Overtaking his teammate on lap 1, Hamilton lead the whole race to take victory. This is his 41st race win, matching Ayrton Senna’s tally. Rosberg dropped down to 4th on the opening lap but fought back to 2nd, ahead of Vettel, to make a 1-2 for Mercedes. But, for Massa and Ricciardo, it was a tough day. A collision at the start meant both drivers got punctures and Massa was a lap down.
At the first pit stops, Rosberg got the undercut on Bottas to take third. Then, at his second stop, he got past Vettel. Sebastian kept fighting until the end but was unable to get past. Meanwhile, Verstappen worked his way up from 17th into a points-scoring position, ahead of his teammate Sainz.
For McLaren, the race was extremely tough. The drivers were criticising the engine, with Alonso describing it as a GP2 engine, also saying “I’m being passed down the straights like a GP2. This is embarrassing, very embarrassing.”
Hamilton won the race by over 18 seconds to teammate Rosberg. Vettel finished 3rd, Raikkonen 4th and Williams driver Bottas was 5th.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton P1, Nico Rosberg P2
A dominant race for Hamilton saw him take a comfortable victory. After a poor start, Rosberg was able to make his way back up to second behind Lewis Hamilton but lost another 7 points in the championship to his teammate. Last race in Singapore was very disappointing for Mercedes and they were concerned going into this race, however a 1-2 for the team was an impressive result and they will be very pleased.
Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel P3, Kimi Raikkonen P4
A good race for both drivers, with Vettel on the podium. He lost out to second in the pit stops and was unable to get back past Rosberg. However, third was still a good result for him as Mercedes were certainly stronger in terms of performance today. Raikkonen had a strong race and was able to catch Bottas in the pits and fourth was a great result for him.
Williams
Valtteri Bottas P5, Felipe Massa P17
A disappointing opening lap for Williams saw Massa get a puncture after a collision with Ricciardo. He limped back to the pits, losing a great deal of time. From then on, his race was just about over and he was unable to get back up the order. Bottas had a good race but was disappointed not to get a podium finish.
Red Bull
Daniil Kvyat P13, Daniel Ricciardo P15
A poor race for Red Bull saw neither driver finish within the points, with Kvyat starting in the pits and Ricciardo getting a puncture at the start. Kvyat described the raceas boring, saying he was unable to fight for stronger position as he had some issues with the car. Ricciardo had a puncture from the collision at the start so lost a lot of time. He also damaged the floor of the car, resulting in a lack of downforce for him. He struggled in the rest of the race and was unable to make up many places.
Toro Rosso
Max Verstappen P9, Carlos Sainz P10
A great race for Verstappen from 17th saw him fight back through the pack into the points. He got stuck behind Nasr for some laps but was able to get ahead in the end. In the final stages of the race, he was able to get past his teammate for ninth place, with Sainz having to look after his tyres.
Force India
Nico Hulkenberg P6, Sergio Perez P12
A fabulous race for Hulkenberg saw him work his way up to sixth from 13th on the grid. A strong start meant that he got up to 8th after the second corner behind the two Lotus drivers. At the pit stops, he was able to pass them and move up into 6th, a strong race for Nico. Perez had a tougher race after making contact on lap 1 and losing positions. He fought his way through the field in an attempt to make his way up to the points.
Sauber
Marcus Ericsson P14, Felipe Nasr DNF
A good start for Ericsson meant that he was running in P10 in the first stint. However, a spin cost him a lot of time and he dropped down the order. He took his second stop early but lost grip on his tyres at the end so lost some places in the closing stages of the race. Nasr was in a good position but had an issue with the car meant the team made the decision to retire the car.
Lotus
Romain Grosjean P7, Pastor Maldonado P8
A great result for the team, with both drivers finishing in the points. Grosjean had a good race but was unable to get past Hulkenberg at the end of the race for 6th place, struggling with his tyres. Maldonado scored some strong points today and was happy with his performance.
McLaren
Fernando Alonso P11, Jenson Button P16
A difficult race for the team saw Alonso just missing out on the points. They struggled for pace all weekend and both drivers were frustrated with the performance of their engines compared to their competitors. Neither driver has confirmed where they will be driving next year and we are still waiting for McLaren to announce their driver line up for 2016.
Manor
Alexander Rossi P18, Will Stevens P19
A good performance for the team, saw both drivers make it to the finish. Despite Will Stevens’ spin, both drivers drove a faultless race but this time it was Rossi who finished ahead.
See full race results here.