Nico Rosberg of Mercedes escaped unscathed from a wild first lap at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, and then showed why he's the driver to beat this year in Formula One.
Rosberg started on pole position and led nearly the entire race by a wide margin to extend his perfect start to the season with a third consecutive win and his sixth straight dating back to last season. He becomes just the fourth driver in F1 history to win six straight races, joining Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Alberto Ascari.
Vettel, who collided with Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen at the first corner of the chaotic opening lap, finished 37.7 seconds behind Rosberg in second place, while Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat used an aggressive race strategy to take third only the second podium of the 21-year-old's career.
Every driver who has started an F1 season with three straight wins has gone on to win title that year. Rosberg now has a 36-point lead over Mercedes teammate and reigning champion lewis Hamilton in drivers' standing.
It was a weekend to forget for Hamilton. First, he got a five-place grid penalty for an early gearbox change and then he was forced to start the race in the back row after an engine problem on Saturday. To make matters worse, he also got tangled up in first-corner accident between Vettel and Raikkonen on Sunday, losing a front wing and a 7th-place finish.
Vettel worked his way through the field after the collision by running his first 16 laps on super-soft tires to claim a creditable second.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo led the race initially after getting off the line better than Rosberg, but he suffered a puncture on lap three and finished fourth for the third straight race. Raikkonen finished fifth after having been knocked to the back of the field by the collision with Vettel.
Bad day for Force India
Sahara Force India had a disappointing outing at the Chinese Grand Prix here as Sergio Perez (11th place) and Nico Hulkenberg (15th) failed to register any points for the side for second consecutive race.