F1: Nico Rosberg wins the Chinese GP, his maiden victory and Mercedes’ first triumph since 1955!

F1: Nico Rosberg wins the Chinese GP, his maiden victory and Mercedes’ first triumph since 1955!

Nico Rosberg’s first win was always likely to be at the Chinese GP. The young German has led the race in Shanghai in recent years, only to fail to take the win. He showed that he had something extra in qualifying, where his fastest lap was half a second faster than the next man. Yesterday, he sealed the deal, and claimed his maiden win with a margin of 20.6 seconds!

Nico’s commanding Shanghai triumph is also Mercedes-Benz’ first as a works team since Fangio won the 1955 Italian GP, so it’s double joy for the team, which of course is sponsored by Petronas. Lots of screen time for the national oil company as a result.

F1: Nico Rosberg wins the Chinese GP, his maiden victory and Mercedes’ first triumph since 1955!

McLaren’s two ex-world champs Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton completed the podium, while Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Seb Vettel had to settle for fourth and fifth. The other team with two cars in the points were Williams – Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado finished seventh and eight, respectively. Lotus’ Romain Grosjean will be extremely happy with his sixth place, since he had completed all of five race laps before Shanghai.

The final two points paying positions were taken by Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari and Kamui Kobayashi in the Ferrari-powered Sauber. The kamikaze Japanese driver made a brave late move on teammate and Sepang hero Sergio Perez for the final point.

F1: Nico Rosberg wins the Chinese GP, his maiden victory and Mercedes’ first triumph since 1955!

Mercedes AMG Petronas’ other driver didn’t have a good race. Living legend Michael Schumacher started alongside Rosberg on the front row after Hamilton took a grid penalty, but the team botched Schumi’s first pit stop. His rear wheel was incorrectly fitted, and he was the only man to DNF in China. The team were also fined €5,000 for the unsafe release.

It was a race dominated by tyre strategy, but Rosberg proved that Mercedes has resolved its rubber eating issues – a simple two-stop strategy and good pace kept him way ahead of the crazy battles behind.

F1: Nico Rosberg wins the Chinese GP, his maiden victory and Mercedes’ first triumph since 1955!

Further back, Caterham’s Vitaly Petrov finished ahead of the rookie team drivers in 18th. Heikki Kovalainen was classified as last. Looks like Caterham is still nowhere near the midfield as targeted – while they’ve improved, so have others.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • insperut on Apr 16, 2012 at 10:55 am

    good job Petronas!… i mean Merc AMG!! heheee

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    • Henry Ford the XII on Apr 16, 2012 at 11:37 am

      You can have a superb driver, a powerful engine, a sleek aerodynamic package and a great car to drive but without fuel you are going nowhere – not even an inch hehehe..

      Luckily Petronas is not marrying those 2 “local chicks” – a german hottie is a good choice hehehe..

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  • joepng on Apr 16, 2012 at 11:07 am

    good job, Nico!!!

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  • jsooz on Apr 16, 2012 at 11:48 am

    if only Michael had won instead

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    • peynof**k on Apr 17, 2012 at 12:45 am

      stupid merc pit crew…they just blown their chance for 1 2 finishes…anyway..quite disappointing for michael..was hoping he grab the no 1 spot..

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  • Paint on Apr 16, 2012 at 11:53 am

    Yeah, expect endless advertisement on TV3/Astro/Billboards by Petronas, stating their ‘Minyak’ drives the champion to the podium. You just wait lah!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • joepng on Apr 16, 2012 at 12:09 pm

      so what?..salah ker?

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    • But kinna the truth though.. if there is no good fuel there will be no podium… :) No good engine oil also brings disaster. :)

      Anyways, congratulations!

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  • amriji on Apr 16, 2012 at 12:01 pm

    At last a F1 GP win for PETRONAS Sponsored team!!! PETRONAS Maju Jaya.

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    • Ha ha as an employee you must be very proud. It’s very easy to spot a staff online :)

      Well deserving win. Unfortunate for Schumi though.

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    • delio on Apr 16, 2012 at 2:40 pm

      haha kantoi…..
      can i know which opu u come?

