2016 F1 Round 3 Chinese Grand Prix race – Rosberg wins six in a row, Vettel second

Rosberg completed 56 laps of the Chinese Grand Prix on April 17 to win in 1:38:53.891, taking his sixth consecutive F1 victory. Vettel finished second, 37.776 seconds behind, while Kvyat was third, 45.936 seconds off the lead. The three drivers made up the podium.

Archive photo – Rosberg, Hamilton and Vettel together during the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix (photographed in Bahrain).

Ricciardo took the lead after starting second, but his tyre suddenly lost pressure on lap three. He fell towards the back after pitting for a replacement and was seventeenth by the end of lap four.

At Turn 2 on the opening lap, Kvyat passed Vettel on the inside. Vettel moved left to avoid him and hit Räikkönen, who half-spun. Vettel later pitted for a new front wing, while Räikkönen also stopped with front-wing damage. Both Ferraris lost their starting positions near the front.

The opening-lap incidents also affected Hamilton and Grosjean. Hamilton damaged his front wing in contact with Nasr and pitted to replace it. Grosjean replaced his nose assembly after colliding with Ericsson’s Sauber.

Debris on the circuit brought out the safety car, with Rosberg leading after a flurry of pit stops. Racing resumed on lap eight. Massa, Alonso and Wehrlein had yet to stop at that point, keeping them temporarily near the front on different pit-stop schedules.

Kvyat moved into second shortly after the restart and stayed there until Vettel passed him at Turn 14 on lap 35. Kvyat held third to claim his second career podium, following his runner-up finish at the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo switched to medium tyres on lap 37 and subsequently passed Hamilton, Bottas and Massa to recover to fourth. Räikkönen also recovered from his first-lap damage, passing Bottas and Massa late in the race to finish fifth.

Hamilton started last and made five pit stops, eventually finishing seventh to score six points. Massa was sixth, with Verstappen eighth, Sainz ninth and Bottas tenth. All 22 drivers were classified at the finish, with no retirements.