The teams, also known as constructors, were Red Bull Racing, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Lotus, McLaren, Force India, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Williams, Marussia and Caterham.

[3] The drag reduction system (DRS) had two activation zones for the race; one was on the start/finish straight from the final to first corners, and the second from turns 1 and 2.

Marussia changed one of their MR03 chassis for Max Chilton following balance and electrical issues that arose during the Austrian Grand Prix.

[5] Williams introduced a small wing section, aimed at increasing the amount of downforce, and therefore grip, produced by the bodywork.

Chilton's Marussia car was afflicted by an oil leak, resulting in a fire;[9] this restricted him to completing only five timed laps, and he was 21st overall.

During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, which necessitated each driver set a time within 107% of the quickest lap to qualify for the race.

Hamilton's car caught fire during qualifying before he could post a time, and so he started the race from the back row.

[15] At the start of the race, Nico Rosberg led into the first corner, while Valtteri Bottas overtook Sebastian Vettel on the outside of turn one to take second position.

By lap 9, Rosberg had pulled out an advantage over the field and Hamilton had made his way up to 13th, but a crash by Marcus Ericsson meant that the safety car was deployed.

McLaren's decision to put him on a second set of intermediates at his first stop had cost him greatly and he rejoined down the order in 16th.

On lap 23 Pérez spun at the final corner and crashed into the pit wall, meaning that Force India had suffered their first double retirement of the season.

On lap 33 Rosberg pitted for softs from third and rejoined in 13th, while Vettel spun at the final corner – in the same place as Perez did – but miraculously managed to avoid contact with the wall.

[17] Race-leader Ricciardo and Rosberg pitted for soft tyres on laps 54 and 56 respectively, rejoining in fourth and seventh.

Massa and Räikkönen were fifth and sixth while Vettel and Bottas were only seventh and eighth after starting second and third (resulting in Ferrari overtaking Williams for third).

[15] The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies, and were interviewed by a selected media delegate before the subsequent press conference.

[19] Upon analysing Hamilton's car after the race, Mercedes discovered that the fuel pressure issue had led to a considerable loss in engine power shortly after his second pitstop on lap 40.