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F1: Rosberg rebuilds points lead with dominant Baku win

The German led into the first corner from pole and set about building a lead he would never relinquish.
3 min read19 Jun '16
Staff WriterStaff Writer
2K+ views

Nico Rosberg extended his world championship lead with a crushing victory in Formula 1's inaugural grand prix in Azerbaijan.

The German led into the first corner from pole and set about building a lead he would never relinquish, with his title rival and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton only fifth.

It was Rosberg's fifth victory of the season and first since Russia, leaving him 24 points clear of Hamilton in the drivers' standings.

Hamilton made good progress through the field from 10th, having crashed out in qualifying, but then encountered lower than maximum electrical deployment.

The reigning world champion repeatedly asked Mercedes for help in solving the problem, but it was unable to tell him what to do under this season's radio communication restrictions.

Hamilton was able to fix the problem in the closing stages but it proved to be too late and he was unable to improve on fifth.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finished second for the second successive race with Force India's Sergio Perez scoring his second podium in three races with third.

The Mexican passed Kimi Raikkonen on the final lap to snatch third, but he was set to get the place anyway as Raikkonen had been given a five-second time penalty for crossing the white line on pit entry earlier in the race.

Valtteri Bottas was a lonely sixth while Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen passed Nico Hulkenberg late on to finish seventh and eighth respectively.

The two Red Bulls did a two-stop strategy, fitting the softs and the the mediums, while Hulkenberg only did one so they had fresher tyres.

Hulkenberg held on to ninth, one place ahead of Felipe Massa, who scored points for the seventh time in eight races.

Jenson Button finished just outside the points in 11th but his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso was told to pit and retire the car with seven laps to go.

Felipe Nasr scored his best result of the season with 12th, ahead of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, who started from the pitlane.

Pascal Wehrlein was running strongly when he suffered brake failure and retired his Manor for the first time this season.

The Toro Rossos were the only other retirements, both Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz Jr suffering suspension issues.

RESULTS - 51 LAPS:

Nico RosbergMercedes1h32m52.366s
2
Sebastian VettelFerrari16.696s
3
Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes25.241s
4
Kimi RaikkonenFerrari33.102s
5
Lewis HamiltonMercedes56.335s
6
Valtteri BottasWilliams/Mercedes1m00.886s
7
Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/Renault1m09.229s
8
Max VerstappenRed Bull/Renault1m10.696s
9
Nico HulkenbergForce India/Mercedes1m17.708s
10
Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes1m25.375s
11
Jenson ButtonMcLaren/Honda1m44.817s
12
Felipe NasrSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
13
Romain GrosjeanHaas/Ferrari1 Lap
14
Kevin MagnussenRenault1 Lap
15
Jolyon PalmerRenault1 Lap
16
Esteban GutierrezHaas/Ferrari1 Lap
17
Marcus EricssonSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
18
Rio HaryantoManor/Mercedes2 Laps
-
Fernando AlonsoMcLaren/HondaRetirement
-
Pascal WehrleinManor/MercedesBrakes
-
Carlos SainzToro Rosso/FerrariRetirement
-
Daniil KvyatToro Rosso/FerrariRetirement

DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP

Nico Rosberg141
2
Lewis Hamilton117
3
Sebastian Vettel96
4
Kimi Raikkonen81
5
Daniel Ricciardo78
6
Max Verstappen54
7
Valtteri Bottas52
8
Sergio Perez39
9
Felipe Massa38
10
Daniil Kvyat22
11
Romain Grosjean22
12
Nico Hulkenberg20
13
Fernando Alonso18
14
Carlos Sainz18
15
Kevin Magnussen6
16
Jenson Button5
17
Stoffel Vandoorne1
18
Esteban Gutierrez0
19
Jolyon Palmer0
20
Marcus Ericsson0
21
Felipe Nasr0
22
Pascal Wehrlein0
23
Rio Haryanto0

CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP

Mercedes258
2
Ferrari177
3
Red Bull/Renault140
4
Williams/Mercedes90
5
Force India/Mercedes59
6
Toro Rosso/Ferrari32
7
McLaren/Honda24
8
Haas/Ferrari22
9
Renault6
10
Sauber/Ferrari0
11
Manor/Mercedes0

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