Chinese F1 Grand Prix 2016 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights, Reaction

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg made it three wins in a row at the start of the 2016 Formula One season on Sunday, producing a virtuoso performance to take the chequered flag at the Chinese Grand Prix.

After a chaotic beginning to the race saw a host of positional changes, the German showed his class to pull comfortably away from the field. There were some thrilling tussles behind, though, which saw Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat come home in second and third place, respectively.

Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton, who started at the back of the grid, recovered well to finish in seventh, as he ran into more trouble on race day.

Rosberg’s immaculate drive, his sixth in succession overall, sees him extend his advantage at the top of the world standings to 36 points. 

Here are the results from an absorbing race in Shanghai, per the sport's Twitter feed:

These are the updated standings:

Position	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1.	NICO ROSBERG	GER	MERCEDES	75
2	LEWIS HAMILTON	GBR	MERCEDES	39
3	DANIEL RICCIARDO	AUS	RED BULL RACING	36
4	SEBASTIAN VETTEL	GER	FERRARI	33
5	KIMI RAIKKONEN	FIN	FERRARI	28
6	FELIPE MASSA	BRA	WILLIAMS	22
7	DANIIL KVYAT	RUS	RED BULL RACING	21
8	ROMAIN GROSJEAN	FRA	HAAS	18
9	MAX VERSTAPPEN	NED	TORO ROSSO	13
10	VALTTERI BOTTAS	FIN	WILLIAMS	7
11	NICO HULKENBERG	GER	FORCE INDIA	6
12	CARLOS SAINZ	ESP	TORO ROSSO	4
13	STOFFEL VANDOORNE	BEL	MCLAREN	1
14	KEVIN MAGNUSSEN	DEN	RENAULT	0
15	SERGIO PEREZ	MEX	FORCE INDIA	0
16	JOLYON PALMER	GBR	RENAULT	0
17	MARCUS ERICSSON	SWE	SAUBER	0
18	FERNANDO ALONSO	ESP	MCLAREN	0
19	JENSON BUTTON	GBR	MCLAREN	0
20	PASCAL WEHRLEIN	GER	MANOR	0
21	FELIPE NASR	BRA	SAUBER	0
22	ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ	MEX	HAAS	0
23	RIO HARYANTO	INA	MANOR	0

A frantic start is often the trigger for a tremendous race in Formula One, and when the lights went out in Shanghai, we were treated to exactly that.

Up front, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo swept past Rosberg to take the lead, while the two Ferrari drivers lost places after coming into contact in the opening stages. Additionally, starting from the back of the grid, Hamilton lost his front wing and was forced to pit.

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Just three laps in, the field became truncated again, as Ricciardo, after being reeled in by Rosberg, suffered a dramatic puncture, flinging debris across the track and prompting the safety car.

As noted here by F1 Racing on NBC, Hamilton’s engineers sought to capitalise on this spell by making alterations to his strategy:

When the action restarted, both Hamilton and Vettel were amid the chasing pack, and it was evident they were keen on getting back up the field as quickly as possible.

Both drivers, with seven world titles between them, used up every inch of the track to get some stellar overtaking done, and despite their woes at the beginning of the race, they preserved hopes of picking up a strong points finish or even a spot on the podium.

Clive Mason/Getty Images

This graphic from the official F1 account summed up just how anarchic the beginning to the race was, with so many drivers changing positions early:

After the race settled down, Vettel put himself in a strong position to push on after some wonderful work in the Ferrari. Red Bull man Kvyat had moved up nicely into second place, but the German was breathing down his neck as the drivers passed the halfway point of the 56-lap race.

As we can see here courtesy of motorsports journalist Gianlu D’Alessandro, Vettel was doing absolutely everything he could to move up in the field, including cheeky overtakes in the pit lane:

While Rosberg continued to blaze a trail at the front with some searing pace, the middle stages of the race saw the rest of the drivers jostling for position ahead of what promised to be a fascinating finish.

Clive Mason/Getty Images

Vettel had been stalking Kvyat for a few laps, happy to bide his time in pursuit of second spot. But when the two drivers pitted and the Ferrari man opted for the soft tyre, with the Red Bull going for the slower medium compound, an overtake was inevitable, and it came on the 37th lap.

Formula One journalist James Allen paid tribute to the efforts of Vettel, who had endured an awful start to the race:

Meanwhile, a little further back, Hamilton was making more steady progress. The Brit, who had stopped four times in the race already, pulled off a fine move on Valtteri Bottas into Turn 9 to move up into fifth spot with 15 laps remaining.

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Felipe Massa was next down the road for Hamilton, who was suddenly eyeing fourth, but Ricciardo seemed intent on getting involved in this tussle. First the Aussie overtook the champion with an audacious dart down the inside, and then he reeled in Massa to take fourth. 

The Red Bull team were delighted with the efforts of their man after the pair of overtakes:

In the final stages, Kimi Raikkonen jumped ahead of Massa and Hamilton for fifth, with the latter losing grip on his tyres after a big push in the middle laps. It meant a frustrating, stuttering finish for the Mercedes man, coming home in seventh, while his team-mate had time to enjoy taking the chequered flag.

Afterwards, the German hailed the efforts of the engineers, while Vettel apologised for his earlier error:

Many will look back at this race as a very easy day’s work for Rosberg. But while chaos ensued at the start and a lot of drivers lost their composure, the German was an unerringly cool figure. With three race wins in a row at the start of this season, that’s been a common theme and a trait he has lacked in the last two seasons when coming up short against Hamilton.

The German is in the form of his life at the moment and looks a big favourite to clinch his maiden world title. Hamilton has shown he can recover after an early setback, as he did in 2014, but when things go wrong for the champion at a circuit where he’s enjoyed so much success, you wonder whether it’s going to be someone else’s year.