Team bosses at McLaren and Force India have called into question Haas' relationship with Ferrari after the American team's strong performance during the Australian GP.

Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean were the surprise leaders of the midfield during the opening weekend of the new Formula 1 season, claiming fifth and sixth on the grid in qualifying with Magnussen running fourth early on after passing Max Verstappen at the start.  

Their pace though has led to some ponder just how far Haas' technical partnership with the Scuderia goes, particularly given the VF-18's resemblance to the 2017 Prancing Horse.

"I don't have any evidence to suggest Haas is not operating within the rules," McLaren executive director Zak Brown told Motorsport.com. "[But] we all know they have a very close alliance with Ferrari and I think we just need to make sure it's not too close.

"There could be some influence, there's certainly some parts of the [2018 Haas] car that look very similar to last year's [Ferrari] car. But that's for the engineers and the FIA to look at more closely."

His comments follow Force India COO Otmar Szafnauer admitting his scepticism at the design of the new Haas. What he also conceded, however, was deciding whether any copying had taken place would be very difficult. 

"I don't know how you can tell unless you start investigating," he said. "Scrutineering only tells you that it fits within the boxes of the regulations.

"Is it yours or somebody else's [idea]? That's the real question and I don't know the answer to that.

"Maybe it is their own, it's just suspect - how can you gain that knowledge without history and the right tools and people?"

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has brushed off the questions around the team's car though, believing the noise being made by McLaren and Force India is due to those teams being behind them.

"If you have to justify your incompetence, attack is the best defence," he told the BBC. "If somebody has double the amount of money and is behind us, whoever owns the team should be asking, 'what are we doing here?'

"It's competition. Maybe next year we are last. When you speak, you need to have an argument you can back up, not just assumptions."

Daniel Ricciardo believes the pace he had in the second half of Sunday's Australian GP was proof Red Bull had potentially "the quickest car" in the race at Albert Park.

The local favourite saw his chances of a strong result at his home Grand Prix hampered by a three-place grid penalty, harshly awarded for an incident in practice, on Sunday though it would be the Haas cars causing the most disruption as he and teammate Max Verstappen both found themselves stuck behind them.

Their remarkable downfall during the pit-stops though, with Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean leaving with loose wheels, would benefit Ricciardo greatly, moving him up to fourth and allowing him to push Kimi Raikkonen for the podium place.

"I obviously tried to do all I could with Kimi," he told Sky Sports afterwards. "It's a tight track, it is tricky to overtake but we set the fastest lap and that's really good signs for things to come in the next few weeks.

"I think we're really close to Ferrari's pace."

Also Read:

• Vettel admits Ferrari second best to Mercedes despite Australian GP win
• Ricciardo: Mercedes qualifying advantage "sucks"

As for Verstappen, the Dutchman endured a difficult afternoon in Melbourne as the handling of his RB14 was mysteriously and drastically different to how it had been in qualifying.

"I had a lot of issues with the car, balance problems, we found out after four or five laps something broke off the car," he said revealing the cause.

"All the time in the middle of the corner was losing a lot of grip and at one point I got caught out at Turn 1 and spun.

“It’s not ideal but luckily with the 360, I didn’t lose too many positions. After that you are in the hunt but you can’t overtake on this track so it’s a bit of a shame.

“With the circumstances we were in, the damage we had, we still scored some points."

Carlos Sainz has revealed a freak problem with his drinks bottle caused him to "almost vomit" during Sunday's Australian GP.

The Spaniard had a relatively subdued first race of the season, with a mistake fighting Fernando Alonso allowing the McLaren driver past, but inside the cockpit, it was a personal fight just to make the finish.

"I had the drinks bottle pumping water through my mouth since Lap 1 and I was drinking and drinking and drinking and I just got full of water in my stomach,” he explained.

"I wasn’t feeling good with the stomach with all the water inside, going from side to side it was very difficult.

"At some point under the Safety Car I nearly had to vomit, so from there on it was just about making it to the finish. It is a bit unfortunate."

Eventually, the Renault driver would benefit from the demise of both Haas cars to finish ninth in what was a disappointing result given the strong performance in qualifying, but Sainz is at least pleased with the baseline the Enstone team has.

"It was a positive start, I’m happy with the performance over the weekend," he said.

