Nico Rosberg beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to victory at a thrilling Australian Grand Prix after Sebastian Vettel saw an early lead overturned by a red flag on lap 18 that left Ferrari's strategy in tatters.
Rosberg led Hamilton across the line for victory by 8.0s, but the reigning champions' one-two victory was hard-earned as Vettel pushed Hamilton close until two laps from the end when he ran wide at the penultimate corner. The race hinged on lap 18 when Fernando Alonso crashed heavily with Esteban Gutierrez at Turn 3, resulting in the race being stopped. That allowed Mercedes to switch to medium tyres and run until the end, while Ferrari's strategy on super-soft and soft tyres unravelled and cost Vettel the lead.