F1: Vettel wins Australian GP, ahead of Hamilton & Bottas

Sebastian Vettel has managed to start the 2017 Formula 1 season with a win in the Australian Grand Prix. This marks Vettel's 43rd career win, his 4th top finish with Ferrari and comes after a winless season last year for the German driver. He was joined on the podium by the two Mercedes-Benz drivers - Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

While Hamilton started the race from pole position, he made his first pit stop on lap 17. This gave Vettel the opportunity to pass Hamilton. Mercedes was hoping to overtake Vettel's Ferrari when he made his first pit stop. However, thanks to Vettel's stretched lead and the Ferrari pit crew's short tyre swap time, he managed to make his stop and emerge from the pit lanes, ahead of Hamilton. The British driver was stuck behind Max Verstappen's Red Bull which further extended Ferrari's lead.

From there on, Sebastian Vettel managed to take advantage of the clear track ahead of him and crossed the checkered flag around 10 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes. Hamilton did face some competition from his new team mate in the second half of the race, however he stuck on to his position to finish under 2 seconds ahead of Bottas.

The fourth and fifth positions were comfortably sealed by Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen, while Felipe Massa came in sixth. The two Force India cars of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon crossed the line in the seventh and tenth positions, split by the two Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat on the eighth and ninth spot, respectively.

The Australian GP also saw a bunch of retirements. McLaren Honda continued to show their reliability issues as Fernando Alonso retired due to a suspension problem. Daniel Ricciardo too had a disappointing retirement in front of his home crowd. Other drivers who could not finish the Australian GP include Haas' Kevin Magnussen, Williams' Lance Stroll, Sauber's Marcus Ericsson, Renault's Jolyon Palmer and Haas' Romain Grosjean.

The second round of 2017 F1 season will be held at the Shanghai International Circuit on April 09, 2017. Current world driver championship standings are as follows:

• Sebastian Vettel - 25

• Lewis Hamilton - 18

• Valtteri Bottas - 15