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

Chinese GP: Russell prevails in lively Shanghai Sprint

George Russell extended his impressive start to the 2026 season by claiming victory in the…

19 mins ago

Chinese Grand Prix - Sprint Race results

Full results from the Sprint race for the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai, round 2…

21 mins ago

Formula 1 set to confirm Bahrain and Jeddah cancellations

Formula 1 is now believed to be on the brink of confirming the cancellation of…

10 hours ago

Chinese GP: Friday's action in pictures

F1 fans on Shanghai witnessed another commanding performance from Mercedes in Friday’s Sprint qualifying, with…

13 hours ago

Wolff reveals where Mercedes is beating its rivals in Shanghai

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff made no effort to hide his satisfaction after Sprint qualifying…

14 hours ago

Leclerc rages at Ferrari power loss in Shanghai Sprint qualifying

Charles Leclerc did not hide his anger after sprint qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix,…

17 hours ago