 laps
13. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, +2 laps
14. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, DNF
15. Kevin Magnussen, Haas, DNF
16. Lance Stroll, Williams, DNF
17. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, DNF
18. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, DNF
19. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, DNF
20. Romain Grosjean, Haas, DNF
The next race is the CHINESE GRAND PRIX in Fri 07 Apr – Sun 09 Apr 2017.