Nico Rosberg stormed to victory at the 2016 F1 season opener in Australia, beating his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
It was a dramatic start to the new season, with an action-packed race. Here's what some of the drivers had to say about the Australian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg:
"That was a perfect race for me. The start was tricky, as I was on the dirty side of the grid and Vettel managed to be ahead. He did a really good job at the start - but we chose the perfect strategy by going onto the medium tyre after the red flag.
"A big thanks to the team on the pit wall for that, to everyone back at the factories for this fantastic car and to everyone back in Europe who woke up so early to tune in for the race. I hope it was a good show for you! We can enjoy this moment for sure - but we know now just how strong those red cars will be this season, so we cannot afford to relax.
"I'm really looking forward to the next races and hopefully some more exciting battles. Finally, I also have to say it was a big relief to see Fernando walk away from his shunt. It shows how incredible the safety of these cars is now, which is great to see."
Sebastian Vettel:
"I obviously had a great start, I was very happy to see that I had a better start than the two cars in front of me, reminding me of Hungary last year and it worked out. It was great to see that Kimi made it as well, so we got first and second and from there we dictated the pace.
"The red flag didn’t help us, but to be fair the most important thing was that Fernando and Esteban were alright. It was the right decision to stop the race. First time I went through I saw the debris on the track. Naturally the expectations are higher when you had a strong season last year and you wanted to close the gap.
"Yesterday we were a bit further away and today we were closer. In general it was a great race, I was racing flat out until to the end, I didn’t want to go onto the grass but I did the lawn mower! So I don’t have to do it next week when I go home, but for sure we would have liked more from today."
Valtteri Bottas:
"It has obviously been a very difficult week. The struggles we had with qualifying and then the grid penalty compromised the race. It wasn’t the nice clean race we were hoping for, but we still have points from both of our cars. We are definitely aiming for better positions, and myself personally, so I am looking forward to Bahrain because I am sure we can do better than this weekend."
"Today was fun for me, it was so good to be back racing. I came on the radio more than once expressing my joy to just being out there competing. That joy was emphasized by having a good car underneath me. At the start we were able to pick cars off. We had good pace with high fuel on the option and it was fun to be able to pass cars, I was enjoying that as always.
"I was sitting in a podium spot towards the end and I was hoping the tyres would last but I knew they weren’t going to hold and I would have to pit again. But fourth is still a good result and I’m happy we’re not that far off Mercedes and Ferrari. It was also good to see that Fernando and Esteban are okay. I haven’t watched the replay yet but I saw the car upside down so I knew it wasn’t a small accident."
Nico Hulkenberg:
"To get some points in the bag at the first race is a positive way to start the year. It was not an easy day and it’s difficult to know what would have happened without the race being stopped and restarted. I think the red flag made things a lot more difficult for our planned one-stop strategy because it gave everybody around us the chance to reset and change their tyres.
"So that was a shame and it meant I was out of position and got stuck behind the Haas for most of the race. It was not easy to get close to Romain [Grosjean] and I had a lot of cars behind me, which meant I was always under pressure and having to defend as well as chase. So, given all the circumstances, seventh place feels quite satisfying."
"I think the team has done an incredible job this weekend to qualify in Q2 and then finishing the race in eleventh and twelfth; it’s the maximum we could expect to achieve. It’s a good start, we were so close to scoring points, and we can move forward from here. The race itself was busy but good fun; I absolutely loved being wheel to wheel again after a year out of racing. It was great to be back in the fray and it all went pretty smoothly for me. Happy days."
Max Verstappen:
"Quite a frustrating afternoon. We had a great start to the race and were able to keep the Mercedes behind. The first pit-stop was also good. We had great pace and I didn’t have pressure from behind, but after the red flag we had a bit of a miscommunication for the second stop and it got very difficult.
"We have a fantastic car and to finish P10 here is not where we should be. I’m very disappointed as this was a great opportunity for us to get a very good result. Now we just need to focus on the next race and try and score more points than today."
"Overall it was a difficult race for us. We struggled with our pace compared to our competitors. It was clear during the race that I could not keep up with the cars in front of me. It was good that we could gain important data from the C35, and we need to analyse every detail to find performance in the car. We have to improve the C35 in different areas. I think we have a lot of work ahead of us."
Fernando Alonso:
"I’m thankful I’m alive and that nothing serious happened – it was a big shunt. A combination of factors caused Esteban [Gutierrez] and me to end up crashing. I was in the car flying and bouncing around – I could see the sky, then the ground, then the sky again. Then, when the car landed, I saw a little gap and I got out quickly to make sure that my mum, who was watching the race on TV at home, could see that I was okay!
"It was a racing incident – I’m very happy we’re both fine, which is the most important thing. But, soon afterwards, my thoughts switched to frustration and disappointment, because we missed an opportunity to get some points in the first race of the season, and we probably lost a power unit too because the car is more or less completely destroyed.
"We risk our lives every time we get in a Formula 1 car: these things happen, but I’m extremely happy to be okay. The reason I’m still alive is probably thanks to all the fantastic work the FIA has done over the past 10 or 15 years to improve safety, work they continue to do. And I’m also grateful to everyone at McLaren, who built me such a strong and safe car."
Pascal Wehrlein:
"First of all it’s great to finish my first race and thanks to the team for that. I got a fantastic start and I was very happy to find myself in 15th place at the end of the opening lap. That first half of the race was really strong and I was pushing hard on the supersoft and then the soft. It was great to be as high as 13th at one point and to be racing with Sauber.
"Things turned for me after my first stop, which happened just before the red flag. Our plan was to have a short stint on the Supersoft which meant we pitted for the soft not long before the crash, so that was a major setback because many of the other cars still hadn’t stopped.
"After that, everyone ahead started to pull away from me and because we were struggling with tyre degradation I couldn’t do anything about it. Towards the end I had a braking issue, so I just had to focus on getting to the flag. We’ve all learned a lot this weekend and everyone is working well together, so we’ve made a good start and now we have to push hard to improve."
Romain Grosjean:
"A very good day at the office. This feels like a win. For all the guys who worked so hard over the last few weeks, this is unbelievable. We were unlucky yesterday, but got a bit lucky today with the red flag. Still, we were able to hold off the Williams (Valtteri Bottas) and the Force India (Hulkenberg).
"We didn’t have much set-up (time) on the car. It was a case of, off you go and see what happens. This is an unbelievable feeling. The guys did an amazing job and I told them, this is like a win for all of us. First race and here we are, P6. A happy day."
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