Rosberg wins dramatic Australian race

Rosberg wins dramatic Australian race

Ferrari seized control at the start of Sunday’s 2016 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, but a mid-race stoppage after a huge accident involving Fernando Alonso turned the race on its head, helping Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg to what had looked an unlikely victory.

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg took the win in a drama-filled 2016 Australian Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton, after a crucial strategy error from Ferrari. The Scuderia started the race with a one-two after a tremendous start, but a mid-race stoppage due to a massive crash involving Fernando Alonso turned the tables.

"This is what we all wanted, competition, but it was too much competition", said Niki Lauda when asked if Ferrari would have won if the red flag hadn’t come up.

Dream points debut

It was a big "win" for debutant Haas F1, after a brilliant run from Romain Grosjean placed them sixth in their first ever race. A jubilant Romain radioed-in, "welcome to Formula One, Gene".

The big incident

Fernando Alonso luckily walked away unharmed from a very, very big crash after misreading Esteban Gutierrez's braking into Turn 3 and going into the gravel flying and turning in the air. Alonso's McLaren was left completely destroyed.

Race Classification - Melbourne
Pos Name Time/Gap
1 Nico Rosberg 1:48:15.565
2 Lewis Hamilton +8.060
3 Sebastian Vettel +9.643
4 Daniel Ricciardo +24.330
5 Felipe Massa +58.979
6 Romain Grosjean +72.081
7 Nico Hulkenberg +74.199
8 Valtteri Bottas +75.153
9 Carlos Sainz +75.680
10 Max Verstappen +76.833