Mercedes AMG’s Nico Rosberg got a perfect start to take the lead from teammate and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton, and never looked troubled thereafter. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo originally claimed what seemed an impressive 2nd place in front of his home crowd, but was later stripped of his accolade as a subsequent investigation showed that his Red Bull RB10 had exceeded the maximum allowable fuel flow rate allowed under the 2014 rules. That left McLaren’s rookie sensation Kevin Magnussen, originally 3rd, with a stunning 2nd place in his F1 debut, with Jenson Button close behind in 3rd.

The shocks of the race were the early retirements of Hamilton and Vettel, however, both of whom suffered misfiring cylinders that saw them missing pace from the start. The engine failures illustrated the massive difficulties all teams are having getting performance and reliability out of the sport’s new V6 hybrid turbo engines. Lewis was nonplussed, however, saying “This is a new era, this is what happens, you cannot expect us to all finish.”

Rosberg wins as Hamilton and Vettel go out in Australia | Yahoo Eurosport UK.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner insisted the organization had complied with the regulations and claimed the fuel sensors have caused problems since their introduction.

“I’m extremely disappointed, quite surprised and we will of course appeal,” said Horner. “Hopefully, through the appeal process it will be clear the car has conformed at all times with the rules and we have complied with the technical regulations.”

Nico Rosberg ‘silver arrow’ flies for Mercedes but Lewis Hamilton stalls | The Independent.