Nico Rosberg extended his lead over Lewis Hamilton to 36 points after winning the Chinese Grand Prix.
Here, we look at five talking points from Sunday's entertaining race.
1. Tide has turned for Rosberg
Last year in Russia, a deflated Nico Rosberg sat hunched over in the Mercedes motorhome following his retirement from a race which all but secured the title for Lewis Hamilton. With his trainers kicked off, Rosberg rued a season fraught with bad luck. Yet as he heads back to Sochi, the venue for the next round of the championship, the German will be riding on the crest of a wave. Three wins in three this season, and six in a row, stretching back to last term. Luck may have been against Rosberg last season - although, in truth Hamilton was the superior of the two Mercedes drivers - but the same cannot be said this term. Rosberg's protagonists fell one by one in China to afford the German an easy victory.
2. Hamilton has a mountain to climb
The triple world champion is the one suffering from a large dose of bad luck so far this season. The Briton now faces one of the sternest tests of his career to reel Rosberg back in, with the gap now standing at 36 points. Hamilton was accused of being a sore loser in the formative years of his grand prix career, but the 31-year-old has been magnanimous in defeat in 2016.
"These things happen, and they're sent to try us, " said Hamilton.
"Of course it's not a great feeling, and I don't sit here with an amazing feeling, but I have the utmost confidence in this team that we will recover."
3. Rosberg revels in joy of six
Following his victory in Shanghai, Rosberg joined an elite group of drivers to win six consecutive races. Only Alberto Ascari, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel can lay claim to having won as many grands prix on the spin. Rosberg also became the first driver since Damon Hill to win the opening three races of the season, a feat which has now happened on 10 occasions, and of the previous nine, the driver in question has won the world championship. It was a statistic put to Rosberg after the race.
"Yes, but they didn't have Lewis Hamilton as their team-mate," he barked back.
4. Racing not rowing takes centre stage
How refreshing not to spend a grand prix weekend talking about Formula One's off-track politics. With the topic of qualifying no longer an issue, after the unpopular elimination-style format was ditched, and Hamilton and the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen blasting back through the field after their respective first-corner incidents, a thrilling race ensued. But as the deadline approaches for a decision on next year's regulations, expect politics to be back on the menu in Russia.
5. Vettel should be more embarrassed than angry
Vettel took aim at Daniil Kvyat after he blamed the Russian for causing his first-corner prang with team-mate Raikkonen. Vettel described Kvyat's move as "suicidal" and one of a "mad man" over the team radio before having it out with Kvyat prior to the podium celebrations. It is worth noting that the stewards did not even bother to investigate the incident. So, why was Vettel so annoyed? One theory is that the four-time champion was merely a tad embarrassed for tripping over his team-mate with Sergio Marchionne, chairman of Ferrari, watching on from the team's garage.
Source: PA
