Lewis Hamilton retires on 5th lap of Australian Grand Prix 2014

Lewis Hamilton retired on the fifth lap of the Australian Gran Prix 2014 today.

The Mercedes Formula 1 driver started from pole position but was quickly overtaken by his teammate Nico Rosberg and other drivers at the start of the race. Lewis later said that there was a cylinder misfiring on the car which caused it to lose power.

Meanwhile, Nico won the race by 24.5 seconds -- oh what could have been for Lewis!

Red Bull's Sebstian Vettel also retired from the race with engine issues. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo finished second. This however might change as stewards have found an issue with his car regarding fuel.

Rookie Kevin Magnussen of McLaren finished third.

Overall, a very interesting start to the Formula 1 season. Hopefully Mercedes can deliver a more reliable car for Lewis in the next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix on March 30, 2014. The early part of the season is always about adjustments so I'm sure Lewis will bounce back.

The big change this season is a new turbo-charged "power unit" (they are no longer calling it an engine) for the cars which has affected reliability for a lot of the teams.

Also new are the driver numbers. Everyone will have a permanent number from now on, except the current world champion. Lewis Hamilton has chosen #44 which was his number during his pre-F1 days. Sebsatian Vettel chose #5 for off-championship years -- which a lot of fans are hoping will happen next year. :)