Nico Rosberg wins Australian GP as Hamilton retires
The Australian GP 2014 had lots of drama and an aborted start. So there was another formation lap. And finally when the race started (which was reduced to 57 laps), the Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton was told to retire to "save his engine".
The opening was chaotic and two drivers retired in the opening lap itself as Kamui Kobayashi making his return to F1 after a year using the funds donated by his fans to buy a seat in Caterham, ploughed into the back of Felipe Massa of Williams.
Third placed Nico Rosberg took the lead in the first corner itself by jumping ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and comfortably won the race. Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull finished second. However, he was later disqualified by the stewards as his car was found to have more than 100 kg/hr fuel flow to the engine. The Red Bull team had protested that the sensor technology for limiting the fuel flow is not reliable. However, FIA rejected their contention and Ricciardo was disqualified.
Rookie Kevin Magnussen of McLaren who was originally third, inherited the second place. His teammate Jenson Button of McLaren is now classified third.
Fernando Alonso of Ferrari admitted after the race that they are slower than the Mercedes. He had originally finished in 5th, but is now classified as 4th due to the disqualification of the Red Bull car.
Valteri Bottas of Williams now has a lifetime high position of 5th. His teammate Felipe Massa would be ruing his luck. An aggrieved Felipe Massa has called for a ban on Kamui Kobayashi for plunging into his back in kamikaze style.
Nico Hulkenberg of Force India is now 6th followed by Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari in 7th. Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso are now 8th and 9th. The 10th and final points paying position now goes to Sergio Perez of Force India.
The Sauber duo of Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez are 11th and 12 respectively. They are followed by the Marussia duo of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi at 13th and 14th positions. These positions are now critical because when the competitiveness of the teams increases these positions will be difficult to beat for the other teams like Caterham. Only the top 10 teams get paid and the 11th team doesn't get any prize money. That is equivalent to several million dollars hit if the team doesn't finish in 10th position.
The lotus duo of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado drove their cars for sometime before retiring. Given the state of their problems, covering 49 and 23 laps is considered a big thing for them.
Marcus Ericsson of Caterham retired after 27 laps.
Last years world champion Sebastian Vettel retired in the 3rd lap and Renault is looking into the engine problems that he faced.
