Bottas masters the race in Melbourne and wins in the opening

The first Grand Prix of the 2019 season was certainly decided at the start. When the lights go out, Valtteri Bottas gets better from second place on the grid to take the lead just in front Lewis Hamilton, who had stolen pole from him by a handful of tenths the day before. 

Behind, Charles Leclerc takes a good start from 5th position and tries to make the outside Sebastian Vettel for 3rd place but had to slow down at the last moment to avoid a contact that would have looked bad. 

Further, Daniel Ricciardo has a very complicated start to the race in front of his family. While trying to overtake Sergio Pérez's Racing Point on the right, the Australian rolled into the grass and completely destroyed his front wing, leaving him almost helpless at the start of the first braking. 

Forced to stop after just one lap, the star rookie of Renault will go very far again before abandoning shortly after the halfway point as a precaution. 

In the meantime, Bottas opened up an initial gap on Hamilton, who stopped on the 16th lap to cover Sebastian Vettel's stop behind him. The Finn stayed on the track for seven more loops and came out with a large lead which allowed him to manage until the end. 

Disappointment in the Ferrari clan. After very convincing winter tests, the Team leaves Melbourne without getting on the podium. Third in the first half of the race, Vettel was dropped off regularly by Max Verstappen and Red Bull-Honda on lap 31. The four-time German world champion ultimately had to settle for 4th place, ahead of Leclerc who caught up with his garage neighbor in the final laps but was ordered not to attack.

Kevin Magnussen confirms the fine provisions of Haas with 6th position. Unfortunate that Romain Grosjean, who slipped behind the Dane at the start, cannot say the same. The Frenchman was the victim of another failed pit stop at Haas and got stuck in the peloton before retiring.

Nico Hulkenberg proves faithful to its reputation for ensuring Renault's points with a new 7th position in Melbourne for the former winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The German is ahead of a solid Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa) and surprising Lance stroll (Racing Point) and Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso). The two men took advantage of a staggered stop to pass in front of a train made up of Lando Norris (McLaren), Sergio Pérez (Racing Point), and Alexander albon (Toro Rosso), stuck behind Antonio Giovinazzi's Alfa for a long time.

In the doldrums Williams, George Russell managed to survive, while Robert Kubica's race was ruined from the first sequence by the loss of his front wing. 

Bottas' success was total as he also set the fastest lap in the race and thus pockets the first bonus point of the season.

Find the analysis of the Australian GP carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands.