Tyres give Mercedes edge

After qualifying first and second on the starting grid, the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were, for the first time, beaten off the line by the Williams cars of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, who led the race for more than half of the 52 laps.

But it started raining at three-quarters distance and Mercedes showed its expertise with some brilliantly timed pit stops for intermediate tyres while the Williams team misread the weather conditions and continued on slicks. That decision also allowed Sebastien Vettel to overtake them for third place in his Ferrari.

Before the start Perth ace Daniel Ricciardo said the newly improved Red Bull would probably not be quick enough to fight with the Mercedes or Ferrari teams. "But hopefully we can get close to Williams," he said.

That was not the case. Ricciardo had an awful race, first being penalised three places on the starting grid for overshooting a line by 3cm during qualifying, and then having problems with his Red Bull Renault.

He never came close to the Williams duo, started from 10th, dropped to 13th place, and retired on lap 23, joining six other non-runners.