The race was the 79th in the history of the Australian Grand Prix and the 19th held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. It marked the 30th year the event was included as a round of the Formula One World Championship. Pirelli provided the white-banded medium compound as the "prime" tyre and the yellow-banded soft compound as the "option" tyre.
Qualifying took place in changing weather conditions. Daniel Ricciardo set the early pace in Q1 for Red Bull Racing, while Lotus struggled with Pastor Maldonado failing to set a time and Romain Grosjean qualifying 21st. Rain began to fall during Q2, leading to a spin by Kimi Räikkönen that hindered the laps of Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel, both of whom failed to advance to Q3. Vettel was also affected by engine problems.
In the final period, the rain intensified. Lewis Hamilton secured pole position on his final lap, beating Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified a career-best second. Nico Rosberg qualified third, followed by debutant Kevin Magnussen in fourth. Fernando Alonso recovered to fifth for Ferrari, starting alongside Jean-Éric Vergne. Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Gutiérrez received five-place grid penalties for gearbox changes, while Maldonado was permitted to start at the stewards' discretion despite failing to set a time within the 107% limit.
The race began at 17:00 local time. Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi stalled on the grid, while Romain Grosjean started from the pit lane. At the start, Kamui Kobayashi suffered a loss of rear brakes and collided with Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen, ending the race for Kobayashi and Massa.
Polesitter Lewis Hamilton suffered an engine cylinder failure at the start, dropping to fifth by the end of the first lap before retiring on lap two. Nico Rosberg took the lead at the first corner and maintained a dominant pace, eventually winning by nearly 25 seconds. Defending champion Sebastian Vettel retired on lap three due to engine issues. Both Lotus cars and Marcus Ericsson also retired with mechanical problems.
Daniel Ricciardo finished the race in second place on track, becoming the first Australian to finish on the podium in his home race as a world championship round. Kevin Magnussen finished third on his debut, the first podium for a Danish driver. Jenson Button finished fourth, followed by Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas, the latter recovering from a puncture caused by clipping a wall on lap 11. Daniil Kvyat finished tenth on his debut, becoming the youngest points-scorer in Formula One history at age 19.
Following the race, Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified for a breach of Article 5.1.4 of the Formula One Technical Regulations regarding the maximum allowable fuel flow rate. Red Bull Racing appealed the decision, claiming the FIA-provided sensors were unreliable, but the disqualification was upheld on 14 April.
The disqualification promoted Kevin Magnussen to second place and Jenson Button to third. This result gave McLaren their first double podium since the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix and marked the last time the team led the Constructors' Championship until the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It was the 50th and final podium of Button's career; however, because the disqualification occurred after the race, he did not participate in the podium ceremony.
Nico Rosberg's victory made him part of a select group of father-son pairs to win the Australian Grand Prix, following his father Keke Rosberg's win in 1985. This feat had previously been achieved by Stan and Alan Jones, and Graham and Damon Hill. The race ended Sebastian Vettel's streak of nine consecutive race wins. Kevin Magnussen's second-place finish remains the only podium for a Danish driver in a World Championship Grand Prix as of 2024. Daniil Kvyat held the record for youngest points-scorer until the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix.
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