Officials have launched an investigation into the track invasion that marred Ferrari’s celebration of a dominant victory in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. As Sebastian Vettel was celebrating while still on his slowing down lap, spectators swarmed on to the track before all of the cars had returned to the pitlane, in breach of FIA safety regulations.

“People were running on the track, it was unbelievable,” Vettel said.

Race organiser Andrew Westacott confirmed the breach was being investigated. “I am concerned because we have very, very strict processes that for 21 races have worked beautifully, so something went amiss. We don’t know what yet, but we have got an investigation happening with our people, including CAMS [Australia’s motorsport governing body], who obviously look after the track from a race organisation point of view and a race control point of view.”

This will centre on whether confusion among race marshals led to a premature signal to fans that it was safe to access the track so that they could gather as usual on the start/finish line to watch the podium ceremonies.

“From what I am led to believe, there could have been a mistake made in the signals as to when people could exit on to the track,” Westacott said. “That is being investigated, so I won’t speculate on the outcome of that until I have all the facts. We have CCTV, we have radio logs and other things so we can understand what happened.”

It is possible that the breach could result in a sanction for the race organisers from the sport’s governing body.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton has called upon Mercedes to make improvements to alleviate the tyre wear issue that compromised his race. He led initially from pole position but was obliged by the state of his tyres to make an earlier pit stop, which enabled Vettel and Ferrari to prise away the win on Sunday evening.

The problem was an echo of one Mercedes have not had since 2013, and may in part be due to changes they (and Red Bull) were obliged to make to their complex inter-linked suspension system upon the insistence of FIA technical officials prior to the start of the new season.

Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Australian Grand Prix Winner Ferrari's German driver Sebastian Vettel (R) and runner-up Mercedes's British driver Lewis Hamilton (L) take part in a press conference after the Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Australian Grand Prix Vettel celebrates winning in Melbourne. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Australian Grand Prix Vettel clinched the 43rd victory of his career. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Australian Grand Prix Hamilton and Vettel embrace after the Grand Prix. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Australian Grand Prix Vettel arrives in parc ferme after winning the race. EPA Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Australian Grand Prix Vettel crosses the line to win the Australian Grand Prix. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Australian Grand Prix Fernando Alonso's dogged drive to remain ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon was ended after suspected suspension failure Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Australian Grand Prix Hamilton led Vettel until the pit stops when the Ferrari driver leapfrogged his Mercedes rival. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Australian Grand Prix Marcus Ericsson and Kevin Magnussen collide at the third corner in Melbourne Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Australian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton led from the start as Sebastian Vettel fended off Valtteri Bottas Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Saturday Qualifying Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton speak during the post-qualifying press conference Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Saturday Qualifying Lewis Hamilton is given a lift down the pit lane in the safety car after clinching pole position Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Saturday Qualifying Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the sixth time in Australia Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Saturday Qualifying Romain Grosjean locks up a tyre on his final qualifying lap Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Saturday Third Practice Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap ever seen around Albert Park to top third practice Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Saturday Third Practice Marcus Ericsson flashes past the Albert Park Lake Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Saturday Third Practice Esteban Ocon gets to grips with the Force India car during third practice Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday Second Practice Marcus Ericsson beached his Sauber in the gravel trap during the afternoon session. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday Second Practice Jolyon Palmer jumps through a gap in the fence after crashing his Renault on the entry to the start/finish straight. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday Second Practice Palmer's Renault is recovered to the pit lane ahead of a busy night rebuilding it. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday Second Practice Sebastian Vettel appeared puzzled by the gap to the lead Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday Second Practice Daniel Ricciardo runs wide on the exit of turn one. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday Second Practice Romain Grosjean takes a trip over the gravel trap. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday Second Practice Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the first two practice sessions of the year in Melbourne Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday First Practice The Force India of Esteban Ocon runs over the kerb during first practice. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday First Practice Daniel Ricciardo flashes by on the back straight in his Red Bull. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday First Practice Hamilton was half-a-second faster than his nearest challenger in Vettel Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday First Practice Lewis Hamilton pears through his visor at the start of the new season. Getty Australian Grand Prix 2017 - in pictures Friday First Practice Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon stand by the new pink-livery Force India. Getty

One technical insider in Melbourne suggested that another rival may have played what amounted to a game of battleships with the FIA, asking for clarifications of what is permissible in the suspension, piece by piece, until they fully understood it and ‘hit’ Mercedes’ battleship.

A track invasion immediately after the chequered flag will be investigated by F1 officials (EPA)

Hamilton suggested that it was a mistake for Mercedes to continue with the strategy of trying to open a gap to Vettel in the early stages, which exacerbated his tyre wear, and said: “We continued on this road, which just didn't end up working out. There's an area that we have to work on, obviously our tyre usage is something that we understand is where we're losing. So we're just trying to make changes to improve that in the future, which we will do. We could have done better.

"I wouldn't say I'm happy. With all things in perspective, we've come from a massive rule change. But to see us come here and be battling so closely for a win and missing out marginally, there's a lot of things to be incredibly proud of. I could've won the race today and there's certain things that we could've perhaps done better, but I gave it everything I could. You can't win them all.

"It's great to see Ferrari up there. I think it's good for the sport that we have this close battle.”