Race 1: Australian Grand Prix, March 15

The 2014 season started on a disastrous note for Lewis Hamilton and defending champion Sebastian Vettel as both were forced to retire at the Australian Grand Prix. However, Nico Rosberg delivered on Mercedes’ promise with a dominant victory in the season-opener.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was second but was later disqualified for a fuel flow rate infringement. The decision promoted Dane Kevin Magnussen, who made a stellar debut for McLaren, to second. He beat teammate Jenson Button into third.

The 2008 world champion, Hamilton dropped to fifth by the end of the first lap and was called into the pits shortly afterwards. World champion Sebastian Vettel also encountered early power-unit trouble in his Red Bull, retiring one lap after Hamilton with an engine failure.

Race 2: Malaysian Grand Prix

After a forgettable race in Australia, Briton Lewis Hamilton won his first race of the season by brushing aside the challenge from teammate Nico Rosberg in the Malaysian GP. Sebastian Vettel took the third position. Malaysia saw Mercedes secure their first one-two finish since 1955. With this win, Hamilton matched Nelson Piguet’s tally of race wins, placing him 11th on the all-time winner’s list and also matched Piguet by achieving his 100th points finish.

Race 3: Bahrain Grand Prix, April 6

Lewis Hamilton clinched a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle with his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg to win the Bahrain Grand Prix. The third place duel also was an absorbing one and Force India’s Sergio Perez got the better of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who had started 13th on the grid. It was Force India’s second ever podium finish.

The win — in Formula One’s 900th grand prix event — was Hamilton’s second in a row, the 24th of his career and also a second successive one-two for a team in a class of their own and with two drivers free to race each other from start to finish.

The fierce contest at the front became a 10-lap sprint after a late safety car period wiped out Hamilton’s 10-second advantage after a terrifying crash for Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez.