Rosberg beats Hamilton in season-opening Australian GP

MELBOURNE, Australia - Nico Rosberg has beaten teammate Lewis Hamilton in Formula One's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes cars recovered from a slow start to finish ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who took third.

The race was suspended for 20 minutes after a frightening high-speed collision between Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez, and after it resumed, the two Mercedes benefited from a better tire strategy than Ferrari, overtaking Vettel and recording a one-two finish, just as they did repetitively over the previous two seasons.

Local favorite Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull was fourth, falling just short in his bid to become the first Australian on the podium at his home race.

Williams driver Felipe Massa was fifth and Romain Grosjean sixth to give American team Haas an impressive points finish in its first race.