2014 Australian Grand Prix

The 2014 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2014 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 16 March 2014 in Melbourne. The race was contested over 58 laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, and was the first round of the 2014 season, and saw the début of the series' brand-new regulations which introduced 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 engines to the sport; the first such instance, since the 1988 Australian Grand Prix, that turbocharged engines have been used in Formula One. It was the seventy-ninth race in the combined history of the Australian Grand Prix—which dates back to the 100 Miles Road Race of 1928—and the nineteenth time the event was held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. The race also marked the thirtieth year that the Australian Grand Prix was run as a round of the World Championship.

The race was won by German driver Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes F1 W05. It was Rosberg's fourth Grand Prix victory and completed a rare-double in the Australian Grand Prix, winning a race his father Keke had won 29 years previously, a feat previously achieved by Stan and Alan Jones and Graham and Damon Hill. Kevin Magnussen finished second in a McLaren MP4-29 on his Formula One debut, the first podium finish in a World Championship Grand Prix by a Danish driver. Third was Jenson Button in the second McLaren, who recorded his 50th Formula One podium with the result. Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo originally finished in second place for Red Bull Racing, but was later disqualified due to illegal fuel flow throughout the race.

Qualifying
The opening eighteen-minute session started in clear conditions, but was run under the threat of rain, with reports of storms over Avalon Airport and the Mornington Peninsula moving east towards the circuit.

Daniel Ricciardo set the early pace in his début for Red Bull Racing, while Lotus struggled horribly, with Pastor Maldonado failing to set a time and Romain Grosjean qualifying a lowly twenty-first, which became twentieth when Esteban Gutiérrez was given a penalty for a gearbox change in his Sauber. Max Chilton out-qualified his Marussia team-mate Jules Bianchi, but missed out on a place in Q2 by one hundredth of a second. Caterham driver Marcus Ericsson was the final driver eliminated in Q1, with his team-mate Kamui Kobayashi overcoming a lack of running in Free Practice to advance to the next period.

The weather made good on its threat in Q2, with the slippery conditions claiming their first victim in Kimi Räikkönen, who spun his Ferrari late in the period. Räikkönen's accident interrupted the laps of several drivers, with Jenson Button and reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel both reporting that Räikkönen's accident prevented them from advancing to Q3. It was later found that Vettel was also hindered by engine problems, which had plagued him since FP3 that morning. Sauber's Adrian Sutil finished the period in fourteenth, with Kamui Kobayashi fifteenth after Sergio Perez spun his Force India on his final flying lap.

The rain intensified in the final period, with several drivers venturing out on full wet tyres. Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, and Ricciardo, started a three-way battle for pole that came down to their final laps. Hamilton prevailed, with Ricciardo qualifying a career-best second in his home race. Rosberg started from third, alongside Kevin Magnussen, who qualified his McLaren fourth in his F1 début. After Räikkönen's Q2 accident had left him twelfth, Fernando Alonso gave Ferrari a decent result when he recovered to fifth after making the wrong tyre choice early in the period and started next to the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne. Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and debutant Daniil Kvyat filled the next row of the grid, ahead of the Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, who, like Gutierrez, was demoted five places for a gearbox change. For Williams, it was the first time since the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix that both cars made it into Q3.

Post-qualifying
Kevin Magnussen and Sebastian Vettel were referred to the stewards for speeding under yellow flags following Kimi Räikkönen's accident, but they were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Fernando Alonso was also called to the stewards for impeding Esteban Gutierrez in Q1, but also escaped a penalty.

Race
The race began on 17:00 local time. Marussia drivers Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi stalled on the grid, with Bianchi having problem after the formation lap and Chilton stalling at the beginning of the formation lap. Romain Grosjean started the race from the pit lane due to leaving the garage before the 15-minute signal. Seconds after the lights had gone out, Felipe Massa and Kamui Kobayashi were involved in a first-lap collision, putting both out of the race.

Nico Rosberg led from the first corner despite Lewis Hamilton starting from pole. During the first five laps of the race, Hamilton, as well as the defending world champion Sebastian Vettel, retired, with both having issues with the engine. Rosberg dominantly won the race by almost twenty-five seconds, picking up his fourth career win since last year's British Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo snatched second in front of his home crowd, making him the first Australian F1 driver to finish on the podium in his home race as a world championship round. John Smith finished on the podium in 1983, but at the time, it was not yet an official Formula One world championship round. Kevin Magnussen finished third, two seconds behind Ricciardo. This made him the first F1 debutant since Lewis Hamilton at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix seven years earlier to finish on the podium. Coincidentally, Hamilton and Magnussen both started from fourth on the grid and finished third, driving for McLaren.

Fourth was Magnussen's team mate Jenson Button, finishing half a minute behind Rosberg, followed by Fernando Alonso in fifth. Valtteri Bottas finished in sixth despite clipping the wall and causing a puncture on the right rear tire on lap 11. Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh, Kimi Raikkonen a disappointing eighth despite winning the race a year before and driving for Ferrari instead of the now struggling Lotus-Renault, the Toro Rosso duos Jean-Eric Vergne and debutant Daniil Kvyat ninth and an impressive tenth respectively. The Ferrari's suffered some electrical problems in the race, according to the team.

With Rosberg winning the race and Vettel retiring, this was the first time since the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix in July 2013 that Vettel failed to win. This was also the first time since the 2013 British Grand Prix that he failed to make it to the podium, was not classified and did not score any point.

Post race
Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified from the results of the Australian GP. Kevin Magnussen was promoted to second with Jenson Button up to third.

Ricciardo was excluded from the race result for a breach of Article 5.1.4 of the Formula One Technical Regulations, which govern the maximum allowable rate at which fuel may flow into the engine. The team were also referred to the stewards for using an unauthorised method of measuring the fuel flow. However, the team immediately announced their intention to appeal the Stewards' decision claiming that the sensors provided by the FIA to measure the Fuel flow are unreliable.

Qualifying
Notes:
 * — Valtteri Bottas was given a five-place grid penalty for changing a gearbox.
 * — Esteban Gutiérrez was given a five-place grid penalty for changing a gearbox.
 * — Pastor Maldonado failed to set a lap time within 107% of the fastest lap time set by Daniel Ricciardo in Q1. He was later given permission to start by race stewards.
 * Times in italics=Started from pit lane

Race
Notes:
 * — Jules Bianchi did not complete 90% of the race distance, and therefore is not classified as a finisher in the official results.
 * — Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified for breaching of fuel limits.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Constructors' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.