Mercedes chief compares Valtteri Bottas and Nico Rosberg after Australian GP performance

“Ferrari are still right there with us and Red Bull have picked up a lot of pace”.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel saw off the challenge from Lewis Hamilton to win the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The first Ferrari victory since 2015 made Vettel, a four-times world champion with Red Bull, the only non-Mercedes driver to have led the standings since the V6 turbo hybrid power units were introduced in 2014.

The Ferrari ace cruised to victory, finishing nearly 10 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel appeared to be less concerned about the situation than anyone, but that’s always going to be the case when you’re the driver on the top step of the podium.

“I’m not anxious about that, I think like I said in general in the weekend overall, although at times I feel it wasn’t ideal, but I think it was a decent start with the team and the new age for me and my career. It has been a hard winter and an incredible race today”.

Three-time champion Lewis Hamilton has chose to race in Formula 1 this year without a personal trainer. They dominated the race from beginning to end.

Riccardo was unable to start the race with a gearbox failure, shortly afterwards he re-joined during lap 3, hoping to make amends to an bad start.

“Overall, I think not a disaster, first race weekend with the team”, said Bottas, who joined Mercedes for 2017 as a replacement for Rosberg.

Without a win across the entire 2016 season, things were looking pretty bleak for the Italians, however a host of changes to their vehicle – brought on in part by the F1 regulations overhaul -appear to have revitalised the team. “This is only the first race of the championship, though”.

Max Verstappen was fifth for Red Bull, which only got one vehicle to the finish and struggled to match the pace of Ferrari and Mercedes, which both notched lap records at Albert Park in practice and qualifying. I think the team is getting stronger.

“I don’t lie. And I’m not really good at bluffing or playing poker”, he said.

Team-mate Bottas though is still confident Mercedes can catch up to Ferrari in China. What matters is we had a good race and it’s a great relief for everyone. That’s why I’m happy. It’s been a long time coming. Fernando Alonso retired on the 50th of 57 laps to continue his unsuccessful run at McLaren. Last season he fell to sixth by turn one after a sluggish start.

Lance Stroll nearly got to experience the full package on his first weekend in Formula One, hitting speeds exceeding 320 kph (199 mph), clipping a wall, being handed a grid penalty and skidding through the gravel.