Bottas wins in Australian Mercedes one-two in to kick off 2019 Formula 1 season

Valtteri Bottas has taken the opening race of the 2019 Formula 1 season, with the Finn beating his teammate Lewis Hamilton to first place in Melbourne in his first win since 2017.

Bottas, who didn’t win a single race in 2018, started from second place but flew past Hamilton before the first turn.

The 29-year-old then took off and never looked back, also winning the bonus point for the quickest lap of the race, a bonus which has been added for the 2019 season.

Local driver Daniel Ricciardo had a nightmare start to life at Renault, breaking his front wing only seconds after starting the race and eventually retiring halfway through his home Grand Prix.

Behind Bottas and Hamilton, Max Verstappen finished third for Red Bull Racing after a nice overtake on Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who eventually finished fourth in front of teammate Charles Leclerc.

The start of the race saw a lot of action. At the front, Bottas flew out of the gates to pass Hamilton, who yielded at turn one to let his teammate past. Ten places behind of them, Ricciardo had to pivot right after Sergio Pérez started slowly in front of him. The Aussie went onto the grass but hit a hole, instantly blowing his front wing off, forcing him into an early stop.

After turn two, Robert Kubica suffered the same fate after running into Pierre Gasly’s Red Bull. Kubica’s race pace was way off after this, suggesting he picked up permanent damage from the incident.

Not long into the race, Carlos Sainz’ McLaren started puffing smoke from the engine room. The Spaniard had to retire, showcasing that Renault’s reliability issues are still omnipresent among its customers.

Ricciardo’s Renault retiring underlined this issue, although his early shunt could have been the cause for the Aussie not finishing his debut for the French side. For Haas, Renault’s main competitor in 2018, Romain Grosjean also retired, with his front suspension failing him.

Then, Max Verstappen started attacking. He got a scent of Vettel after their pit stops, and when he got into range, he sent one on the German’s outside at the end of the second DRS zone heading into turn three. The Dutchman impressively made it stick and got himself onto the podium. Vettel's race pace eventually dropped so much that Charles Leclerc almost overtook the four-time champion.

However, there was only one man who was ever going to win. Valtteri Bottas was a man on a mission. The Finn looked absolutely determined to grab his first victory since 2017, continuously improving on his quickest laps and keeping Hamilton and Verstappen streets behind him. A stellar display from Bottas, who has shown the world (and Hamilton) he’s not here to just make up the numbers. He took the win and thus the lead in the championship, with 26 points thanks to that extra point for the fastest lap.

For the three rookies, none of them ended in the points, as Lando Norris started eighth but finished 12th and Alex Albon and George Russell got nowhere near. Another interesting wrinkle is the fact that Pierre Gasly wasn't able to get any points for Red Bull, as the Frenchman finished 11th behind the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat.