Ferrari errors led to comfortable win - Rosberg

Nico Rosberg is not reading too much in to his margin of victory at the Chinese Grand Prix after more errors from Ferrari.

The championship leader took his third consecutive win of 2016 in China, beating Sebastian Vettel by nearly 40 seconds having led from the third lap of the race. Vettel collided with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen at the start of the race, with both requiring new front wings. Rosberg was never troubled once he passed Daniel Ricciardo - who had jumped him at the start - but says the problems at Ferrari continues to mask its true pace.

"What we take away is that we are still the quickest car out there at the moment, but really Ferrari haven’t shown what they can do," Rosberg said. "They have had so many issues in the first three races, so we need to keep on it and keep pushing because I think they are closer than they have shown. We will push and I am looking forward to the next races and I think we will go well there."

Understandably after such a dominant victory, Rosberg was full of praise for Mercedes' strategy and performance across the weekend.

"I am happy with the day, it was a great weekend in China.It’s a special place for me, first pole and first win here. It was a pleasure to drive out there today.

"The start wasn’t too bad but then [Ricciardo] got an even better one. After that I was a lot quicker when the super-soft tyres began to degrade and I can just fly past them because I didn’t expect it to be that easy at the beginning. After that I was just pushing to get the best gap that I could and I am glad it worked out so well."

REPORT: Rosberg cruises home ahead of chaos in China

Relive the Chinese Grand Prix lap-by-lap as it happened!

Eric Silbermann has breakfast with photographer Crispin Thruston

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Horner breaks silence: ‘I have unfinished business in F1’

Christian Horner has finally stepped back into the spotlight – and he didn’t tiptoe in…

2 hours ago

Jaguar's Evans charges from zero to hero in in Miami E-Prix

Mitch Evans arrived at Round 3 of the Formula E season with zero points on…

3 hours ago

Mercedes ‘aced it’ in Barcelona, but Brundle downplays the hype

Mercedes may have just dropped the first thunderclap of the 2026 Formula 1 era –…

4 hours ago

Team Talk: F1's shakedown week in Barcelona

Cadillac Valtteri Bottas “It’s great, but it is the problem-solving phase of the team. It’s…

5 hours ago

Russell impressed by Mercedes rivals’ power unit strength

While Mercedes spent the first week of the 2026 shakedown in Barcelona looking like a…

6 hours ago

Gasly invests in MotoGP team Tech3 as Steiner-led era begins

Pierre Gasly is adding a new kind of horsepower to his career. The Alpine F1…

24 hours ago