Champions Red Bull were disqualified for cheating as Grand Prix racing’s brave new eco era was born in chaos, reports Byron Young from Melbourne.
New signing Daniel Ricciardo was kicked out of an historic second place as Nico Rosberg won the Australian Grand Prix at a canter.
What should have been the dawning of a new age was wrecked as the Milton Keynes operation defied the rule-makers instructions time and again to fix their fuel flow.
With more flow could be conjured more speed.
And they plunged the sport into a deepening drama as they branded the FIA’s fuel sensors “immature technology” and vowed to appeal.
Team principal Christian Horner the said: “Hopefully through the appeal process it will be quite clear that the car has conformed at all times to the regulations.
“These fuel flow sensors fitted by the FIA have proved problematic throughout the pitlane, and since their introduction at the start of testing, there have been discrepancies.
“We wouldn’t be appealing if we didn’t think that we had a defendable case. It’s immature technology, and it’s impossible to rely 100 per cent on that sensor.”

Ker Robertson

Instead of a cathartic beginning to the new-look F1, complete with futuristic hybrid energy, smaller, quieter engines (love them or hate them) the seedy side of F1 was exposed again.
Suddenly they conjured nearly three times at competitive speeds for Ricciardo to finish runner-up. Champion Sebastian Vettel’s spluttering retirement after three laps was more what we expected from them.
But tonight it was revealed the champions had been in a three-day running battle with authority. And having been warned in mid-race their fuel flow was unacceptable, the Red Bulls chose to charge.
The new era opened with remarkable performances from rookie Kevin Magnussen promoted to second and ninth-placed Russian Daniil Kvyat who, at 19, broke Vettel’s record as the youngest points scorer.
Almost unnoticed in the end, Lewis Hamilton’s engine failed before it had run a single racing lap as he limped out.