2012 Chinese Grand Prix: Rosberg's Breakthrough Win for Mercedes in Shanghai

Nico Rosberg won the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit on 15 April 2012, claiming his first Formula One victory from pole position. It was the first win for an official Mercedes team since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. Jenson Button finished 20 seconds behind for McLaren, with Lewis Hamilton third.

Who won the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix?

Nico Rosberg won for Mercedes after leading from pole and pulling clear of the field. Jenson Button finished 20 seconds adrift in second, and Lewis Hamilton took third. It was his first win in 111 races, and it came in the 56-lap event.

Rosberg was the first German to win a race in a German car. Mercedes had not won with an official team since 1955, the year it left Formula One for 55 seasons. He was also the 103rd different winner of a Grand Prix since 1950.

He led home the McLaren pair by more than twenty seconds, in a race that was close throughout the field and highly reliable, with 23 of 24 starters finishing. It was also the 39th start for HRT, which set a record for the most Grand Prix starts without a point.

A first pole, a first win and Mercedes back on the top step for the first time since 1955, all in one Shanghai weekend.

What did the championship look like after Shanghai?

Hamilton moved to the top of the Drivers' Championship on 45 points, two ahead of Button. Fernando Alonso dropped to third on 37 points after finishing ninth. McLaren extended its lead over Red Bull to 24 points, and Mercedes rose to fifth with 28 points.

Mercedes sat nine points behind Sauber, which held fourth in the standings. Ferrari still struggled in dry conditions.

What regulation and tyre questions shaped the weekend?

The stewards unanimously rejected a Lotus protest against the Mercedes front-wing F-duct, so the car ran unchanged. Lotus confirmed it would not appeal. Pirelli brought the white-banded medium tyre as the harder prime compound and the yellow-banded soft as the option, while in 2011 the prime had been the silver-banded hard tyre. Lotus had filed its protest on the Thursday before the race, citing Article 3.15 of the technical regulations.

Red Bull's Christian Horner said his side still wanted clarity on the design, and he expected Shanghai to settle it. The FIA kept the DRS zone unchanged from 2011, with the detection point at Turn 12 and the activation point on the back straight.

Lewis Hamilton was docked five places on the grid on the Thursday before the race, after McLaren had to change his gearbox. That penalty dropped him to seventh on the grid.

How did qualifying go?

Rosberg took pole with 1:35.121, his first from a 111-race career, half a second clear of Hamilton, who started seventh after his penalty. Sebastian Vettel failed to reach the final session for the first time since 2009, ending a run of 41 consecutive top ten qualifying sessions.

Qualifying started at 2 pm local time, with overcast skies. The air was 21 degrees Celsius (70 Fahrenheit) and the track was 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit), noticeably cooler than the Malaysian qualifying session. Paul di Resta set the first timed lap of the first session, and most drivers began on the harder prime tyre. Ferrari had admitted beforehand that it needed a miracle to reach Q3. Massa and Alonso switched to the softer option tyre, and Vergne failed to reach Q2 for the second consecutive race. Heikki Kovalainen led Vitaly Petrov, and Glock led the Marussias, while Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan were at the back.

Vettel's engineer had said a 1:36.9 would be enough to reach Q2, and that lap ended up 15th best in the first session. Vettel had been on pole for the last three Chinese Grands Prix, and he was seventh as the flag fell in the second session. His final lap improved by only 0.003 seconds, and he missed the final session.

Romain Grosjean erred on his first attempt and pitted for fresh option tyres, yet still reached the final session from 17th with a single timed lap. With under two minutes left, the two Mercedes, Hamilton and Raikkonen stayed in the pits while the rest of the field scrambled for the top ten. Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna finished within 0.006 seconds of each other, and di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg took 15th and 16th for Force India. Ricciardo was last in the session. Sergio Perez also advanced, while Vettel's exit was his first since the 2009 Brazilian race, where he qualified 16th, outside the top ten.

In the final session Rosberg set the first timed lap with six minutes remaining, and his 1:35.121 was far quicker than anything before it. His car reached 314 km/h on the back straight at the rev limiter in seventh gear, but Mercedes gained time through better acceleration and the F-duct. Schumacher and Hamilton were each half a second slower. Schumacher was told Rosberg's time over the radio and replied with a short 'not bad'.

Rosberg climbed out with under two minutes left, watching the others fall short. Kamui Kobayashi took fourth, his best qualifying result, having previously managed seventh at the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen was fifth, Jenson Button sixth and Mark Webber seventh.

Sergio Perez took eighth, his best ever, and his previous best had been ninth at the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix. Alonso was ninth, and Grosjean ended up 10th without completing a timed lap. It was the first time since 2009 that both Saubers had reached the top 10.

Jean-Eric Vergne changed his car after qualifying, and he started the race from the pit lane.

What happened in the race?

