REVIEW: AUSTRALIA 2018
Once again, Hamilton failed to convert an Australian pole into a race win
Sebastien Vettel repeated his start to 2017, snatching a win away from Lewis Hamilton in Melbourne.
Hamilton's main competition was Kimi Raikkonen, however, it wasn't much of a battle. Hamilton opened up a big gap to Ferrari's second driver.
Haas got off to a great start, running comfortably in 4th and 6th or a good portion of the race. Max Verstappen split Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean. However, the Haas pair were reunited after Verstappen suffered a huge spin between turns one and two. The Dutchman managed what Bottas didn't in qualifying, keeping the car out of the wall but did also drop behind team-mate Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.
However, it wasn't long until the wheels came off, literally. First, Magnussen's left rear tyre wasn't tightened correctly and he had to pull off just before turn four.
Only a lap later, Grosjean pitted and incredibly suffered a similar fate to his team-mate. His front left wasn't tightened and he was also forced to retire. This brought out a virtual safety car.
And this was the point the race turned in Vettel's favour. Having pitted to cover off Raikkonen, Hamilton was jumped by Vettel. Mercedes say a software issue meant the pit window calculation was incorrect and at allowed Vettel to stay in front of Hamilton after the stop.
Hamilton put pressure on Vettel throughout the rest of the race but couldn't get close enough to pass despite setting several fastest laps.
Ricciardo also put masses of pressure on Raikkonen as he look to get on the podium in his home race. However, the Fin held off the charging Bull to take the third step on the podium.
Verstappen's luck didn't improve as he continued to struggle. Fernando Alonso managed to hold him off for a fantastic fifth place in the first race of the McLaren Renault relationship.
Despite feeling ill, Carlos Sainz held onto 10th, holding off Force India. It was the first time since Monaco last year that neither Force India picked up a point. Hulkenberg, Bottas and Stoffel Vandoorne filled the spots between Verstappen and Sainz.
Meanwhile, lower down the field, F1 kings of banter, Honda, made my season preview look stupid. One retirement and last of the running car saw a disappointing start to the season for Toro Rosso.