Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari proved conclusively that their testing form was no fluke, when the German scored a crushing 9.9s victory over the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in Albert Park.

Once he had taken the lead on the 18th lap, when Hamilton made his sole pit stop, Vettel owned the race and controlled it as he pleased. At times his lead fluctuated as he lapped slow cars, but from the moment he went ahead he never looked remotely like losing.

After the first start had to be aborted after confusion over some cars’ grid positions, it was Hamilton who led away comfortably, with Vettel slotting in ahead of Bottas, as his own team-mate Kimi Raikkonen narrowly fended off Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.

The 2017 Formula 1 grid Show all 20 1 /20 The 2017 Formula 1 grid The 2017 Formula 1 grid Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari Vettel finished fourth last season and will hope improvements to the team's 1.6-litre V6 will help him back onto the podium. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari The experienced Finn largely underperformed last season. At 37, could be his final season racing for a top team. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Sergio Perez, Force India Perez retains the drive he has held since 2014. Force India again use the Mercedes-AMG engine. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Esteban Ocon, Force India The talented 20-year-old raced in 9 Grand Prix for Manor last season and earns a call-up to a much more competitive team. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Romain Grosjean, Haas Haas had a very good season last year, finishing 8th with their Ferrari engine. Grosjean will look to improve on his 13th place finish. AFP/Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Kevin Magnussen, Haas The Dane moves from Renault to Haas. Struggled last season. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren The talented Belgian, who scored a world championship point in the unfamiliar MP4-31 last year, replaces Jenson Button at McLaren. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Fernando Alonso, McLaren The youngest double champion of all-time remains at McLaren for the 2017 season, despite a well publicised approach from Mercedes. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes The team - and driver - to beat since the infamous V6 rule changes came into place in 2014. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes Bottas replaces world champion Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, Will push Hamilton all the way this campaign. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Adrian Newey has completely redesigned the RB13 for the 2017 season and Ricciardo will be hopeful of bettering last year's 3rd place finish. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Max Verstappen, Red Bull There will be plenty of attention on Verstappen as he completes his first full season at Red Bull. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Hulkenberg moves to the team from Force India, replacing Kevin Magnussen. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Jolyon Palmer, Renault The Brit came under pressure last year for a disappointing 18th-place finish. Will be hopeful of improvement. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Marcus Ericsson, Sauber Sauber were poor last season and were plagued by retirements. Ericsson nevertheless remains with the team for a third campaign. AFP/Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber The 22-year-old wins a drive at Sauber, moving from Manor Racing. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso Resigned to Toro Rosso after plenty of speculation; will be desperate to show he shouldn't have been replaced by Verstappen at Red Bull. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso Now in his third season with the team. Toro Rosso this year return to a Renault engine. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Lance Stroll, Williams 18-year-old rookie. Stroll's first appearance in the car didn't inspire confidence, he spun the car in testing. Getty The 2017 Formula 1 grid Felipe Massa, Williams Heroically returns to the team after Bottas departed for Mercedes. One of the most experienced drivers on the grid. Getty

There was disappointment for the home fans even before that point, when Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull rolled to a halt out on the track on his grid formation lap, after a faulty sensor jammed it in sixth gear. The team got it back to the pits in time for him to join the race on th second lap, and he ran at the back until suspected Renault engine failure claimed him at half distance.

Up front, Hamilton kept Vettel at bay quite easily to begin with, though the Ferrari was always within striking distance. But as his ultrasoft compound Pirelli tyres began to wear, Hamilton struggled. He was the first of the front-runners to pit, on his 17th lap. And that was the point at which Ferrari took control because, compounding Mercedes’ problems, Hamilton rejoined behind Verstappen and was unable to overtake him.

Told he needed to overtake the Dutchman, he replied trenchantly: “There is no way I am going to get past this guy.”

Vettel, meanwhile, ran until the 22nd lap before pitting to switch, like Hamilton, from the ultrasoft to the soft tyres. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff angrily slammed his fit on to a desk as the red car emerged from the pits before Hamilton could regain the initiative.

Last year Ferrari lost this race through poor strategy; this time there was no way they were going to let a crucially psychological victory slip away once they had their hands on it.

Worse still for Mercedes, Hamilton had to wait until Verstappen pitted on another here laps later, so by the time he had clear track to Vettel, the Ferrari was nearly six seconds up the road. It proved too much.

Hamilton was also having to watch his mirrors as team-mate Bottas, destroyed on pace in the opening stages, was now getting a second wind. And Hamilton was further troubled by intermittent power surges, and it was soon evident that the writing on the wall was written in Italian as he had to focus on keeping up what pressure he could while also fighting a rearguard action.

“I got a really good start, but after that struggling with grip from the get-go,” Hamilton said. “Seb was always able to answer in terms of lap time. Towards the end of the stint the car started to eat the tyres to point where I needed to come in as it was sliding around.

Vettel overhauled Hamilton at the pitstops (Getty)

“Then I got stuck in traffic, which was unfortunate. But congratulations to Seb and Ferrari; this has been a long time coming, and shows we have a race on our hands - which we are happy to have.”

It wasn’t a great race for the lead, or indeed for anything other than 10th place, where a really hot scrap between Fernando Alonso’s unloved McLaren Honda, Frenchman Esteban Ocon’s Force India and German Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault. Lap after lap Alonso used his class to keep his underpowered car ahead, until suspension failure enabled his rivals to mug him on the 52nd lap.

The upset result will resonate with fans across the globe who have been hoping to see a change at the top, and Vettel was ecstatic about his 43rd career victory.

Vettel celebrated his victory (Getty)

“Of course I am over the moon, after such a hard winter. At the start I was a bit too nervous and had too much wheelslip off the line, then I had to take care of Valtteri. After that I tried to keep the pressure on to make sure they [Mercedes] get the message that we are here.”

And he raved about the new cars.