The sound of the new V6 engines may be too much of a whimper for most tastes, but F1’s new turbo era has started with a dramatic and head-spinning bang with the two pre-season title favourites retiring within five laps, McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen claiming a podium on his F1 debut, and Nico Rosberg delivering an emphatic display of Mercedes’ strength to win the Australian GP by over twenty seconds.

Alas for Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, there was too much of whimper, however, with both the 2014 favourite and the reigning World Champion forced into an early exit even before F1’s brave new world had fully dawned.

While debate rages about the full merits of the sport’s dramatic rules revolution, there’s no dispute that F1 looks, sounds and feels very different. There’s a new frontrunning team, too, with the Mercedes in a class of its own as Rosberg strolled to an easy victory after sweeping past the stricken Hamilton off the line.

Click here for more

Below the full results: