Nico Rosberg secured a maiden Grand Prix victory as he produced a superb front-running display to take the chequered flag at the Shanghai International Circuit in China.
Starting from pole position, Rosberg pulled away from the chasing pack - led by his team-mate Michael Schumacher - and only relinquished the lead in the pit stops.
Despite concerns about Mercedes' tyre wear, Rosberg needed just two stops to win his first grand prix by 20.6s over Jenson Button, who fought his way back from a pit stop error.
Button's McLaren mechanics struggled to attach his left rear in his second stop, costing the Brit dearly as he dropped well down the order.
However, Button gave it his all and used his three-stop strategy - and better tyres late in the race - to finish second, taking the position off Sebastian Vettel with four laps to go.
Vettel, who had started 11th before dropping to 14th at the end of the first lap, had looked on course for a podium finish before losing out to Button and then, on the penultimate lap, to Lewis Hamilton.
On the final lap of the 56 his team-mate Mark Webber heaped even more woe on Vettel's shoulders, taking fourth off the German.
Button wasn't the only driver to have pit stop bungles as Schumacher retired on lap 13 after Mercedes failed to put his front right wheel nut on forcing the German to park his car.
It was an intriguing grand prix as when it was boring it was processional. But when it was exciting - ala Mark Webber and Hamilton or Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado or Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez or the final 10 laps - it was extremely exciting.
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS The Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai, China; 56 laps; 305.066km; Weather: Dry. Classified: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Rosberg Mercedes 1h36:26.929 2. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 20.626 3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 26.012 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 27.924 5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 30.483 6. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 31.491 7. Senna Williams-Renault + 34.597 8. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 35.643 9. Alonso Ferrari + 37.256 10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 38.720 11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 41.066 12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 42.273 13. Massa Ferrari + 42.700 14. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 50.500 15. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 51.200 16. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 51.700 17. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:03.100 18. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap 19. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap 20. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap 21. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth + 1 lap 22. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps 23. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 3 laps Fastest lap: Kobayashi, 1:39.960 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Schumacher Mercedes 16 World Championship standings, round 3: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Hamilton 45 1. McLaren-Mercedes 88 2. Button 43 2. Red Bull-Renault 64 3. Alonso 37 3. Ferrari 37 4. Webber 36 4. Sauber-Ferrari 31 5. Vettel 28 5. Mercedes 26 6. Rosberg 25 6. Lotus-Renault 24 7. Perez 22 7. Williams-Renault 18 8. Raikkonen 16 8. Force India-Mercedes 9 9. Senna 14 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6 10. Kobayashi 9 11. Grosjean 8 12. Di Resta 7 13. Vergne 4 14. Maldonado 4 15. Ricciardo 2 16. Hulkenberg 2 17. Schumacher 1 All timing unofficial
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