Last year’s runaway champion Sebastian Vettel remained winless this season after finishing fifth in China, as Nico Rosberg reigned supreme with a famous victory for Mercedes.
Rosberg finished ahead of McLaren duo Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton in second and third respectively, while Red Bull pair Mark Webber and Vettel were next.
Vettel, who started at 11th, had slipped down to 15th after a poor start in Shanghai and fought back for his fifth place, however he did slip from second late on, as his tyres wore out.
The German said: “I had no tyres left at the end of the race. Sitting in the car, I was reacting with brake balance, diff, everything to try and keep the tyres. We were generally too slow on the straights, and we’re losing time there; it made it difficult to pass other people.
“But overall, I’m pretty happy with fifth given the poor first lap. I missed out on the start.”
Meanwhile, Rosberg celebrated Mercedes’ first Grand Prix win since 1955 but wasn’t over the top.
“I had a great race today but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be like that at every race,” he warned. “We still need to push hard and continue progressing. Bahrain could be a little bit of a different story again. We need to wait and see. It’s difficult to predict.
“I couldn’t have predicted today so we’ll just take it as it comes, but for sure I’m looking forward to what’s to come because we’re looking much stronger.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said it wasn’t a bad weekend for his team.
“Our race pace was pretty strong and we got amongst the McLarens,” said Horner. “Unfortunately, the front left tyre on Sebastian’s car took a real hammering, possibly behind Kimi Raikkonen, and he didn’t have anything left tyre-wise by the end of the race. But nonetheless, having been 15th on the first lap, fifth is still a strong result.”