F1: Ferrari prancing as Vettel wins in Australia

MELBOURNE -- Four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Australian Grand Prix for Ferrari on Sunday to dash Mercedes' hopes of extending their dominance into a fourth successive season of Formula One.

The German cruised to his 43rd race victory with a 9.9 second gap to Mercedes' runner-up Lewis Hamilton, with the Briton's new team mate, Valtteri Bottas, finishing third on a glorious afternoon at Albert Park.

The victory was Vettel's fourth for Ferrari but his first since the Singapore Grand Prix in September 2015.

That triumph was also the last time Ferrari had topped the podium but Vettel's victory underlined the huge leap in performance made by the glamour team, whose cars showed impressive pace and reliability in winter testing.

"For all of us, it is a positive surprise," a beaming Vettel said at the post-race media conference.

"The big difference was being able to deliver a really good car... I think the new car in general obviously is fantastic and is a great reward, a big relief for everyone."

For the first time in the V6 turbo hybrid era, which started in 2014, there is a non-Mercedes driver at the top of the championship standings.

Vettel's 2007 championship-winning team mate Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen one behind.

On the front row next to pole-sitter Hamilton, Vettel got off to a sluggish start and his British rival broke clear to avoid Albert Park's usual messy log-jam at turn one.

But Hamilton was soon complaining on the team radio about his car's grip and was first to pit on lap 18 to change tyres.

It proved a turning point as he rejoined behind Verstappen and was unable to pass the feisty Dutch teenager.

As Hamilton vented on the team radio, Vettel forged ahead.

The German pitted at lap 23 and exited the pit-lane just in front of Verstappen, who was still gamely holding off Hamilton while riding his tyres thin.

Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff was enraged. Television pictures showed him pounding his fist into a desk in the team garage.

Vettel showed the reigning constructors' champions a clean set of heels and quickly established a six-second gap, which only got wider as the race progressed.

After crossing the finish line, Vettel howled in ecstasy and thousands of red-clad Ferrari fans flooded onto the lakeside circuit to share in the German's triumph.

Fans of home racer Daniel Ricciardo were left disappointed, however, after the Australian's race ended midway through at turn three, his Red Bull stopping with smoke billowing out.

He had earlier started from pit-lane two laps behind, after suffering a sensor problem with his gearbox that prevented him from taking his place at the grid.

It was a better day for Felipe Massa, who came sixth in his 'comeback' race following his short-lived retirement from Williams last year.

Force India also enjoyed a strong race, with Sergio Perez coming seventh and French newcomer Esteban Ocon also in the points after running 10th.

Reliability problems were rife in other teams, however, with seven cars failing to finish, including McLaren's twice champion Fernando Alonso and Williams' Canadian debutant Lance Stroll.

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Hamilton makes it a year of Mercedes poles

SPIELBERG, Austria - Lewis Hamilton seized pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday in a damp qualifying session that saw both the Formula One world champion and his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg skid off on their final laps.

The pole was Hamilton's seventh in eight races -- the same number he managed in all of last season -- and 45th of his career, taking him to third equal with Sebastian Vettel on the all-time list behind Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.

It also completed a year of domination by Mercedes, with Brazilian Felipe Massa's pole for Williams in Austria last June the last time any driver from outside the team has started from the top slot.

"It was quite a difficult qualifying session for everyone because of the track conditions," said Hamilton, who spun off at turn one as he started his final quick lap on a drying track after morning rain.

"I was pushing that bit extra on the next run and just locked the rears," added the Briton, who leads Rosberg by 17 points after winning four races to the German's two.

Rosberg, who was two tenths slower than Hamilton going into his final lap, pushed just a bit too hard and careered across the runoff and into the gravel just as it seemed he was going to be quicker.

"I went on the astroturf out of the second to last corner. Maybe that was still a bit wet or something or I just overdid it after that, I'm not sure. I just lost it there into the last corner," said the German.

"I knew I had to go for it."

Ferrari's Vettel will line up in third place with Massa fourth for Williams and 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Nico Hulkenberg fifth for Force India.

Mercedes-powered cars filled five of the top six slots at a 'power' circuit.

"Generally the Mercedes-powered cars can turn up the performance a bit. Even the Williams were also a lot closer than they were in practice," said four-times champion Vettel.

At a scenic circuit owned by energy drink giant Red Bull, 17-year-old Dutch rookie Max Verstappen provided some cheer for the unhappy hosts with seventh place on the grid for Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso.

Both Red Bull's main drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat have 10 place grid penalties as a result of engine replacements and are set to start 18th and 15th respectively.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen failed to get through the first phase of qualifying and was 18th before penalties applied to others moved the Finn up to 14th.

"How is that possible?," exclaimed the Finn, with the expletive deleted.

An element of farce was added to the session with McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button each taking 25 place grid penalties in a field of just 20 cars for exceeding their allocation of power unit components.

Alonso qualified 15th and starts 19th while Button dropped from 17th to last. They will also have to serve time penalties on Sunday, an additional embarrassment with new Honda president Takahiro Hachigo attending the race.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis and Martyn Herman)

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Rosberg wins season-opening Australian GP

MELBOURNE - Nico Rosberg drew first blood for Mercedes in the new Formula One season with a dominant Australian Grand Prix victory on Sunday after pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and world champion Sebastian Vettel retired with reliability problems.

The 28-year-old German capitalised on a brilliant start from third on the grid, snatching the lead before the first turn and roaring to a 24.5-second victory ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo under a cloudy sky at Albert Park.

Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen finished third on his race debut for McLaren.

Rosberg, tipped to duel with team mate Hamilton for the championship, celebrated his fourth race victory and first since last year's British Grand Prix, when he was also the beneficiary of technical mishaps to Hamilton and Vettel.

"Brilliant stuff, what a car you've given me! What a car!" Rosberg said over the team radio after crossing the line.

The gaping margin of victory underscored Mercedes' superior preparations for F1's technical revolution, which saw all teams struggle during winter testing with the new V6 turbocharged hybrid engines.

The glitches continued as only 14 of the 22 cars finished on a gusty day at the bumpy street circuit which was doused by a brief rain-shower early in the race.

Hamilton, who snatched pole position at the end of a wet qualifying session on Saturday, noticeably lacked power on his start and was called in by his team to retire on the third lap.

Twelfth off the grid, Vettel also struggled at the start and retired only a few laps after Hamilton, complaining of engine performance problems.

That snapped a nine-race winning streak for the German dating back to the Belgian Grand Prix in August.

Ricciardo thrilled home fans by taking his maiden podium spot in his first race weekend with Red Bull and drove with admirable composure after being challenged by Magnussen over the closing laps.

Magnussen's podium, the first by a Dane in Formula One and the team's first since 2012, was an exact match of Hamilton's first F1 race for McLaren in 2007 when the Briton qualified fourth and finished third.

McLaren's Jenson Button finished fourth, with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso fifth.

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas finished sixth for his best F1 result after an outstanding race from 15th on the grid. His eight point haul was more than his team scored in all of last season.

The race began farcically, with Marussia driver Max Chilton stalling on the grid before the pre-start installation lap and his team mate Jules Bianchi then repeating the mishap, forcing a second formation lap.

Both Marussias started from pit-lane behind Lotus's Romain Grosjean, who was also dealt a drive-through penalty for leaving his garage prior to the 15-minute signal before the race.

Japan's Kamui Kobayashi lived up to his reputation as a combustible racer by ploughing into the back of Felipe Massa's Williams at the start, taking both drivers out of the race at the first corner and prompting an FIA investigation.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly/Alan Baldwin)

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