Australian F1 Grand Prix 2014 Results: Winner, Standings, Stats and Reaction

Nico Rosberg won the opening race of the 2014 Formula One season with a dominant display in Melbourne, Australia.

The German driver took advantage of reliability issues that hampered his team-mate and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton, taking the chequered flag well clear of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren's Kevin Magnussen.

But Ricciardo's joy at finishing in second place in his home grand prix was to be short-lived, as he was disqualified after breaching fuel consumption rules per BBC Sport.

McLaren lead the constructors' championship after week one, as Jenson Button was reinstated in third place following Ricciardo's disqualification. Fernando Alonso had to settle for a fourth place finish, whilst his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finished down in seventh on his second debut in Ferrari red.

World Champion Sebastian Vettel couldn't make it 10 race wins in a row, as he was lost power early on and had to withdraw.

Mercedes man Rosberg emerged in first place following a chaotic start to the grand prix. But once the 28-year-old German hit the front, his lead never looked in danger. 

Here's the story of the race, including full results, updated standings and post-race reaction:

The Race Weekend, Results

Rob Griffith/Associated Press

The Race Weekend on Bleacher Report

The Australian Grand Prix live blog and report

Bleacher Report Australian Grand Prix expert predictions 

Results In Full per Formula1.com:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	58	Winner	3	25
2	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	58	+26.7 secs	4	18
3	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	58	+30.0 secs	10	15
4	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	58	+35.2 secs	5	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	58	+47.6 secs	15	10
6	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	58	+50.7 secs	7	8
7	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	58	+57.6 secs	11	6
8	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	58	+60.4 secs	6	4
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	58	+63.5 secs	8	2
10	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	58	+85.9 secs	16	1
11	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	57	+1 Lap	13
12	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	57	+1 Lap	20
13	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	56	+2 Laps	17
DQ	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	58	N/A	2
Ret	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	50	+8 Laps	18
Ret	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	44	+14 Laps	22
Ret	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	30	+28 Laps	21
Ret	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	28	+30 Laps	19
Ret	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	4	+54 Laps	12
Ret	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	3	+55 Laps	1
Ret	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	0	+58 Laps	9
Ret	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	0	+58 Laps	14

Updated Driver Standings

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Here's the driver's standings after the opening race of the 2014 season, per Formula1.com:

Position	Driver	Points
01	Nico Rosberg	25
02	Kevin Magnussen	18
03	Jenson Button	15
04	Fernando Alonso	12
05	Valtteri Bottas	10
06	Nico Hulkenberg	8
07	Kimi Raikkonen	6
08	Jean-Eric Vergne	4
09	Daniil Kvyat	2
10	Sergio Perez	1

Updated Team Standings

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Here's how the constructors' championship looks after the opening race of the 2014 season, per Formula1.com:

Pos	Team	Points
1	McLaren-Mercedes	33
2	Mercedes	25
3	Ferrari	18
4	Williams-Mercedes	10
5	Force India-Mercedes	9
6	STR-Renault	6
7	Sauber-Ferrari	0
8	Marussia-Ferrari	0
9	Lotus-Renault	0
10	Caterham-Renault	0
11	Red Bull-Renault	0

Post-Race Reaction and Major in-Race Events

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

It's always vital to get off to a good start in the world title scrap, and Rosberg paid tribute to the work done by his team in the build-up to the Australian Grand Prix. He also made it abundantly clear he expects a big response from his rivals, per Andrew Benson of BBC Sport:

"

I'm over the moon really, everyone has worked so hard over the winter and to have such an amazing Silver Arrow. I'm really thankful to Mercedes for giving me such an amazing car.

There is a lot of work to do. We can still improve a lot and we must because the competitors are not going to be asleep.

