ESPN rounds up the major talking points from the Australian Grand Prix, a race which saw Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari live up to pre-season hype by winning the opening race.
Shock: Seeing how badly the Mercedes car struggled in traffic when Lewis Hamilton was unable to get past Max Verstappen at what turned out to be the critical moment of the race for the lead. For a team which has been used to leading from the front in previous years, it was interesting to see them fail to have an answer to Vettel's pace in front.
The strategy call to bring in Hamilton early -- and thus release him in traffic when quick laps were crucial -- was a genuine head-scratcher and hints at a pit wall which has been used to pressure-free races for most of the last three years. The call handed Vettel and Ferrari the race on a silver platter -- a reverse of last year, when Ferrari handed a race win to Mercedes through a botched strategy. Hamilton and Mercedes are now in an unusual situation of probably being second in terms of race pace and apparently have a car which struggles in turbulent air.
Shocker: What a horrible day for local favourite Daniel Ricciardo. Handed a five-place grid penalty ahead of the race, his car got stuck in sixth gear on the way to the grid and once he finally emerged from the pits he was two laps down. His miserable afternoon finished with a retirement. The curse of Australian drivers at Albert Park continues.
Overtake of the race: Esteban Ocon's pass on Fernando Alonso for tenth late in the race was exhilarating stuff, primarily because of the presence of Nico Hulkenberg's Renault as the cars went three-wide down towards the first corner. Ocon kept his nerve to make the move stick beautifully, while Hulkenberg compounded Alonso's misery by sneaking through as well. And who said you couldn't overtake with these new cars?
Rookie drive of the day: It's hard to properly assess guys who finish away from the glare of the world feed, but it seems appropriate to credit Antonio Giovinazzi for his drive to 12th in the underpowered Sauber. Considering he came to Australia expecting a weekend of sipping cappuccinos in the Sauber motorhome, it was a tremendous debut. Lance Stroll showed glimpses of real promise but remains erratic, while Stoffel Vandoorne (in his first full season) was hampered by the limitations of the McLaren-Honda.
Statistic of the day: Lewis Hamilton matched Michael Schumacher by leading his 3,000th lap and 100th grand prix early on, but one statistic stood out more than any other -- this is the first time in the V6 turbo era that Mercedes has not lead the championship. It's very much game on.
Driver of the day: Undoubtedly, this goes to Sebastian Vettel. After weeks of managing expectations it was an ordinary getaway, but a magnificent opening stint to 'over-cut' Lewis Hamilton. The drive had shades of the Vettel we got used to dominating at the start of the decade and lays down a huge marker to Mercedes as to what we can expect from the red car this year.