European GP 2016: Rosberg cruises to victory on Baku debut

Nico Rosberg dominated Formula 1's first race in Baku at will. The Mercedes driver started from pole position, led all 51 laps and also set the fastest lap of the race. Joining him on the podium were Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari and Sergio Pérez in the Force India. Pérez only secured third place on the final lap. Rosberg's teammate Lewis Hamilton could only finish fifth after a botched qualifying and a stubborn engine mode problem. You can find the full result and all the data on our European GP 2016 race page.

The Baku City Circuit was new to the calendar. It was Formula 1's first visit to Azerbaijan, even though the race was still officially called the European Grand Prix.

The pecking order was already shaken up on Saturday. Hamilton made a mistake in the third qualifying segment. He damaged his suspension, triggered a red flag and could get no higher than tenth. Pérez had actually set the second-fastest time. After his crash in the third free practice session, however, Force India had to change his gearbox, and the five-place grid penalty dropped him back to seventh. That benefited Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull, who moved up alongside Rosberg on the front row. Behind them were Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen, Felipe Massa of Williams and Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso.

Rosberg kept the lead at the start. Ricciardo initially stayed with him after the opening lap, but from lap three onwards the rear tyres on his Red Bull began to grain. According to Motorsport Magazine, the heat was to blame: track temperature during the race was over 50 degrees. Red Bull reacted early. Max Verstappen pitted on lap 5, Ricciardo a lap later. That committed both of them to a two-stop strategy. Vettel had already got past the Australian and was now running second.

Ferrari offered Vettel the chance to stop early as well and counter Red Bull's undercut. The German, however, wanted to stay out. So the team brought in Räikkönen on lap 8 instead. Vettel didn't pit until lap 20, Rosberg a lap later. Both made it through on a single stop, as did Pérez, Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hülkenberg. There was no Safety Car. Rosberg was therefore never under threat and, according to Sky Sports, crossed the line 16.696 seconds ahead of Vettel.

From tenth on the grid, Hamilton initially made good progress. Before his pit stop on lap 15 he was already up to fourth. But according to reports from Autosport and Motorsport Magazine, his Mercedes had been short of electrical energy on the straights from around lap 4. The cause was an incorrectly pre-set engine mode. Under the radio rules tightened at the time, drivers had to drive the car “alone and unaided”. Mercedes could therefore only tell Hamilton that something was wrong, but not which switch to flip. According to team principal Toto Wolff, Hamilton needed around twelve laps to find the right setting. By then his chances of fighting at the front were already gone.

The twist: according to Autosport, Rosberg ended up in the same wrong mode during the race. He had accidentally switched into it himself, but corrected the error within a lap. Hamilton finished fifth, 56.335 seconds behind the winner.

The most exciting fight of the day was for third place. Running in the slipstream of Ricciardo as he turned into the pits, Räikkönen had crossed the marked line at the pit entry without stopping himself. For that he received a five-second time penalty. After his early stop, the Finn worked his way back up to third. But Pérez knew about the penalty and kept up the pressure. On the final lap he passed Räikkönen on track.

According to Sky Sports, the Mexican finished 25.241 seconds behind Rosberg, Räikkönen 33.102 seconds. For Pérez it was the perfect response to the penalty from practice: from seventh on the grid he drove onto the podium.

Everyone had feared the race in Baku, but only four drivers retired:

• Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso): after 6 laps, suspension. A bitter day, as he had started sixth on the grid.
• Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso): after 31 laps, also suspension. That meant neither Toro Rosso reached the finish.
• Pascal Wehrlein (Manor Marussia): after 39 laps, brakes.
• Fernando Alonso (McLaren): after 42 laps, gearbox.

The biggest gainers were Jenson Button in the McLaren (from 19 to 11) and Kevin Magnussen in the Renault (from 22 to 14), with eight places each. Jolyon Palmer made up six places in the second Renault and finished 15th. Hülkenberg went from twelfth on the grid to ninth, picking up two points for Force India.

Besides Kvyat, the losers included Ricciardo and Massa, who had started second and fifth. After his two stops, Ricciardo dropped from second on the grid to seventh. Massa, who also pitted twice, lost five places and just about salvaged one point in tenth. Verstappen finished eighth. There was nothing to be had for Haas F1 Team (Romain Grosjean 13th, Esteban Gutiérrez 16th) or Sauber (Felipe Nasr 12th, Marcus Ericsson 17th). Rio Haryanto was already in the pits after the first lap and finished 18th.

It was the 19th Grand Prix win of Rosberg's career. Because he led every lap from pole and also set the fastest lap, he completed the second Grand Slam of his career. It was his first win since the Russian GP. In the drivers' championship his lead over Hamilton grew from 9 to 24 points: Rosberg now had 141 points, Hamilton 117. Vettel remained third on 96 points. Räikkönen (81) moved past Ricciardo (78) into fourth, while Pérez climbed to eighth with 39 points, ahead of Massa (38).

In the constructors' championship Mercedes led clearly with 258 points ahead of Ferrari (177) and Red Bull (140). You can find the full table in the 2016 Standings. After two races in which Hamilton had closed the gap, Rosberg made a clear statement in Baku in the Silver Arrows' title duel.