Nico Rosberg defended his lead for most of the race, but was under the most pressure during the last ten to fifteen laps. With Lewis Hamilton making a small mistake with big off-track consequences, the Brit was left chasing after his teammate in an attempt to snatch the win. Rosberg held his own to claw back a couple of points in the championship fight, which will go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.

Elsewhere, Daniel Ricciardo's run of points finishes came to an abrupt end with suspension failure during the race, and Romain Grosjean became the second retirement of the afternoon when he pulled off track in the Lotus.

Those having better days included Felipe Massa who finished on the podium to really give the Brazilian fans something to cheer about, and Jenson Button who got a strong points finish as speculation over his career continues.