Rosberg led from pole and made two stops. Michael Schumacher retired after a pit-stop error, and Jenson Button, running three stops, moved into the lead for a spell. Late on, Vettel lost second to Button, and Hamilton and Webber then passed him as well.

The race started under cloudy skies, with the air at 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit) and the track at 24 degrees Celsius (75 Fahrenheit). Massa, Senna and both Toro Rossos started on medium tyres, while everyone else chose the soft yellow-banded compound. Rosberg led off the line, while Kobayashi, starting third, was down to sixth by the fourth corner. Button made a good start to sixth ahead of Raikkonen, and Bruno Senna hit the rear of Massa's Ferrari and damaged its front wing.

Mark Webber had a poor start and fought with Alonso, passing him three times on the first lap. By lap five Webber was scrapping for ninth behind Alonso, and once DRS was enabled on lap three the two leading Mercedes were more than a second clear of the rest. Vettel struggled for straight-line speed and was 14th by lap six, 19th fastest through the speed trap. Webber pitted early on lap seven for medium tyres and set a fastest lap, which prompted a flurry of stops.

Hamilton and Raikkonen pitted together and came out side by side, but Hamilton stayed ahead. Michael Schumacher then retired after a miscommunication in the pit lane. He left before his right front wheel had been fitted properly, and the wheel-gun operator tried to call him back, but it was too late. It was the only retirement of the race.

On lap 14 Rosberg pitted for medium tyres, leaving Perez briefly in the lead. By lap 21 everyone had made one stop. On lap 22 Webber pitted again for fresh mediums and set a fastest lap on the way out, and Button and Hamilton followed soon after. Once everyone had stopped, Rosberg led again, followed by Button, Hamilton, Webber and Raikkonen. Raikkonen then pitted from second on lap 29, dropping to 13th, and Button began catching the cars that had stopped only once. By then Rosberg, Vettel and Raikkonen were planning two stops, while Button, Hamilton and Webber were headed for three.

On lap 30 Rob Smedley told Felipe Massa that Alonso was on a different strategy, in effect asking Massa to let his teammate through for tenth. Alonso soon moved ahead of Paul di Resta, and Perez was third on lap 35, under heavy pressure from Hamilton. Under that pressure he was suffering front-tyre lock-ups while defending at the hairpin, turn 14.

Rosberg pitted for his second and final stop on lap 34, having run 21 laps on his hard tyres. He needed 22 laps from his fresh mediums. That stop let Button take the lead, with Rosberg second and Hamilton third, while Alonso pressed Hamilton closely. Massa, in fifth, led a group of cars that ran nose to tail with their DRS open. Webber, going wide and hitting a bump before the long back straight, lifted both front wheels half a metre off the ground but lost only a second.

Button's final stop on lap 39, made while he was 7 seconds ahead, was delayed by a problem with his left rear wheel, which let Rosberg back into the lead. Rosberg then led Massa by 19.1 seconds, and his engineer told him the most important thing was looking after the tyres. Massa pitted from second, releasing a train of cars led by Raikkonen.

By lap 43 eleven cars were strung out along the long back straight. Alonso ran wide over discarded tyre marbles while attacking Maldonado, and Grosjean slid in the same way at turn seven while trying to pass Vettel. Alonso also nearly collided with Sergio Perez's Sauber as he rejoined. By lap 49 Raikkonen's tyres appeared to reach the cliff, and he fell from second to 12th in two laps.

With five laps remaining, Rosberg had more than 20 seconds in hand. The train had stretched from second to 14th within just 15 seconds, which was rare so late without a safety car. Vettel, in second, then lost the place to Button, who was on three stops. Hamilton passed Vettel at the hairpin on lap 54, and Webber followed a lap later for fourth.

Rosberg won, with Button 20 seconds behind after a pit-stop error had cost him what chance he had. Button's chance had been slim in any case, given Rosberg's pace and how hard it was to pass on this track. Hamilton and Webber had finished third and fourth in all three races so far this season. Hamilton completed an all Mercedes-powered podium, and Webber finished fourth for the fourth consecutive time this season. Vettel took fifth on worn tyres, and Grosjean sixth, his best Formula One result.

Bruno Senna finished seventh and Pastor Maldonado eighth, while Alonso was ninth. The Williams cars showed good race pace, while Kobayashi's Sauber had enjoyed a strong qualifying but a disappointing race. Kobayashi took the final point in tenth, ahead of teammate Perez. Massa was 13th, and Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, ended up 14th, held back by worn tyres. Vergne was 16th.

Seventeen drivers finished on the lead lap. Daniel Ricciardo was 17th, more than a minute down, in a Toro Rosso that lacked pace.

Rosberg's victory was Mercedes GP's first since 2009, when Rubens Barrichello won for the team then known as Brawn GP.

Why did the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix matter?

The win ended a 55-season gap for Mercedes, which had last won an official race in 1955. Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari were all beaten, a result last seen at the 2009 Italian race, and Rosberg had left GP2 six years earlier.