F1 2017: Vettel beats Hamilton to win Australian Grand Prix through pace and guile

Ferrari and former four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel delivered on the promise they showed in winter testing by winning the season opening Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne's 5.303km, 16-turn Albert Park Circuit.

Running pole-sitter Hamilton close at the start, staying out longer before the solitary pit-stop of the 57 lap race and benefitting from Hamilton being stuck behind Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen led to Vettel securing the 43rd win of his F1 career and gave Ferrari a win that was more down to pace than pure optimism, as compared to Vettel's first win with the Scuderia in Malaysia in 2015.

FERRARI FAMINE ENDS
The win was the first for either Vettel or Ferrari since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix as the team went all of 2016 without winning a single race.

Vettel and Ferrari kept the gap to the Hamilton, who led from the start, to around 1.5 seconds until Hamilton lapped on lap 20 of the race. The German chose to stay out for six laps more on the softest available set of tyres that most of the front runners had started on before they switched to the hardest compound available to run till the end of the 302km race that saw an aborted start and a second formation lap before finally getting underway.

Once Vettel emerged from his pit-stop, Verstappen attempted to pass him but was unable to do so while Hamilton remained stuck behind the Dutchman.

Following the tyre stop, Hamilton's new teammate Valtteri Bottas was able to close the gap that Hamilton had opened up to him prior to it. From six seconds behind, the Finn managed to close to within 1.5 seconds at one point with the three-time champion complaining of a lack of grip on his tyres.

It is not clear if Mercedes asked Bottas to keep station behind Hamilton in order to maximize points for the constructors' championship but the Finn followed Hamilton home just 1.275 seconds behind him.

BULLS BOGGED DOWN
The team that finished second in the constructors championship last year and showed signs of challenging Mercedes turned up at Melbourne well off the pace of the scarlet and silver cars. To add insult to injury, Daniel Ricciardo had an awful home race, incurring a five-place grid penalty for changing a gearbox, being forced to start from the pit lane two laps down and then retiring from the race.

Verstappen managed to finish fifth but was never a factor for a podium position and his greatest impact to the outcome was when Hamilton got stuck behind him after the Mercedes driver's tyre stop and an attempt to overtake Vettel when he exited from his.

The Dutchman finished six seconds behind Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari. Williams-Mercedes' Felipe Massa, Force India-Mercedes' Sergio Perez, Toro Rosso-Renault's Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat and the other Force India of Esteban Ocon completed the points scoring classification.

GAME ON?
Ferrari's win was a much needed shot in the arm for both Ferrari and for the general competitiveness of Formula 1. It was the first time since the 2013 season that a team other than Mercedes had won the opening round of the season.

Ferrari lead the constructors' championship with 37 points to Mercedes' 33. Red Bull-Renault are a distant third for now with 10 points ahead of Williams-Mercedes, Force India-Mercedes and Toro Rosso-Renault who have eight, seven and six points, respectively.

The next round of the season will be held from April 7 to 9 at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.