Australian Grand Prix Stars: Reasons to smile for Hamilton

It was groundhog day at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix as Ferrari's superior strategy helped Sebastian Vettel begin his season with a win over Lewis Hamilton. Regardless, the Mercedes man takes top honours in our ratings. Do you agree with our five standout performers?

Lewis Hamilton

Started: 1st/Finished: 2nd

He may have been in 'disbelief' after failing to win the Australian Grand Prix from pole for a third successive year, but the 2017 champion has every reason to be satisfied with his performance this weekend.

His stunning pole lap - a record seventh at Melbourne's Albert Park and his 73rd overall - was the perfect way to kick-start his title defence, and he remarked afterwards that he had been "waiting to put a good lap in" to wipe the smile off Vettel's face. On Sunday, his pace before the pit stop was strong, and he was able to open up a three-second gap to Ferraris behind.

But for the unfortunate timing of Grosjean's retirement, and a quirk in F1's Virtual Safety Car rules, Hamilton would have likely converted his pole position to a 63rd grand prix victory. He'll head to Bahrain safe in the knowledge that he's still the man to beat this season.

Sebastian Vettel

Started: 3rd/Finished: 1st

For the second year in a row, Vettel stole the limelight in Melbourne, despite not possessing the outright quickest car. Vettel delivered a jab in the direction of Hamilton after Saturday's qualifying saying the pole man was "free to have a party tonight but maybe Kimi and myself can have a party tomorrow." Party they did...

Starting from third, a canny decision to pit under the VSC meant Vettel was able to retain track position in first place after stretching out his opening stint. On fresher tyres, Vettel had just enough to keep the charging Hamilton at bay, but it wasn't easy. Mercedes looked to have the quicker car, but after the pit stops, Hamilton's best lap was only a hundredth of a second quicker than Vettel's.

That was key to Vettel clinging on to his lead and delivering a third Australian Grand Prix victory, his second in as many years.

Kimi Raikkonen

Started: 2nd/Finished: 3rd

At 38, Raikkonen rolled back the years with a stellar qualifying lap that put him on the front row of the grid, and ahead of Vettel for the first time since October's Malaysia Grand Prix, when the German didn't set a time.

Raikkonen held position off the start and was the leading Ferrari in the race until he pitted on lap 19. After Vettel's well-timed stop gained him track position, Raikkonen came under threat from Daniel Ricciardo, who had moved up to fourth following Haas' double DNF. When Ricciardo saw his chance on lap 40, Raikkonen was forced to get his elbows out, and his robust defence from the Red Bull driver secured a spot on the podium.

After trailing Vettel by more than 100 points last season, many were left questioning his speed and commitment, but Raikkonen's performance this weekend - his strongest for some time - went a long way to answering that.

Fernando Alonso

Started: 10th/Finished: 5th

Before yesterday, Alonso hadn't finished an Australian Grand Prix since re-joining McLaren in 2015, so fifth place was perhaps a deserved reward for keeping patience during the dark days of the Honda partnership.

"Well done guys, very proud of you," was Alonso's radio message to his team at the end of the race. "Long winter, long seasons in the past, but now we can fight. We can fight!"

Starting from 10th, Alonso kept out of harm's way in the early stages of the race and found himself fifth when the safety car came in on lap 32. Running at the front of a gaggle of Renault-powered cars, Alonso staved off 26 laps of intense pressure from Red Bull's Max Verstappen, and the two Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr to equal his best result since returning to the team.

Despite Alonso predicting that Melbourne would be his "low point" of 2018, beating a Red Bull and both Renault works cars shows that McLaren can fight for big points - and Alonso's long-awaited return to the podium could be on the horizon.

Kevin Magnussen

Started: 5th/ Finished: DNF

After setting some eye-catching times in testing, Haas arrived in Melbourne with renewed confidence and both Magnussen and team-mate Romain Grosjean made good on their pre-season form by starting on the third row after Ricciardo's grid drop was applied.

It was Magnussen who caught the eye on Sunday, with a rocket getaway to seize fourth around the outside of Verstappen at turn one. He ran ahead of his more experienced team-mate Grosjean and fended off pressure from Verstappen for several laps before the Red Bull driver overcooked his tyres and spun on lap 10. Still in fourth when he pitted on lap 23, a loose wheel nut put an end to his charge as he pulled up on the side of the track after exiting the pits.

Grosjean retired with the same issue two laps later and Magnussen described the double retirement as "heart-breaking". Despite coming away empty-handed, this was the Dane's best performance since scoring a debut podium in Melbourne four years ago.