Lewis Hamilton kicked his Formula One season off to a great start with victory at the opening race of the season in Australia.

The 23-year-old Brit took the chequered flag for the fifth time in his career, in a start that will surely have impressed both male and female motorsport fans.

Hamilton's Vodafone McLaren Mercedes finished ahead of Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber and the Williams F1 of Nico Rosberg in third.

Former teammate Fernando Alonso came home in fourth, while the man who pipped Hamilton to last year's World Drivers Championship - Kimi Raikkonen - came eighth.

"It was a super race which I controlled from the beginning. I was able to drive at a steady pace without feeling any pressure which is always the ideal situation when you are leading," Hamilton said after his victory in Melbourne.

The drivers will now look to next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix as the action comes thick and fast.

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