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The Formula 1 season began with the Australian Grand Prix, and it did not fail to entertain the fans. The race was aggressive and drama-filled. Lewis Hamilton started in pole position with Raikkonen and Vettel in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
However, as a result of the safety car incident, following Romain Grosjean's retirement, Vettel took the lead and Hamilton fell to 2nd place while Raikkonen slipped to 3rd. This incident allowed some drivers like Alonso and Ricciardo to take advantage and finish higher in the grid.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the five things that we learned from the first Grand Prix of the 2018-19 season:
#5 Haas was very impressive but unfortunate
Haas' cars had already looked impressive during the practice sessions and the qualifying round.
Kevin Magnussen earned himself the 6th spot on the grid after the qualifying round, and Romain Grosjean was 7th.
Magnussen's start was brilliant, as he went up to the 4th place in the very first corner, overtaking Ricciardo and Verstappen.
He then took control over that spot and did not let an aggressive Verstappen overtake him. Grosjean also did well and went ahead of Ricciardo, and took the 5th spot.
However, when everything was going brilliantly for the Haas drivers, Magnussen made his first pit-stop in the 20th lap.
The Haas team made an error while changing the tyres, which made Magnussen retire immediately.
It was Deja Vu for the Hass team, as they made the same mistake with Grosjean in the next lap, forcing him to retire as well.
Both Magnussen and Grosjean were going brilliantly until this unfortunate incident. Had they continued without any reliability problems, both the drivers would have earned a spot in the Top five maybe.
#4 Verstappen's brave comeback
Verstappen started 4th on the grid and had a decent start. He was overtaken by Magnussen who was in the 5th place.
After that overtake, the German was desperate to claim his original place and was one of the most aggressive drivers today.
He was fast and aggressive around the corners as well. He made a minor error in one of the corners, which made his car slip.
He got right back onto the track with no major damage to the car. However, he slipped down to the 8th spot and, it looked like there was no way Verstappen could catch up to either of the Haas drivers.
After a pit-stop, Verstappen went down to the 11th spot.
However, the German teenager fought back and, with a little help from the safety car as well, he managed to finish 6th on the grid, behind the podium finishers and, teammate Ricciardo and McLaren's Alonso.
#3 Hamilton did everything right, but couldn't win
Hamilton looked in great form ahead of the main race day. He claimed his 7th pole position in the Australian Grand Prix and had the fastest car in the practice sessions, and in the qualifying rounds as well.
Even in the main race, Hamilton stayed on top for a long time and looked like the fastest driver in the race.
However, after the safety car was brought following Grosjean's retirement, Vettel made a pit-stop and came ahead of Hamilton. The four-time English Champion could not overtake under the safety car rules.
Hamilton tried to go ahead of Vettel but, Vettel wasn't going to give up his lead so easily. In the final few laps, Hamilton's tyres started heating up and wearing down. He had to slow down which put Vettel comfortably on top. Hamiton managed to somehow finish 2nd, just ahead of Raikkonen in 3rd.
#2 Vettel wins his 2nd successive Australian Grand Prix
Although he didn't have the fastest car and, did not look likely to get past Hamilton, Vettel and Ferrari's strategies worked perfectly and, the four-time German Champion managed to win the Australian Grand Prix, just like he did last year.
Vettel went past Hamilton after a pit-stop when the safety car was announced. But, after taking the lead, Vettel was under control and made no mistakes to let Hamilton get past him.
Vettel wasn't the most aggressive or the fastest but, he was the most intelligent driver on the day.
#1 Ferrari take an early lead in the Constructors' Championship
Hamilton's teammate, Valtteri Bottas had a terrible start to the season. After crashing in the qualifying round, Bottas started 15th on the grid.
It was a tough track to overtake but, Bottas somehow managed to finish 8th on the grid contributing 4 points to Mercedes.
With Hamilton getting 18 points, Mercedes are 2nd on the Constructors' Championship table with 22 points.
Ferrari made a bright start to the season with both Vettel and Raikkonen getting podium finishes.
Vettel won the Grand Prix and picked up 25 points whereas, Raikkonen came in 3rd and picked up 15 points. Ferrari now has an 18 point lead over Mercedes.
The Mercedes-Ferrari rivalry will surely be interesting to watch for the rest of the season.
However, even though it's too early in the season, Ferrari looks like the right team to dethrone Mercedes off the Constructors' Championship.
