A horror weekend for Daniel Ricciardo finished with the Red Bull star feeling "like crap" for his home fans, and with Sebastian Vettel powering to an imperious victory at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.
Vettel delivered a stunning display of pace and control to give Ferrari its first win since the 2015 Formula One season.
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Vettel wins, Ricciardo has nightmare in Melbourne
Sebastian Vettel was the beneficiary of a flawed Mercedes strategy as Ferrari surprised with their pace in the opening race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix.
While it was a walk in the park for the German, the whole event was a nightmare for Australia's local hero, Ricciardo, who took no meaningful part in the race after his Red Bull racer ground to a halt before the Grand Prix even started.
"It just snowballed from yesterday," a despondent Ricciardo said afterwards. "The five-place grid penalty sounded bad enough, but then we had other issues. I feel like crap, but I feel for the fans too."
Ricciardo's demise didn't worry the army of local Ferrari fans too much, though, as they hailed Vettel a conquering hero as he took the chequered flag to give the storied Italian team its first win in Melbourne for a decade.
"It's unbelievable....it was quite mad when I was coming back to the pits and people waving Ferrari flags. It was incredible fun to drive," the four time world champion said post race.
"What this team has done in the last six months has been really tough, rough as well, not easy to manage..The new car is a great reward, a great relief for everyone....but this is one race, we will have a great night but take it from there."
Vettel enjoyed a perfect run on a warm and sunlit afternoon in the race around the lake, scoring easily from pole setter Lewis Hamilton, with Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, in his debut for the Silver Arrows, a close third.
Vettel's Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was fourth, with Ricciardo's Red Bull running mate Max Verstappen fifth. Brazilian veteran Felipe Massa in the fastest Williams rounded out the top six.
Ricciardo's hopes of posting a maiden win in his homeland were wrecked on Saturday afternoon when he crashed his Red Bull in qualifying, ensuring he would start from tenth position on the grid - a difficult spot from which to get involved at the pointy end of the field.
His difficulties compounded overnight when his team opted to fit his car with a new gearbox after the original sustained damage in the crash, meaning he had to take a five point grid penalty and start from 15th spot.
But it all became academic on the formation lap less than half an hour before the lights went out on the Melbourne Grand Prix when his car ground to a halt out on the circuit.
His team scrambled to get the car back to the garage, and stewards told them he could start from pit lane if they could get it going.
They did, but by then the race had been underway for two laps. Ricciardo got out and ran around for 29 laps before the car ground to a halt again, this time for good.
"Sorry mate. Car is done. Let's get the f.... out of here," he said on the Red Bull team radio.
In reality he was a mere footnote in this race as the two men on the front row of the grid, Hamilton and Vettel, dominated the first Grand Prix of the season from the moment the lights went out.
The Briton got off to a flying start and stretched his lead to a couple of seconds over Vettel, but he could never quite get clear of the red car.
Ferrari's pace in winter testing had been impressive and the Italian squad had indicated that they might make this season a tougher test for the dominant Mercedes than they had for the past couple of years.
Vettel showed those predictions were right on the mark, although he did have some assistance from Ricciardo's team-mate Max Verstappen.
Hamilton pitted early (on lap 18) allowing Vettel to work his way to the front, and when Hamilton came out of the pits he found himself held up by Verstappen and unable to get past, allowing Vettel to stretch a lead he then never looked like relinquishing.
Hamilton offered no excuses, however.
"I was struggling with the grip from the get go. Sebastian was able to always answer....in terms of lap time. .I was sliding around so I had to come in.
"I then got stuck in some traffic,....but congratulations to Sebastian and Ferrari."