Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel started where he left off today by winning the first race of the new F1 season in Melbourne.

He was never challenged as he stormed to victory from pole, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who will also be satisfied with the result since this was the first time that his McLaren had completed a race distance after a torrid testing season and eleventh-hour radical changes to its exhaust system.

Vitali Petrov came third in his Lotus Renault, having managed to hold off the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.

A disappointed Mark Webber came fifth in the second Red Bull, having started from third. He made a mistake in the race and adopted a different tyre strategy from the front runners.

Next came McLaren's Jenson Button and Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

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