Nico Rosberg stormed to a controlled sixth consecutive victory and third of the 2016 Formula 1 season at the Chinese Grand Prix.
It was a dramatic, action-packed race, which Rosberg managed to avoid at the front of the field. He dropped behind Daniel Ricciardo at the start but quickly reclaimed the lead when the Red Bull picked up a puncture on lap three.
He quickly established a small lead but it was shattered by an early safety car for debris, after several first lap crashes. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen collided, with the latter losing his front wing. Meanwhile at the back of the field, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Nasr collided, and Romain Grosjean damaged his front wing too.
Raikkonen, Hamilton, Nasr and Grosjean all had to pit at the end of the opening lap for repairs. The pitlane became very busy once more under the safety car as teams took advantage of the brief pause to switch to fresh Pirelli rubber.
When the racing resumed, Rosberg drove off into the distance and used a strong two-stop strategy to finish almost 40 seconds clear of the chasing pack. Vettel lost several places at the start and picked up damage, but he recovered well to claim second place for Ferrari.
Daniil Kvyat benefitted from the drama to rise up the order and stayed at the front of the field right to the very end, claiming the final podium spot. Ricciardo was fourth in the second Red Bull after an aggressive performance, bouncing back from his early puncture. Raikkonen was another driver who recovered well and finished fifth.
Felipe Massa fell to sixth in the closing stages, with Hamilton eventually securing seventh place after fading in the final part of the race. Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr passed Valtteri Bottas late on to finish eighth and ninth, with the Williams completing the top 10.
Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were next up, having been well within the top 10 early on. Esteban Gutierrez picked up his first finish of the season in 14th, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Marcus Ericsson, Kevin Magnussen and Pascal Wehrlein. Nasr, Rio Haryanto and Jolyon Palmer rounded out the results.
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