That brought out a safety car, but it wasn't able to stop Williams' Carlos Sainz from also suffering a huge moment in the wet and crashing out of his debut with the Grove outfit.
Jack Doohan crashed out on his grand prix debutA safety car was called early on in Melbourne
Australian GP carnage strikes again
It meant that the race didn't properly get underway until lap eight, as the always eventful Australian GP struck again.
Doohan had qualified up in 14th on his grand prix debut, and was set to mount a challenge for points at his home race.
One of those is talented youngster Franco Colapinto, who is on a long-term contract with the Enstone outfit having starred at Williams in the 2024 season.
Doohan's retirement on the opening weekend is unlikely to do his chances of staying in the seat any good, but both rookie drivers that crashed out were okay and will now start their preparations for race two.
Sainz, meanwhile, will be ruing his mistake under the safety car having been in a great position to score points on his Williams debut, particularly having won the 2024 edition of the race.