Sebastian Vettel holds off Hamilton to win season opener

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Sebastian Vettel made full use of a virtual safety car period to sneak in front of Lewis Hamilton midway through the Australian Grand Prix before the German held off the frustrated Briton to win Sunday's race.

The German finished the race five seconds clear of Hamilton and became only the fourth driver to claim 100 podium finishes, joining Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost in reaching that milestone.

The four-time world champion led from pole and was in control of the race until Romain Grosjean's Haas stopped on track, which led to a virtual safety car period that restricted the pace of cars out on the Melbourne Grand Prix circuit.

Haas F1's French driver Romain Grosjean leaves his car after crashing during the Formula One Australian Grand Prix. /VCG Photo

At that time, Vettel made his pit stop, saving him 10 seconds on the other cars, which were under safety. The German was then able to leapfrog Hamilton into the lead of the race.

"Somebody saw the Haas in the exit of turn two and then when I saw it I was really full of adrenaline, even though the race is frozen but still to come into the pits, everything on the limit, trying to get back out because they told me it was really close with Lewis and when we got out ahead I knew that it's difficult to pass," Vettel said.

In a nerve-shredding duel, Vettel summoned every inch of his race craft to keep the faster Mercedes car at bay. The tension grew steadily higher and with 10 laps to go, Hamilton blinked, a mistake at a corner causing him to slide into the grass and blow out Vettel's lead to nearly three seconds.

The relentless Briton doubled down the pressure, however, and within a handful of laps was again within striking distance, but Vettel gamely held on and claimed his second successive win in the Australian season-opener.

Ferrari's German driver Sebastian Vettel (front) leads Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton during the Formula One Australian Grand Prix. /VCG Photo

"We got a bit lucky obviously with the safety car but yeah, really enjoyed it," Vettel told former teammate Mark Webber at the podium ceremony.

In another bonus for Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen finished third, fending off Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and leaving the unlucky Australian still searching for a first podium in his home race.

Twice champion Fernando Alonso finished fifth for McLaren with Red Bull's Dutch wunderkind Max Verstappen finishing sixth after suffering a full 360-degree spin on the 10th lap that cost him dearly.