Pre-season testing confirmed that Mercedes would once again be the dominant force. Williams and Ferrari had made significant steps forward over the winter, while Red Bull continued to struggle with their Renault engines. The McLaren-Honda partnership got off to a troubled start, completing barely half the laps of the next-worst team in testing. Most significantly, Fernando Alonso suffered a concussion in a testing crash at Barcelona and was ruled out of the Australian race. Reserve driver Kevin Magnussen was drafted in as his replacement, having finished second on debut at the same event in 2014.
Two major controversies preceded the race. Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde launched legal action against Sauber in the Supreme Court of Victoria, seeking to enforce a contract he said entitled him to drive for the team in 2015. The court initially ruled in his favour, leading to Sauber declining to run either contracted driver Marcus Ericsson or Felipe Nasr in Friday practice. The dispute was eventually resolved when van der Garde agreed to forego racing in Melbourne. Separately, the Manor Marussia team arrived in Australia having completed no pre-season testing. A software glitch prevented their year-old Ferrari engines from starting, and the team failed to set a qualifying time, leaving only 18 cars eligible for the race.
Lewis Hamilton was fastest in all three qualifying sessions, claiming his 39th pole position and his fourth at Albert Park with a time of 1:26.327. Nico Rosberg was second for Mercedes, with Felipe Massa third in the Williams. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen took fourth and fifth for Ferrari, confirming the team's improved competitiveness. Valtteri Bottas qualified sixth but was subsequently ruled unfit to start after suffering an annular disc tear in his lower back.
With Bottas declared unfit, and Daniil Kvyat and Magnussen suffering car failures on the out-lap, the race started with only 15 cars — the lowest number for a season opener since 1963 and the lowest overall since the 2005 United States Grand Prix.
Hamilton led from the start. A collision at Turn 1 between Räikkönen, Nasr, and Pastor Maldonado resulted in Maldonado retiring at Turn 2 and the safety car being deployed on lap 1. Both Lotus cars were then eliminated, Romain Grosjean losing power on lap 2 and Maldonado having already retired. Hamilton made his pit stop on lap 25 for medium compound tyres and retained the lead ahead of Rosberg. Vettel passed Felipe Massa for third during the pit stop phase. Max Verstappen, running sixth, retired on lap 34 with an engine failure. Räikkönen retired on lap 41 after a cross-threaded wheel nut caused his left rear tyre to come loose at pit stop.
The final order saw Hamilton win his 34th Grand Prix from Rosberg, 1.36 seconds behind. Vettel was third, 34.5 seconds off the pace, marking a successful debut for both him and Ferrari. Massa was fourth, with Felipe Nasr fifth in a strong result for Sauber. Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hülkenberg, Marcus Ericsson, Carlos Sainz, and Sergio Pérez completed the points scorers. Only 11 cars finished. Nasr achieved the highest-ever finishing position for a Brazilian driver on Formula One debut.
The race was dominated by Mercedes to such a degree that Ricciardo publicly apologised to the home crowd, calling the event "boring." Red Bull publicly demanded FIA intervention to level the competitive field. Sauber scored 14 championship points at the opening race, compared to none across the entire previous season. Manor Marussia were subsequently ordered by Bernie Ecclestone to cover their own freight costs to and from Australia for failing to field cars.
Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen, at 17 years and 166 days, became the youngest driver to start a Formula One World Championship race. Teammate Carlos Sainz also made his debut at the same event.
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