With Nico Rosberg retiring early in the race, Sebastian Vettel reclaimed second place in the standings for the first time since his round two victory in Malaysia with a second-place finish.

[5] Jolyon Palmer replaced Romain Grosjean for Lotus for Friday's first free practice session for the tenth time this season.

[6] Fernando Alonso began the weekend's event knowing he would start from the back of the grid due to a number of penalties incurred for changing engine parts.

Alonso's McLaren teammate Jenson Button had to continue using the old-specification engine at this race as Honda only had one of the upgraded power units available.

[8] Going into the weekend, Lewis Hamilton led the Drivers' Championship with a 48-point advantage over teammate Rosberg, with Sebastian Vettel another eleven points behind in third.

Both Lotus and Marussia did not run at all, while Fernando Alonso ran the most number of laps with twelve, following an engine change.

[12] The third practice session on Saturday saw limited running as well, as training was halted due to a massive 46g crash by Carlos Sainz Jr.

Also eliminated were Pastor Maldonado, Jenson Button, Felipe Nasr, and Daniil Kvyat, the latter two being bettered by a late fast lap from Max Verstappen.

[17] Carlos Sainz was cleared to race albeit not setting a time in qualifying, being allowed to start from the back of the grid.

[20] On lap 10, Pastor Maldonado moved ahead of Jenson Button to take tenth, while Hamilton was extending his lead over second placed Bottas.

A second safety car phase occurred on lap 12, when Romain Grosjean lost the back of his Lotus in turn 3 and crashed into the barriers.

Carlos Sainz crossed the white line when exiting pit lane, receiving a five-second penalty to be served at his second stop.

This allowed Sebastian Vettel to make up time by staying out longer, eventually emerging from his pit stop ahead of Bottas on lap 31.

On lap 37, Räikkönen used the Drag Reduction System (DRS) to move ahead of Bottas for fifth place, only for the Williams driver to retake the position in the next corner.

[19][20] An early pit stop during the safety car phase had put Sergio Pérez up into third place, with Daniel Ricciardo behind in fourth.

At the front, Vettel moved closer to Hamilton due to the latter suffering from a compromised rear wing, probably caused by rubber debris in the slot gap.

[19][20][21] Räikkönen was demoted from fifth to eighth place for causing the final lap collision with Bottas and scored only four points rather than ten, and this secured the constructors championship for Mercedes.

McLaren driver Fernando Alonso was given a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, promoting Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen to tenth.

[22] When asked about the collision with Bottas at the press conference for the following United States Grand Prix, Kimi Räikkönen remained unrepentant, saying: "[My view] hasn't changed.

[27] After the race, Sebastian Vettel criticised Lewis Hamilton for what he believed was excessive low speed at the restart after the safety car period, calling his behaviour "ridiculous".

"[28] Following his 46G impact on Saturday, Carlos Sainz conceded that he felt "a bit of dizziness" in the early stages of the Grand Prix, though he added: "But after lap 10 it went off and I could push normally without problems.

[31] In the Drivers' Standings, Lewis Hamilton's lead over second place grew to 66 points, with his closest challenger now being Sebastian Vettel.