Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

Magnussen and Kvyat fail to start Australian GP

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The Australian Grand Prix will get underway with just 15 cars on the grid after Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat suffered car failures.

With Valtteri Bottas having already been ruled out of the race after failing fitness tests, the grid was reduced even further when both the McLaren and the Red Bull stopped on the way to the grid in the final half an hour before the start.

Magnussen stopped on the approach to Turn 6 as his engine failed, while Kvyat's RB10 came to a halt with a gearbox problem.

With the grid having already been published - with everyone moving up a spot due to Bottas' absence - Kvyat's spot of P12 will remain vacant while Magnussen had been due to start from last place. Jenson Button is now the last car on the grid in the only remaining MP4-30.

The race will see the lowest number of cars to start a grand prix since the 2005 United States Grand Prix, when just six cars started as a number of teams pulled out due to safety concerns.

Click here for Saturday's gallery from the Australian Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.