The 2008 Formula One season got underway in the stifling heat of Melbourne on Sunday, with Lewis Hamilton starting from pole position at the Australian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver, who finished a single point behind champion Kimi Raikkonen in his maiden season, got off to a good start, but their was chaos further down the field.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa spun off the track, but managed to return to the circuit.
Several others weren't so lucky though and Giancarlo Fisichella, Sebastian Vettel, Anthony Davidson and Jenson Button all left the race after a coming together around the first corner.
Crowd favourite Mark Webber also failed to complete the first of Sunday's 58 laps around the Albert Park circuit.
Raikkonen had started the race from 15th place on the grid, but the Finn steered his Ferrari up through the field and was soon up into sixth.
Massa's eventful afternoon continued as he collided with David Coulthard and sent the Red Bull driver out of the race.
The series of incidents led to three appearances from the safety car on the day.
Raikkonen's attempts to make further headway into the championship points positions saw him run wide.
His team-mate Massa eventually retired from the race.
Another aggressive manoeuvre from Raikkonen saw the Finn spin off the track in a disappointing day for the Ferraris.
Timo Glock then retired after he ran wide, hit a grass verge and sustained considerable damage to his Toyota.
No such problems for Rubens Barrichello, who moved up into sixth place from tenth on the grid.
Robert Kubica had started from second, but he retired from the race after a collision with Kazuki Nakajima, who went on to claim sixth place for Williams.
Raikkonen then left the race after running out of fuel on the way into the pit lane, but he would later be awarded eighth place, and a single championship point, after Barrichello was disqualified for leaving the pits under a red light.
Toro Rosso Sebastien Bourdais claimed seventh despite suffering from technical problems at the end of the race.
Heikki Kovalainen passed two-time former champion Fernando Alonso for fourth place, but the Spaniard, who has returned to Renault, went on to reclaim his position and finished fourth.
Finn Kovalainen had to settle for fifth on his McLaren debut.
Hamilton showed his new team-mate how it should be done, putting in a solid performance to win the opening race of the season in one hour, 34 minutes and 50.616 seconds.
German drivers filled the two remaining podium places, with Nick Heidfeld of Sauber taking second ahead of Williams' Nico Rosberg in third.
Hamilton will look to increase his lead at the top of the drivers' championship standings when the season continues with the Malaysian Grand Prix in a week's time (March 23rd).
