European Grand Prix: Rosberg back on top unchallenged

After a three race victory drought, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg cruised unchallenged to victory in the European Grand Prix, held for the first time at the Baku Street Circuit in Azerbaijan to turn the championship tide and stretch his lead over Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton to 24 points.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finished as runner-up, 16.6 seconds behind, with Force India's Sergio Perez back on the podium for the second time this season after overtaking Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari on the last lap.

Rosberg started on pole position, led all the way and also set the fastest lap on his way to a fifth win in eight races this season. With 13 races remaining, he has 141 points and Hamilton 117.

The German said afterwards on the podium, “It has been an amazing day and an amazing weekend – it has been spectacular. You created a great track, it was really exciting racing. Qualifying went all to plan, it was awesome. No concerns, we went flat out.”

Vettel chased hard all afternoon but Ferrari simply had no answer to the Silver Arrows on a track which combined high speed sections with tight twisty bits this weekend.

The Ferrari driver summed up his afternoon, “It’s the first time here and I didn’t know what to expect but it’s been a great track. The circuit is incredible – you need to be well equipped around here. The car is coming along. I think people lost a lot of money because they were betting on a safety car – I was expecting a couple too.”

Kimi Raikkonen was fourth despite incurring a five seconds penalty for a pit lane white line infringement and enduring frustrating race.

Splitting the reds and claiming the final podium spot was Sergio Perez, who once again shone for Force India, by taking third place and proving that his qualifying form 24 hours earlier was no fluke.

Perez reflected, “We had a great qualifying and we had to make our way through. I was fighting with Kimi all the way to the end, I knew he had a five-second penalty, but it was very nice to get past him. When I saw the opportunity, and there was no risk, I went for it.”

While Rosberg's cruise in the late afternoon sunshine turned out to be something of a snooze for the global television audience, triple world champion Hamilton provided more entertainment.

The Briton, who had been chasing his third win in a row but finished fifth, sounded increasingly frustrated over the radio as he wrestled with his car's settings without the team being able to help.

He fixed the problem but finished fifth in a race billed as the European Grand Prix.

"This is ridiculous guys, I don't know. I'm looking at my dash every five seconds trying to find a switch in the wrong position," Hamilton said over the team radio.

"I might not finish this race as I'm going to try and change everything," he continued. "We don't advise that Lewis," came the reply from the pitwall, with teams now limited on what information they can give drivers during the race.

"Can I make suggestions and you say if it's OK or not?," replied Hamilton. "No, that's not allowed. Let's just get our heads down and focus on the job," he was told.

The Mercedes team's non-executive chairman Niki Lauda told reporters afterwards that it was a question of engine modes.

"It was a problem they both had and Nico could fix it quicker than Lewis. The (radio) ban is there, so we all have to adapt," he told Sky Sports.

Raikkonen, who had done as he was told and allowed Vettel to pass him, expressed similar exasperation over the radio to Ferrari.

The outbursts were highlights on a day with none of the mayhem predicted after a series of accidents in the GP2 support series, in F1 practice and qualifying.

Nobody crashed, the tight turns around the ancient city walls were safely negotiated by all and the 350km blast down the long main straight produced no drama.

"I think people lost a lot of money because they were betting on a safety car. I was expecting a couple too," said Vettel.

Finland's Valtteri Bottas finished sixth for Williams, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo seventh for Red Bull after starting on the front row.

Dutch team mate Max Verstappen was eighth, Germany's Nico Hulkenberg secured a double points finish for Force India in ninth and Brazilian Felipe Massa was 10th for Williams.