© REX FEATIRES

Sebastian Vettel took victory in his Ferrari at the opening round of the 2017 Formula 1 season. Is this the start of something new? Will Vettel take back that World Champion title?

The Australian Grand Prix was set to be exciting with it being the first race with the new regulations and rules. Many cars weren’t up for the job with 7 out of the 20 cars retiring.

Albert Park saw Lewis Hamilton and new team mate Valtteri Bottas joining Vettel on the podium. The victory for Ferrari came after a long dry period, the last time a Ferrari came first was 2015.

Disaster came for Mercedes when Hamilton was unable to pass the Red Bull of Max Verstappen allowing Vettel to exit the pits before Hamilton, giving him the lead.

Verstappen’s team mate and home favourite Daniel Ricciardo had a dismal race. After crashing during qualifying and needing a new gear box the Aussie started in P15. With 20 laps before the end of the race the engine gave up and Ricciardo had to retire the car.

“Let’s get the f*** out of here” – Daniel Ricciardo

Both of the pink Force India’s were able to secure point scoring finishes as well as the Toro Rossos.

The retired/un-retired Felipe Massa came back strong with a sixth place finish in the Williams. His new team mate and rookie Lance Stroll had a DNF in his first Grand Prix.

FINAL RESULTS
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