Briton Jolyon Palmer produced a fantastic display on his Grand Prix debut as he completed a trouble-free run to finish 11th in Melbourne, Australia.

Palmer was promoted one place up the grid order prior to the race when the Williams of Valtteri Bottas was penalised for a gearbox change, but the young debutant went on to make further progress immediately off the line.

A stellar getaway from the Renault Sport Formula One Team driver saw Jolyon storm by former champion Jenson Button, before he went wheel-to-wheel with the other McLaren of Fernando Alonso through the first few corners, with Jolyon getting edged out onto the grass.

If racing against such esteemed company wasn't enough to introduce him to the watching world, then they were treated to a further dice with the recovering Bottas on lap 12.

Having started the race on the Pirelli super-soft tyres the former GP2 champion was soon in the pitlane in search of fresh rubber, before his fight to make the points quickly resumed.

All pre-race strategies were completely wiped out on lap 19, however, when a huge accident between the McLaren of Alonso and Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez left the former's machine wrecked and upside down in the barrier.

Thankfully both drivers walked away unharmed but the sheer amount of debris on the track forced the race director to stop the race.

A red flag period allows all drivers/teams to change set-up, parts and tyres, which meant the second segment of the contest was almost like a new race, with Jolyon moving to the more durable medium tyre compound.

Palmer was undeterred by the interruption, and after the safety car came in and the race resumed 12th became 11th when Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen retired.

Jolyon drove flat out for the remainder of the race, and enjoyed a stunning battle with the two Toro Rosso cars of Carlos Sainz Jnr and Max Verstappen, holding off the faster cars on much fresher tyres for several laps. But eventually he could fend them off no more and Jolyon spent the rest of the race calmly maintaining his position, whilst hoping that misfortune further ahead could earn him a well-deserved point on his debut.

It wasn't to be, so the Sussex racer crossed the line in an impressive 11th, ahead of team-mate Kevin Magnussen. It was a fantastic effort from the debutant and one that led to many plaudits throughout the paddock.

"It would have been nice to get that point," said Jolyon. "I saw a yellow flag towards the end and wondered if anyone had gone off, but it wasn't to be. 

"It was a good race though. We made a good start and it was fairly smooth thereafter. I couldn't hold the Toro Rosso's back unfortunately and we just didn't quite have the pace to live with the cars ahead of us. It's a great start for us and a solid base for the team to build on in the future."

2016 Australian GP results

Pos	Driver	Car	Time	Laps
1	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes F1 W07	1:48:15.565	57
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes F1 W07	+8.606	57
3	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari SF16-H	+9.643	57
4	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull RB12	+34.330	57
5	Felipe Massa	Williams FW38	+58.979	57
6	Romain Grosjean	Haas VF-16	+1:12.081	57
7	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India VJM09	+1:14.199	57
8	Valtteri Bottas	Williams FW38	+1:15.153	57
9	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso STR11	+1:15.680	57
10	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso STR11	+1:16.833	57
11	Jolyon Palmer	Renault R.S.16	+1:23.399	57
12	Kevin Magnussen	Renault R.S.16	+1:25.606	57
13	Sergio Perez	Force India VJM09	+1:31.699	57
14	Jenson Button	McLaren MP4-31	+1 lap	56
15	Felipe Nasr	Sauber C35	+1 lap	56
16	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor MRT05	+1 lap	56
R	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber C35	Drivetrain	38
R	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari SF16-H	Fire	21
R	Rio Haryanto	Manor MRT05	Mechanical	17
R	Fernando Alonso	McLaren MP4-31	Collision	16
R	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas VF-16	Collision	16
N	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull RB12	Electrical	0