Lewis Hamilton defends his title in style with a win in Australia

Today, Lewis Hamilton started his championship title defence in the best possible way by winning the Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park circuit ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg and Williams driver Felipe Massa where only eleven drivers finished the race.

With Manor F1 still not resolved their issues with trying to get the cars onto the circuit, it is looking very likely that Will Stevens or Roberto Merhi will not racing in the Grand Prix this weekend. But nevertheless, it is a fantastic achievement for the Manor F1 team to be at the circuit this weekend and I hope they are able to run in the next Grand Prix in Malaysia.

It was announced before the start of the race that Williams driver Valtteri Bottas would not be racing in the Grand Prix today due to suffering an back injury in Q2 of qualifying yesterday and did not pass the first extraction test required by the FIA. Everyone at Driving for Pleasure hope that Bottas has a speedy recovery and he is back racing in Malaysia.

In an action-packed race that had drama before it even begun, Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kyvat did not even start the race due to Magnussen suffering an engine failure and Kyvat suffering gearbox issues.

The start of the Australian GP was eventful. Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Nasr got off to good starts and as they approached Turns 1 and 2, Sebastian Vettel clipped the kerb, was thrown forward and made contact with his team mate Kimi Raikkonen. This then allowed Vettel to make contact with Nasr who then made contact with Pastor Maldonado who hit the wall, the safety car then being deployed and had to retire from the Grand Prix on the first lap.

Things did not get any better for the Lotus team with Maldonado's team mate Romain Grosjean retiring at the end of the first lap with mechanical problems. It is a real shame for Lotus after having a reasonable weekend and could have scored points as a reward for all their efforts.

By Lap 4, the Safety Car went in and we were back racing in Melbourne. Nasr was able to pass Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz Jr for fifth place on the circuit. Sergio Perez was told via his team radio to hand the place back to Marcus Ericsson after overtaking him under the Safety Car which he did do.

There were plenty of battles during the race with Jenson Button and Sergio Perez battling each other which then resulted in Perez spinning on Turn 3 of the circuit on Lap 14 with suspected floor damage to his Force India but was able to continue running in the race.

We saw Sainz Jr battling with Raikkonen and Ericsson throughout the race. Despite having problems in his pit stop with the left rear, Sainz Jr was able to score points on his Formula One debut with Toro Rosso as a result and it is a fantastic achievement for the Spainard.

The same couldn't be said for his team mate and fellow rookie Max Verstappen who after pitting on Lap 32 had to officially retire the following lap with suspected engine failure at the start of the pit lane after a promising performance over the course of the weekend.

The last retirement of the race came from Kimi Raikkonen who after pitting on Lap 40 retired the next lap just like Verstappen after suffering problems with his left rear tyre at the pit stop. The stewards currently are still investigating the incident and Raikkonen could receive a penalty as a result of this heading into the next race in Malaysia.

Despite all the action and drama in the race today, Lewis Hamilton won the Australian Grand Prix ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg by 1.3 seconds and Sebastian Vettel who finished in third place on his first race with Ferrari 34.5 seconds down the road from the Mercedes drivers.

Felipe Massa finished in a solid fourth place even though third place could have been possible for him but due to Ferrari and Vettel's strategy, they were able to jump in for the position. He did finish ahead of his fellow countryman and Sauber rookie Felipe Nasr who finished in fifth place, gaining Sauber's first points since 2013 and beating Sauber's best finish for a rookie driver at the Albert Park circuit since Kimi Raikkonen in 2001.

Nasr finished ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who finished the race for Red Bull in sixth place after a difficult weekend. Nico Hulkenberg finished the race in seventh place ahead of Marcus Ericsson in eighth place who scored his first points in Formula One in his first race for the Sauber team after a challenging weekend for the team.

Carlos Sainz Jr scored points on his debut in the sport for Toro Rosso ahead of Sergio Perez who gained the final point in tenth place ahead of Jenson Button who was two laps down in the McLaren-Honda in eleventh and last place after a difficult weekend for the team.

The retirements of the Australian Grand Prix where Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen, Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat did not start the race.

Lewis Hamilton leads the 2015 Driver's championship with 25 points, Rosberg is second with 18 points, Vettel is third with 15 points, Massa is fourth with 12 points, Nasr is fifth with 10 points, Ricciardo is sixth with 8 points, Hulkenberg is seventh with 6 points, Ericsson is eighth with 4 points, Sainz Jr is ninth with2 points and Perez is tenth with 1 point.

Mercedes lead the 2015 Constructor Championship with 43 points, Ferrari is second with 15 points, Sauber is third with 14 points, Williams is fourth with 12 points, Red Bull is fifth with 8 points, Force India is sixth with 7 points and Toro Rosso are seventh with 2 points.

The classification of the Australian GP is as follows:-

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.31.54.067
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1.360s
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 34.523s
4. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 38.196s
5. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.35.149s
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, one lap
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, one lap
8. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, one lap
9. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, one lap
10. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, one lap
11. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, two laps
12. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, not classified
13. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, not classified
14. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes, not classified
15. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, not classified
16. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren-Honda, Did not start
17. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull-Renault, Did not start
[Manor did not run in the race and Valtteri Bottas was ruled out of the race]

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa