Mercedes savoured a “historic” moment on Sunday in China after Nico Rosberg blitzed his way to his maiden win at the 111th attempt and the first for the team since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. The German took the chequered flag with a margin of over 20 seconds from the second-placed McLaren of Jenson Button, off-setting the disappointing retirement of team-mate Michael Schumacher, forced out after a pit-lane blunder.
Rosberg’s confident display also comes 111 years after Mercedes’ first win, at the 1901 Nice Speedweeks. The 24-year-old, who pumped his fists as he crossed the finishing line and shouted “easy! easy!”, said when at least a little of the emotion had died down: “This is a very special moment for me. The whole weekend went perfectly. “My first pole position, now my first win in Formula One — it really is fantastic. But it’s not only this; it’s the first win for the new Silver Arrow and for this great team.
That is really special for me.” He added: “I will never forget this race, and the last 20 laps felt as long as if I was racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours! But then crossing the line was so intense. “We will enjoy this success, but our feet are still on the ground. “We are still not where we want to be, we are still working hard to understand the car and the tyres in all conditions, and we will keep pushing to improve our race pace even further.”