The third race is in the books in the 2016 Formula One racing season with the conclusion of the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. The winner – as he was in the first two races of the season – was Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, who easily ran away with the victory while everybody else fought with each other for the podium table scraps.
Rosberg won his third race of the season and sixth in a row dating back to the end of the 2015 season and this race was one of the least-contested race victories of the six. At the race start, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo briefly broke up the monotony by beating the pole-sitter Rosberg to the first turn – but his lead would last all of two laps as he suffered a tire puncture on the third lap.
That cleared the way for Rosberg to lead the rest of the way because Red Bull’s other car piloted by Daniil Kvyat, scared the bejeebers out of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel as he came rocketing up from sixth place on the start and forced Vettel to make an evasive maneuver – right into his Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikkonen. That collision took the Ferraris out of early race lead contention and they both spent the rest of the race getting back to the top of the order.
Rosberg eventually won by a whopping 37 seconds over Vettel, who came all the way back to claim second over a fading Kvyat in third. Rosberg claims the top points for the race while, in a rare move, ASN awards second and third-place points to the order in which they finished as no other driver made any real dramatic improvements save for Rosberg’s Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton, though he faded in the final laps and couldn’t make it into the top five after starting 22nd.
The Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award goes to Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, who drove too slowly in pit lane and created an unnecessary traffic jam that caused an early race kerfuffle.
The Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing!” Award goes to Kvyat for his admonishment to slower – and eventual last-place Renault driver – Jolyon Palmer to “get out of my effin’ way!”
The Lewis Hamilton Doofus Moment Award is given to Formula One Head Crusty Barnacle-in-Charge, Bernie Ecclestone for calling the drivers windbags when they had the gall to complain about various race atrocities such as the qualifying format.
2016 ASN Driver Standings [after the Chinese Grand Prix]
1] Nico Rosberg – nine points
2] Sebastian Vettel – four points
3] Kimi Raikkonen – two points
4] Stoffel Vandoorne – one point
2016 Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award [after the Chinese Grand Prix]
1] Fernando Alonso/Valtteri Bottas/Nico Hulkenberg – one point
2016 Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I KNow What I’m Doing!” Award
1] Daniil Kvyat/Raikkonen/Rosberg – one point
2016 Lewis Hamilton Doofus Moment Award
1] Lewis Hamilton – two points
2] Bernie Ecclestone – one point