"I think I could have done much more without the problems and with better car handling in the first stint. We keep learning and we’ll be putting the work in ahead of Bahrain."

Teammate Nico Hulkenberg finished two places ahead of his Red Bull-backed partner in seventh, however, the German's biggest disappointment from the first weekend of the new season is the performance gap to the top three.

"The guys ahead of us were a long way ahead," he noted. "We wanted to reduce the gap in the winter, but it seems that it has grown even more. That is not good. We have a lot of work to do."

Sebastian Vettel conceded Ferrari are second best to Mercedes at this stage of the Formula 1 season, that despite claiming victory at the Australian GP.

The German saw the stars align in his favour during Sunday's race in Melbourne as a Virtual Safety Car was called for the stricken Haas of Romain Grosjean after he had decided to stay out much longer than long-time leader Lewis Hamilton.

Usually, the 12-second gap he had on the world champion would have been far from sufficient to pit and emerge ahead, but with the Briton trundling at a reduced speed and a "software bug" meaning Mercedes miscalculated Hamilton's pace, it was enough for the Scuderia driver to remain in front and stay there to the finish.

“At the end of the first stint, I lost a bit of the connection to Lewis and Kimi [Raikkonen] ahead," Vettel commented. 

“I was praying for a Safety Car and then there was a car stopped in Turn 4 and then the Haas stopped in the exit of Turn 2 and when I saw it I was full of adrenaline.

“The race is frozen but to come into the pits on the limit and when I got out ahead I knew it was difficult to pass.”

Also Read:

• Vettel beats Hamilton to Australian GP win thanks to VSC assist
• Hamilton in "disbelief" after missing out on Melbourne win

In a Grand Prix which bore many hallmarks from 12 months ago, with Vettel able to use the pit-stop phase to jump ahead, the four-time world champion admitted the circumstances were different this year.

"If you look at the gaps the whole weekend, we are not yet a true match [for Mercedes]," he said.

"Last year we had more pace relative [to Mercedes], last year we were putting them under pressure, today I think we didn't have the true race pace to match them.

"We still had enough pace to stay ahead and make it very difficult for him to be close and try to do something, and compared to the others it didn't look like there was no whole train behind us too, so I think we had some decent pace."

Honda is to investigate the MGU-H problem which resulted in Pierre Gasly having to retire from the Australian GP.

After a winter that showed promise with strong reliability, the reality was a little less rosy with Toro Rosso left battling with Williams and Sauber towards the back of the grid as the performance continues to lag behind their fellow engine suppliers.

During the race, echoes of the past then returned with Gasly having to return to the pits after a puff of smoke was seen coming from the back of his car and later confirmed to be a problem with the hybrid system.

"After Turn 12 the engine just switched off, it came back on again but I was really slow and I couldn’t upshift," the Frenchman explained.

"For sure I’m not going to lie it’s a pain in the ass to have it, but that’s how it is and everyone will try to make it as close as possible for the next races."

With only three MGU-H's allowed for the entire season, it raises immediate concerns that any further problems could lead to penalties sooner than hoped and that particularly frustrates Gasly after the hope raised in testing.

"I think the regulation is tough for everyone. Testing went so well with no issues at all, it was looking very good. [It’s] just a shame to face it now. I would rather have it [happen] at the last day of testing and come here with no issues.

"For sure it’s not going to be easy, it means probably at some point we’ll have penalties, but I don’t really want to think about it now I want to think about the next race and have a good race weekend."

Honda F1 chief Toyoharu Tanabe expressed "disappointment" at the first physical failure of one of the Japanese manufacturer's units this year and revealed the next step.

"We now have to investigate the precise cause and then we have a few days of hard work to ensure we do not have a repeat of the problem at the next race."

Lewis Hamilton says the sight of Sebastian Vettel emerging ahead of him from the pit-lane left him in "disbelief" during the Australian GP.

The Briton had been leading comfortably from the start in his Mercedes, though Ferrari had been keeping him honest with only a three-second gap back to Kimi Raikkonen during the first stint.

Vettel posed even less of a threat before everything changed in the pit-stop phase as a Virtual Safety Car, caused by the stricken Haas of Romain Grosjean, allowed him to pit and change tyres while those behind, who had stopped earlier, were travelling at a reduced speed.

