There was plenty of action before the race even started as Valtteri Bottas was not declared medically fit to start the race by the FIA. Then both Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat both stopped on their installation laps to the grid. Magnussen's Honda engine went up into smoke and Kvyat had a gearbox problem which caused him to stop. This left a grid of only 15 cars as the lights went out at the start of the race.
Even more drama happened at the start of the race as Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Nasr made slight contact and Nasr then slid into Pastor Maldonado sending Maldonado spinning into the wall which took him out of the race. The other Lotus of Romain Grosjean also retired shortly after as he lost power. This put an end to a promising weekend for the Lotus team as both cars had made Q3.
Felipe Massa was running in third place during the first stint but was jumped during pit stops by Sebastian Vettel and the Ferrari driver did not give up his podium spot from there. Massa continued to bring the only Williams car home in 4th position.
Sauber had an excellent day with both cars finishing in the points after not scoring a single point during all of last season. Felipe Nasr was extremely impressive on his Formula 1 debut as he finished in 5th place which was the best finish for a driver in their Sauber debut in the team's history. Marcus Ericsson also had a strong race finishing in 8th position.
Daniel Ricciardo was the only Red Bull driver to start the race after Kvyat's problems before the start of the race. Ricciardo had a fairly quiet race as he finished in sixth position.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was looking strong for a top 5 finish using a two stop strategy but an issue with the left-rear tire during his final pit stop caused him to retire from the race.
Force India had a quiet race as Nico Hulkenberg came home in 7th and Sergio Perez came home in 10th position to give Force India a double points scoring finish to start the year.
Toro Rosso was looking good for a double points finish until Max Verstappen retired on his debut on lap 33 after reporting smoke in his car. Verstappen started the race on the prime tires and was looking strong after switching to the options for the end of the race. Toro Rosso team mate Carlos Sainz placed in 9th position to score 2 points on his debut.
Following a disastrous weekend for the McLaren team made even worse by Kevin Magnussen not being able to start the race, Jenson Button brought a positive by being able to finish the race although in 11th position. This was crucial for the team as they have lacked testing time throughout the preseason and can desperately use the data that they learned on the day.
Pos
|
Driver
|
Car
|
Gap
|
1
|
Lewis
Hamilton
|
Mercedes
|
1h31m54.067s
|
2
|
Nico
Rosberg
|
Mercedes
|
+7.640
|
3
|
Sebastian
Vettel
|
Ferrari
|
+25.523s
|
4
|
Felipe
Massa
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
+29.196s
|
5
|
Felipe
Nasr
|
Sauber-Ferrari
|
+1m26.149s
|
6
|
Daniel
Ricciardo
|
Red
Bull-Renault
|
+1
Lap
|
7
|
Nico
Hulkenberg
|
Force
India-Mercedes
|
+1
Lap
|
8
|
Marcus
Ericsson
|
Sauber-Ferrari
|
+1
Lap
|
9
|
Carlos
Sainz Jr.
|
Toro
Rosso-Renault
|
+1
Lap
|
10
|
Sergio
Perez
|
Force
India-Mercedes
|
+1
Lap
|
11
|
Jenson
Button
|
McLaren-Honda
|
+2
Laps
|
Kimi
Raikkonen
|
Ferrari
|
Retirement
|
|
Max
Verstappen
|
Toro
Rosso-Renault
|
Retirement
|
|
Romain
Grosjean
|
Lotus-Mercedes
|
Retirement
|
|
Pastor
Maldonado
|
Lotus-Mercedes
|
Retirement
|
|
Daniil
Kvyat
|
Red
Bull-Renault
|
Did Not Start
|
|
Kevin
Magnussen
|
McLaren-Honda
|
Did Not Start
|
|
Valtteri
Bottas
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
Withdrawn
|
|
Will
Stevens
|
Marussia-Ferrari
|
Withdrawn
|
|
Roberto
Merhi
|
Marussia-Ferrari
|
Withdrawn
|
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