Race favourite Lewis Hamilton and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel have retired five laps into the Australian grand prix.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg leads at the halfway mark, ahead of Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

An eventful first Formula One race of the season took its toll early, claiming Felipe Massa and Kamui Kobayashi on a first-turn tumble then the high-profile pair of Hamilton and Vettel with engine troubles.

Starting on pole, Hamilton was overtaken on the first straight by both Ricciardo and Rosberg, reporting a lack of engine power.

The race and championship favourite was given orders to retire and save the engine but initially failed to pit before quitting after four laps.

One lap later, Vettel – who started from 12th place but slipped back to 16th with a lack of speed – joined him in early retirement.

Rosberg’s Mercedes showed superior pace over the Ricciardo’s Red Bull, with rookie McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen third and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg fourth.

For Massa and Kobayashi, the race lasted less than ten seconds with the Japanese driver’s Caterham appearing to lock up and collide with the faultless Massa’s Williams.

Kobayashi tweeted his apology shortly after: “Sorry for messed up it’s just my mistake sorry to Felipe and @CaterhamF1 all member!”

Valtteri Bottas was lucky not to join his Williams teammate in the sheds after losing a tyre on lap 10.

The Finnish driver scraped past a wall and lost his right rear tyre but was amazingly able to make the pit lane and continue.

With the safety car brought out, the speed restrictions collapsed the time separating the field from Rosberg in first to Sergio Perez in 17th to less than 10 seconds.

But after 29 laps of the 57-lap race, Rosberg had re-established a lead of more than 10 seconds over Ricciardo.