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      • Amriji on Apr 17, 2012 at 11:40 am

        Memang sengaja kantoi… OPU secretlah. If got PM function then can only reveal. If not… gang Public Mutual will always harass. ;-P

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    • Bujang Lapuk on Apr 17, 2012 at 8:27 pm

      The second Petronas-fuelled victory I think. First was the 2008 Canadian GP with Robert Kubica :)

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      • Amriji on Apr 18, 2012 at 10:24 am

        Oh… ye ke? Was not aware of that. Thanks for the info. Probably was too busy with Plant Maintenance works during that time…

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  • Proton Prevé Owner Club. on Apr 16, 2012 at 12:22 pm

    can i get the same fuel that rosberg use in his car at nearest petronas pump station?..

    great job for the TEAM…

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  • alldisc on Apr 16, 2012 at 12:26 pm

    that merc F1 is getting better and better, and nico has proved he is all worth it.

    i mean, all F1 drivers are more or less the same – up to whether the machine can take it or slows them down instead.

    i mean, before Jensen Button and Fernando Alonso became world champions, where were they?

    Fernando was a Minardi driver then, who were so used to be the backmarkers.

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  • Leonardo on Apr 16, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    Congratulations to Merc Petronas F1 team! hopefully they can take advantage of their special aero designed DRS and translate it to more podiums before others copied it.

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  • tokmoh on Apr 16, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    Race started very uneventful, but ended pretty exciting. What a heart breaking end for Kimi, losing position from 2nd to 12th in just one lap, in the end finished only 14th. Vettel also suffered the same fate though wasn’t as bad. Both guys opted for 2 pits, while most others opted for 3 pits. Their tyres were dead against others with fresher tyres.

    Massa should prepare to be replaced by Perez or Kobayashi.

    3 races in, 3 different winners. Good start for the season. Let’s see if Schumacher wins this Sunday at Bahrain :)

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  • schuey on Apr 16, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    Actually it’s the front right wheel that was lose. They did not screw in time and let me go.
    I will make sure that engineer get fired and no more mistake on my next race. Rosberg is a lucky boy this time. Stealing my thunder . . …..

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  • it was last year when ppl had a debate on proton’s decision not supporting the home brew 1mrt…. that is when i knew the biggest local winner would be petronas as title sponsor of merc… and yes… this victory is the perfect example why petronas ppl are more foresighted than 1mrt and proton ppl…

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    • It was not last year laa.. It was the year before. 1MRT is in their 3rd seaon. So is Merc Petronas.

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      • yes i know 1mrt is in their 3rd season but the dispute was last year right? when proton revoke the lotus-racing name licensing from 1mrt which cause tony to buy the name team lotus name from hunt. proton in response -by using group lotus- become title sponsor of then team renault which become the lotus renault f1. that is when ppl start bla bla bla of proton being unpatriotic…

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        • Amriji on Apr 17, 2012 at 11:45 am

          Anyway to cut short on the debates, PETRONAS is in it for commercial reason. 1st to Market the brand. 2nd is to ensure all new Mercedes globally comes with Syntium already inside…. Syntium Inside… kinda catchy like the old Pentium Inside. ;-) PETRONAS Maju Jaya…

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  • seancorr on Apr 16, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    Aww pity Michael. If not for the team’s mistake I think he could have been on the podium.

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  • Caterham, midfield? hahaha……….wait lah, izit with KERS and DRS this time? sama 2011 juga, should fire all engineer & CEO.

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  • rima alias on Apr 16, 2012 at 3:50 pm

    yes! the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 cars are run by PETRONAS fuel & lube.. yes, we “drove” the car to victory – and yes, we are proud of this! :D

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  • what happened to kimi? was not him in 2nd place 4 laps before the end?

    congrats petronas! does this mean the petronas petrols and lubricants will be at 50 percent less this whole week? come on bila lagi?

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    • Amriji on Apr 17, 2012 at 11:46 am

      That will depends on how much the gov wiling tol subsidize la… ;-)

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  • albag on Apr 17, 2012 at 8:01 am

    wow PETRONAS on top of the world… malaysia is famous dy… but our petrol still expensive like hell (-___-)

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    • Amriji on Apr 17, 2012 at 11:50 am

      PETRONAS not yet on top of the world. We are still working hard. Cannot rest on our laurel yet…. still long way to go. ;-)

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