Lewis Hamilton got his bid for the world title off to the ideal start as he won a highly-eventful season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver had to keep his composure throughout three separate safety car periods to come through for his fifth Formula 1 victory, but was never severely troubled at the front.

However that was not the case for his likely main title rivals, with Ferrari enduring a nightmare start to the season with both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa retiring.

The Italian squad’s failures allowed some of the chasing pack a rare chance to score some big points finishes.

BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld kept his composure to come through in second place, while Nico Rosberg scored his first F1 podium with third for Williams.

It looked set to be an equally landmark day for Sebastien Bourdais on his Formula 1 debut – but the Toro Rosso new boy’s drive from 18th on the grid to a stunning fourth ended in heartache when he hit technical trouble with just three laps remaining.

Fernando Alonso drove a steady race to fourth place on his first race back at Renault, although he looked set to finish a slot lower after a late battle with his McLaren replacement Heikki Kovalainen.

The Finn, who had been on course for second until the final safety car period ruined his chances, passed Alonso on the penultimate lap – but inexplicably lost drive coming out of the final corner and the Spaniard retook the position.

Honda’s Rubens Barrichello was sixth, with Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima scoring two points for seventh.

And such was the high level of retirements, Bourdais was classified in eighth.


Full result and report to follow...