Rosberg races to first Formula One victory

SHANGHAI - Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday for his first career Formula One victory after starting from pole.

Rosberg won by a massive 20.6 seconds over McLaren’s Jenson Button after making just two pit stops and managing to hold off the rest of the field on worn tires.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Rosberg said. “It’s really nice to see how quickly we are now progressing. We didn’t expect to be that fast today.”

Button’s McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton was third, followed by Red Bull duo Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, who were fourth and fifth, respectively.

Defending champion Vettel started 11th on the grid and at one stage moved up to second, but couldn’t hold off Button, Hamilton and Webber in the closing stages. With his third-place finish, Hamilton takes the lead in the driver standings with 45 points. AP