Nico Rosberg roared to pole position for Mercedes after holding off a furious challenge from a resurgent Ferrari in Saturday’s qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.
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Rosberg crossed the line a mammoth 37.7 seconds ahead of German compatriot Sebastian Vettel, who recovered after colliding with his Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen at the first corner, to claim his third win from three races this season.
Rosberg was briefly headed by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo from the start, but the Australian was another driver to suffer cruel luck, as his left rear tire punctured with debris flying on to the track.
Raikkonen took a battling fifth and Felipe Massa was sixth in the Williams.
World champion Lewis Hamilton held off the fast finishing Max Verstappen to take seventh following a first lap incident which left him with a broken front wing.
Another collision in the first lap Sunday damaged the front wing of his auto and led to the first of five pit stops for the British driver.
Ricciardo also hailed the progress made by Red Bull since last season, with the former champions solidifying their grip on third place in the constructors’ standings thanks to Kvyat’s third place.
Mercedes could have attempted to make it through another race with the old damaged gearbox, but a Mercedes spokesman said that the Shanghai circuit is the best venue for overtaking and that the overall impact of the grid penalty is judged to be less here in Shanghai circuit. You need to explain when you attack like a insane (person) and you damage the vehicle.
There were no such concerns for Vettel, who, despite being only 15th in the opening phase of the race, stormed all the way back through the pack to finish second.
Daniel Ricciardo has staged a stunning comeback to finish fourth in the Chinese Grand Prix, which was won by Mercedes star Nico Rosberg.
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But Hamilton, who has implored a positive attitude here – one perhaps not associated with his formative years in the sport – continued to remain upbeat on Sunday night. I’m sure he didn’t try to do it on objective but it was not ideal for me or for the team, but sometimes it goes like that, unfortunately. Of course Im happy with the way its gone and Im feeling good and the cars there but I dont want to say more than that. “As I went to the inside, one of the cars on the inside was trying to avoid Kimi and turned into me”. “But these kinds of moves can bring you a podium, so I’m on the podium, (Vettel’s) on the podium, it’s fine”.