“I really still don’t now understand what’s happened,” Hamilton said afterwards. “I did everything I believe that I was supposed to do.

“The [Virtual] Safety Car came out and then I was coming down the straight and all of a sudden, really last minute I was told the Ferrari was coming out. I didn’t know the Ferrari was in.

“I think [I felt] just disbelief was really from that moment until the end, just disbelief."

Also Read:

• Vettel beats Hamilton to Australian GP win thanks to VSC assist
• Hamilton has dig at Vettel after claiming dominant Melbourne pole

Keen to make up for the perceived injustice, the world champion tried to attack but ultimately, two small mistakes dropped Lewis back before calling off the chase in the closing laps.

“I was risking it, but I could have lost all the points," he claimed. “Eventually I think I made the sensible choice.

“It’s a long, long way in the championship and it’s not all won in one race. That’s what I’m trying to focus on.”

Talking to Sky Sports in the paddock, Mercedes motorsport boss offered some kind of explanation as to how the team got it wrong.

“I think we have a software issue with the VSC data, a situation that we haven’t had yet with a special constellation of cars on track, one going in high speeds and one in slow speeds.

“The gap that we needed was wrongly calculated by the systems.”

Max Verstappen did not hold back in his criticism at the lack of overtaking opportunities during the Australian GP, describing the race as "worthless".

The Dutchman endured a difficult afternoon at Albert Park as, rather than challenging the Ferrari's and Lewis Hamilton for the win, he found himself stuck behind Kevin Magnussen's Haas after the start and later Fernando Alonso following the Virtual Safety Car.

Once in clear air, teammate Daniel Ricciardo showed Red Bull's pace by battling with Kimi Raikkonen in the second half of the race and Verstappen was frustrated that he couldn't recover his lost positions to use that performance himself.

"It was like Monaco," the 20-year-old told the media after the race. "Even if you are a second or a second and a half faster, you still cannot pass. As a viewer, I would have turned off the TV and until something changes, it will stay that way."

Race organisers had previously considered whether changes to the street circuit in Melbourne were needed to improve overtaking and this year, a third DRS zone was included to try and boost opportunities.

Verstappen doubts it is the layout which is responsible for the lack of action, however.

"I think they should do something about the cars, because in the past, overtaking was no problem here," he claimed.

One man looking into ways to make the cars more raceable is managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn and the Briton reiterated the need to come up with solutions.

"Until we take a structured approach to the problem, we won't really make any progress," the former Mercedes boss said on Monday.

"The FIA and F1 are carrying out an aerodynamic research programme with two car models, both in the windtunnel and using CFD. We need to evolve a car design that achieves close to the level of performance we now see but permits wheel-to-wheel action.

"F1 fans want to see a better show and overtaking is the most exciting and spectacular element you can have on track," he added.

"The whole F1 community must make an effort to satisfy this need because the fans are our biggest asset."

Sebastian Vettel landed the first blow in the 2018 Formula 1 title battle after claiming victory at the season-opening Australian GP.

The Ferrari driver took advantage of a mid-race Virtual Safety Car to turn what was looking like a comfortable race for Lewis Hamilton into an upset win, emerging ahead of the Mercedes after his one and only pit-stop and holding off the world champion to the end.

When the lights went out, it was the Briton who maintained his pole position to lead into Turn 1, Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel sat in behind but Kevin Magnussen would boldly pass Max Verstappen around the outside for fourth.

Daniel Ricciardo, starting eighth after a grid penalty, looked to move up and passed Nico Hulkenberg at Turn 13 using DRS for seventh, from that point the race settled with two battles emerging.

After his considerable margin in qualifying, Hamilton faced a much more considerable threat from Ferrari as Raikkonen and Vettel shadowed his Mercedes staying around three seconds apart.

Behind, Verstappen was desperate to make up for the lost position to Magnussen but minor damage would dramatically hurt the handling on the Dutchman's Red Bull and, struggling to get close enough to make a move, Max overstepped the limit spinning at Turn 1 and dropping several positions.

With the tyres slowly dropping off, Raikkonen would pit first in an attempt to undercut the leader, ushering a quick response from Mercedes who brought Hamilton in a lap later.

