SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — Fernando Alonso won Sunday’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix to lead a Ferrari 1-2 on his debut for the Italian Formula One team.

The two-time world champion passed teammate Felipe Massa at the second corner before overtaking pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel on the 34th lap for a lead he would never relinquish in a race that signalled the start of the refueling ban era.

Lewis Hamilton also passed Vettel to book third place for McLaren. Vettel settled for fourth.

After two frustrating years at Renault, Alonso pounded his chest after jumping on top of his car. It was Ferrari’s best start to a season since 2004 – when Michael Schumacher led a 1-2 start. Alonso joined Ferrari to replace Kimi Raikkonen, who also won on his Ferrari debut three years ago.

“A very special day for me, coming back to the top of the podium is always special, but also more special with Ferrari and the history of the team and the expectations,” Alonso said.

Schumacher’s new team, Mercedes, showed it still has some work to do to provide him with a car worthy of an eighth title. Schumacher finished 3.9 seconds behind Nico Rosberg, who finished fifth more than 40 seconds behind Alonso.

Defending champion Jenson Button finished seventh for McLaren, while Mark Webber of Red Bull was eighth.

Tonio Liuzzi of Force India and Rubens Barrichello of Williams rounded out the top 10 to finish in the points following a change in the scoring system.

Lotus was the only new team to classify as Heikki Kovalainen finished 15th and Jarno Trulli was awarded last place after retiring with three laps remaining.

Virgin Racing and Hispania Racing both failed to classify.