Nico Rosberg and Mercedes fly through Shanghai

What a fantastic race weekend that was! Nico Rosberg brought Mercedes Benz's first victory since 1955 under their own banner with an absolutely blistering drive at the 2012 UBS Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix. He finished the race almost 20 seconds ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton who claimed 2nd and 3rd position on the podium. Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel rounded up the top 5. Rosberg, son of former World Champion Keke Rosberg had a mostly solitary race but the battle for 2nd was down to the wire. The different pit stop strategies (2 stop vs. 3 stop) all came to a head during the last 5 laps of the race with several position changes occurring across the track. The every driver using every possible option available (tires, DRS, KERS) to them to gain the slightest advantage, the race was the most exciting one we have seen in a while. Aside from first place, all the other positions were only decided on the final lap.

With his third 3rd place finish of the season, Lewis Hamilton now leads the Driver's Championship. The current driver's standings are as follows:

1. Lewis Hamilton: 45
2. Jenson Button: 43
3. Fernando Alonso: 37
4. Mark Webber: 36
5. Sebastian Vettel: 28
6. Nico Rosberg: 25
7. Sergio Perez: 22
8. Kimi Räikkönen: 16
9. Bruno Senna: 14
10. Kamui Kobayashi: 9

McLaren's 2nd and 3rd place finish also means they extend their leads in the Constructors Championship. We can now look forward to the 2012 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir to be held next weekend. Boy, what a season this is turning out to be!