Both would switch to the Soft compound tyre to ensure durability to the end of the race, but Vettel would stay out perhaps looking to enter a window where he could fit the Supersoft for the second stint. 

We wouldn't find out, however, as the turning point came when both Magnussen and Haas teammate Romain Grosjean would pit for tyres from fourth and fifth respectively but leave with a wheel unproperly attached.

Though the Dane was able to get to a safe area on the inside of Turn 4, Grosjean would not, coming to a halt on the exit of Turn 2 and requiring the VSC to recover his car.

It was then Vettel opted to pit for tyres and the 12-second margin, which would normally be far from sufficient to get out ahead, would prove just enough to rejoin ahead of Hamilton in the lead of the race.

The VSC would eventually become a full Safety Car period to clear the stricken Haas away.

At the restart, an irate Hamilton looked to get back past but two mistakes at key moments proved decisive as he never got in a proper position to make a move and the Ferrari held him at bay to take the win.

Kimi Raikkonen would face a major threat from Ricciardo, who moved up after Haas' demise, with the Australian desperate to score a podium at his home Grand Prix.

With overtaking proving very tough, however, the 'Iceman' had enough in hand to finish third just beating the Red Bull over the finish line.

Fernando Alonso was another significant benefactor of the VSC, jumping from ninth to fifth and would face a defensive battle of his own to keep Verstappen behind and claim a very strong result for McLaren.

Nico Hulkenberg was seventh with Valtteri Bottas, who started 15th after his crash in qualifying, struggling to make his way through the field for much of the result before also pitting under VSC and moving up to eighth.

Stoffel Vandoorne and Carlos Sainz completed the points scorers.

After scoring double points in 16 of 20 races last year, Force India failed to get off the mark in Melbourne with Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon 11th and 12th.

Charles Leclerc enjoyed a solid F1 debut in 13th for Sauber beating Lance Stroll and Brendon Hartley, as the Kiwi brought up the finishers.

Fernando Alonso had a feeling of satisfaction after optimising the mid-race Virtual Safety Car to finish fifth in Sunday's Australian GP.

The Spaniard hadn't appeared too bothered when he and teammate Stoffel Vandoorne just missed out on the top 10 shootout in qualifying and his confidence was rewarded as McLaren enjoyed a stronger race performance.

In a year when the double world champion is hoping to fight for victories at some stage, to hold off a late charge from a Red Bull following the demise of Haas only added to Alonso's hopes for the future.

"It was more or less expected to be honest," the 36-year-old said later. "We knew we had a strong race pace and better than qualifying and we capitalised on some of the problems that others had.

"We had attacks from Verstappen all the last 20 laps and we were able to defend."

Given the lateness of the decision to switch to Renault engines for 2018 and the niggles which resulted in testing, Fernando also sees McLaren's MCL33 as a work in progress.

"Now we are here, both cars in the points, fifth place so happy and a good starting point. Definitely, it is going to be better and better," he said.

"There is a lot of potential in the car but still to be unlocked. It is the first race with this combination so a lot more to come and hopefully, from Bahrain we will see another step forward and Red Bull will be the next target."

Kevin Magnussen was delighted by the performance of Haas, as the American team secured their best ever qualifying result at the Australian GP.

The Dane and teammate Romain Grosjean proved the performance in testing was no fluke and will start Sunday's race from fifth and sixth respectively, gaining one position after the penalty for Daniel Ricciardo.

More impressive, however, is having jumped up from near the back of the grid at the end of last season and now sitting level if not ahead Renault and McLaren at the head of a very tight midfield.

“It's a great way to start,” said Magnussen. “We have a good package here this weekend.

“We were anxious to see after Barcelona how it would be on a different track – different conditions, different temperature etc – and again the car delivered. It was very, very good – very consistent and fast.

“I’m incredibly proud of the team for the job they've done over the winter. With so little resources and people and budget, it's an amazing job." 

Also Read:

• Haas target leading midfield after strong pre-season
• Magnussen vows to remain tough but fair when fighting rivals on track

From their starting positions, the aim could be to repeat the fifth-place finish Grosjean achieved at the team's first race in Melbourne in 2016.

Asked what has been the key to Haas' big step forward, the Frenchman said:  "I can push the car as much as I want, which obviously makes me very happy.

“Everyone’s very happy and it reflects the hard work from everyone on the team."