"

A chaotic start to the race saw a major collision between Kamui Kobayashi and Felipe Massa on the opening lap. It'd be fair to say the Brazilian wasn't best pleased with the conduct of the Japanese driver:

"

Felipe Massa believes that Kobayashi deserves a race ban for the crash he caused at turn one #F1onNBC

— F1® Racing on NBC (@F1onNBCSports) March 16, 2014

"

"

 

Mayhem at the start of the #AusGP as Kamui Kobayashi and Felipe Massa crash out http://t.co/VzH3sXOmz7 #bbcf1 pic.twitter.com/wejhT5Qdtr

— BBCF1 (@bbcf1) March 16, 2014"

The drama continued in the early stages, as both Vettel and Hamilton fell foul to reliability issues:

"

Update on @LewisHamilton: We were forced to retire his car due to a misfiring cylinder

— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) March 16, 2014"

"

Sebastian has retired with an engine problem. More details after the race. #AusGP

— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 16, 2014"

Vallteri Bottas started the race in blistering fashion, but he found himself back down the field after this unfortunate incident:

"

Three wheels on my wagon, but @ValtteriBottas is still rolling along. http://t.co/1WV1LkkpRu #SkyF1 pic.twitter.com/bIkgPUmkg3

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 16, 2014"

Despite all the carnage early on, Rosberg kept his head and eased the car home: 

"

Andy Cowell from Mercedes AMG HPP on the podium with @nico_rosberg. The 100th victory for @MercedesBenz power in #F1 pic.twitter.com/xM3vkssoN3

— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) March 16, 2014"

Whilst Vettel will have been disappointed to drop out, he admitted he was happy for his team-mate Ricciardo, who crossed the line in second place on his Red Bull debut:

"

Vettel tells @bbc5live "We came here to do well, The most important thing is the car is quick. At least 50% of the garage is happy." #bbcf1

— BBCF1 (@bbcf1) March 16, 2014"

 But Red Bull's day took a turn for the worse, as BBC Sport broke the news that Ricciardo had been excluded from the race:

"

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo has been disqualified. Put the champagne back on ice. http://t.co/pPp671OR3j #bbcf1 pic.twitter.com/yeG2meECTf

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 16, 2014"

Meanwhile, McLaren showed off Magnussen's third place trophy via their official website:

"

And here's @KevinMagnussen's 3rd place trophy! #F1Melbourne #AusGP #BelieveInMcLaren pic.twitter.com/KLhhfGzoxV

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 16, 2014"

Winners in Australia

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Nico Rosberg

With a tornado of drama, reliability issues and collisions puncturing the early stages of this race, Rosberg kept his head and emerged as the race leader. From that point on, the German’s victory was never in doubt; a winning margin in excess of 24 seconds a prime indicator of his dominance. The 28-year-old drove with incredible poise and precision, and he will be hoping a world championship challenge is on the cards after such a brilliant start to the season.

Daniel Ricciardo

Despite his subsequent disqualification, Ricciardo put in a performance that suggests he is going to have a very bright future at current team champions. The 24-year-old Aussie impressed all weekend, following up his solid practice and scintillating qualifying session with a mature drive on race day. He will be devastated to miss out on the podium in such dramatic circumstances, but it was an exciting performance that bodes well for his Red Bull future.

Kevin Magnussen

The star of the day was 21-year-old Magnussen. The were shades of a rookie Lewis Hamilton in the Dane's performance, as he finished his first ever Formula One race in second place, jumping up two places up from fourth on the grid. Magnussen, who becomes the first Dane to finish on the podium in an F1 race, drove like a seasoned veteran and after a dismal 2013 season, the McLaren garage will be in great spirits following his stellar debut.

Losers in Australia

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton

After an imperious qualifying session, many expected that Hamilton would romp to victory in Melbourne. Everything looked to be in order as the Brit managed a clean getaway but engine trouble saw him drop down the field and eventually out of the race. Despite this hiccup, both driver and car have shown plenty of promise this weekend. After Rosberg took the chequered flag here, Hamilton will be hopeful of bouncing back in Malaysia in two weeks' time.

Sebastian Vettel 

Oh what a difference a new season can make! The four-time World Champion didn't look like a man chasing a 10th consecutive grand prix win. After failing to sparkle in qualifying, Vettel found himself in the thick of the field, starting in 12th on the grid. But things were to get even worse when he lost power early on and had to withdraw. Like Hamilton though, his team-mate sparkled and that will offer some comfort heading into the second race of the season.