2016 Chinese Grand Prix

Championship standings

Nico Rosberg leads Lewis Hamilton by 17 points after maximum scores in the first two races.

Previous race

In Bahrain, Rosberg won from Räikkönen and Hamilton. Hamilton dropped to ninth after first-lap contact with Bottas, who received a drive-through penalty; Hamilton recovered to third. Vettel and Palmer did not make the grid — engine and hydraulics failures, respectively, before the start. On debut, Vandoorne scored a point in tenth for McLaren. Rosberg’s two wins from two starts match the maximum available 50 points.

Between-race developments

The elimination qualifying format is abandoned. The three-period system used between 2006 and 2015 is reintroduced from this race onwards.

Entrants

Fernando Alonso returns to McLaren after missing Bahrain with broken ribs and a pneumothorax sustained in Australia.

Tyres

Pirelli brings the medium, soft and super-soft compounds.

Practice

FP1: Rosberg set the fastest time (1:38.037), 0.146 seconds ahead of Hamilton, with Vettel third. Massa spun in turn six with a deflated left rear tyre, causing an early red flag; the same problem recurred when he returned to the track later. Magnussen suffered a broken suspension after a similar issue, bringing out a second red flag; about thirty minutes of running were lost in total. Hamilton spun twice at turn eleven, reporting brake problems. Rosberg also reported a power unit fault late in the session.

FP2: Ferrari led, with Räikkönen fastest, one tenth ahead of Vettel. The two Mercedes drivers followed. Gutiérrez had his rear brakes catch fire, losing much of the session. Magnussen, after his crash in FP1, did not take part.

FP3 was affected by rain before the session, with the track not drying until midway through. Only 14 drivers set a timed lap, most on intermediate tyres. Vettel set the fastest time (1:57.351), seven tenths ahead of Bottas. Both Mercedes cars took only installation laps. Ericsson spent most of the session in the pit lane with a technical problem.