Before the start of the season, Hamilton announced he would not be exercising his option of switching his car number to 1 for the season, as was his prerogative as reigning World Champion, and would instead continue to race with his career number 44. It was the first season since , when Alain Prost retired from the sport following his fourth and final World Drivers' Championship title in , that the field did not contain car bearing the number 1. Mercedes looked to again be the fastest car on the grid for the season, as the new W06 Hybrid completed more laps in pre-season testing than any rival car, and did so using just one power unit. At the opening race in Australia, Hamilton qualified in pole position before winning the race ahead of Rosberg in second, with Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari in third, 34 seconds back. After taking pole before finishing second in Malaysia, Hamilton won from pole in both China and Bahrain meaning he had taken a total of 93 points out of a possible 100 after four rounds. Entering the eight-race European portion of the season, Hamilton carried a 27-point lead over Rosberg, which was quickly reduced as he finished second behind his teammate in Spain.