Australian GP 2014: Rosberg wins, Ricciardo disqualified

Nico Rosberg won the 2014 Australian Grand Prix for Mercedes. He led from the first lap to the last and also set the fastest lap. Behind him, Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button took the other podium places for McLaren. Both only moved up a place after the finish: home favourite Daniel Ricciardo had crossed the line second but was disqualified for exceeding the fuel flow limit.

The Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne hosted the first race with the new 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines and their hybrid systems. It marked the return of turbo engines to Formula 1 for the first time since 1988. The weather was overcast, with an air temperature of 19 degrees.

The start went wrong straight away. Because Max Chilton couldn't get his Marussia away, yellow flags were shown just before the lights went out and the field had to complete an extra formation lap. As a result, the race was shortened to 57 laps. Romain Grosjean started from the pit lane.

Pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton had an engine running on only five cylinders. He got away badly and dropped back immediately. Rosberg, starting 3rd, passed Ricciardo and Hamilton and led into the first corner. Hamilton had to park his Mercedes after 2 laps with an engine failure. According to our data, he was the day's biggest loser, dropping 18 places.

At the first corner, the rear brakes on Kamui Kobayashi's Caterham failed. Kobayashi slammed into the Williams of Felipe Massa, ending the race for both after 0 laps. Kimi Räikkönen was also caught up in the incident but was able to continue. The stewards decided against a penalty, as a technical failure had caused the crash. World champion Sebastian Vettel had been struggling with his power unit since third free practice on Saturday morning and retired his Red Bull after 3 laps with engine problems.

At the front, Rosberg steadily extended his lead. The decisive moment for the midfield came from Valtteri Bottas. A gearbox penalty meant he had started only 15th. While putting pressure on Fernando Alonso's Ferrari, he brushed the wall at Turn 9 and picked up a right-rear puncture. Bottas pitted on lap 10, spending 34.9 seconds in the pit lane according to our data, and dropped to 16th. Debris from the tyre at Turn 12 brought out the Safety Car, which according to Motor Sport Magazine stayed out from lap 11 until the end of lap 15.

Rosberg's lead of almost eight seconds was gone. McLaren made the most of the period: Button pitted on lap 11 and jumped both Toro Rosso cars as a result. Three laps later he was already up to 6th, according to our data. Most of the front-runners stopped a lap later, on lap 12.

After the restart, Rosberg left nothing to chance. Albert Park is particularly heavy on fuel, so many drivers lifted early before the corners. Rosberg's Mercedes still had plenty in reserve. On lap 19 he set the fastest lap with a 1:32.4 (Motor Sport Magazine). He made his second stop on lap 38 without losing the lead. At the flag he was around 24 seconds clear of Ricciardo. It was the fourth Grand Prix win of his career.

Further back, there were still battles for position. Alonso had early problems with the electric motor but got past Nico Hülkenberg after a pit stop. The Force India driver lost two places at his second stop on lap 33 and struggled with graining on the front-left soft tyre. Button damaged his nose at his second stop but still crossed the line fourth. Bottas fought his way back up the order on fresh tyres.

Ricciardo's first race for Red Bull initially looked like a dream day. He had started 2nd and finished second in front of his home crowd. Around five hours after the race, though, came the disqualification. The new regulations limited fuel flow to 100 kilograms per hour, measured by an FIA-mandated sensor. According to the FIA technical delegate, the reading on Ricciardo's car was consistently above that limit.

Red Bull considered the sensor inaccurate and calculated the flow using its own method. The stewards accused the team of ignoring an FIA instruction: despite being asked, it had not reduced the flow during the race. Red Bull announced an appeal, insisting that the team and engine partner Renault believed the fuel used was within the rules.

In its very first race, the new power unit showed just how fragile it was:

• Felipe Massa (Williams) and Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham): collision at Turn 1 after 0 laps, triggered by Kobayashi's rear brake failure.
• Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): engine, after 2 laps. One cylinder had failed.
• Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull): engine, after 3 laps.
• Marcus Ericsson (Caterham): oil pressure, after 27 laps. Marcus Ericsson therefore failed to finish on his debut.
• Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1): Energy Recovery System (ERS) failure, after 29 and 43 laps respectively. According to grandprix.com, both suffered an MGU-K failure. Pastor Maldonado and Grosjean had also started from 21st and 22nd.
• Jules Bianchi (Marussia): after stalling at the start, Jules Bianchi completed only 49 laps. That was less than 90 per cent of the distance, so he was not classified.
• Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull): disqualified after 57 laps over fuel flow.

Only 13 cars were classified. Chilton took the chequered flag in thirteenth for Marussia.

Kevin Magnussen was the debutant of the day. He started 4th and finished 2nd. No rookie had reached the podium on his first race since Hamilton at the 2007 Australian GP. According to grandprix.com, it was even the best result by a rookie since Jacques Villeneuve's second place in 1996.

Valtteri Bottas gained the most places according to our data, 10 in all, despite hitting the wall and suffering a puncture. From 15th on the grid he finished fifth. Jenson Button climbed from 10th to 3rd (plus 7). That put McLaren at the top of the constructors' standings after the first race. Esteban Gutiérrez gained 8 places in the Sauber but narrowly missed the points in twelfth. His teammate Adrian Sutil finished eleventh.

Daniil Kvyat also made history. The 19-year-old finished ninth on his debut, becoming Formula 1's youngest points scorer at the time. His teammate Jean-Éric Vergne finished eighth despite losing two places. The final point went to Sergio Pérez in the Force India, who started 16th.

The big loser was Hamilton, who dropped 18 places. Red Bull left Melbourne without a single point, even though the team had actually brought home a podium with Ricciardo.

In the 2014 standings, Rosberg led after the first race with 25 points. Behind him came Magnussen with 18 and Button with 15 points, followed by Alonso (12), Bottas (10) and Hülkenberg (8). No Rosberg had led the championship since 1982, when it was his father Keke. In the constructors' standings, McLaren led with 33 points ahead of Mercedes (25) and Ferrari (18). Red Bull, Caterham and Lotus F1 were on zero.

At the time, Melbourne was a first sign of where the new era was heading. Mercedes engines powered five of the first six cars across the line. Rosberg won unchallenged, while the opposition struggled with electronics, reliability and fuel consumption. For defending champions Red Bull, after four titles in a row, it was a sobering start.