Rosberg led away from pole and looked comfortable throughout Sunday afternoon's race, with the main point of interest after the first corner being the tactical battle between Mercedes team-mate Hamilton and Ferrari's Vettel. The victory is Rosberg's first since the Brazilian Grand Prix last year and narrows Hamilton's championship lead to 20 points.
The final margin of victory over his team-mate was 17 seconds, while Vettel was a massive 45 seconds behind - just three seconds closer than the third-placed car was behind Mercedes at the same race in 2014.
Hamilton appeared to get away slowly on the formation lap and struggled again with the real thing, allowing Sebastian Vettel to beat him on the run down to Turn 1. It turned out to be the most crucial moment of the race as it allowed Rosberg to build a lead in the early stages while Hamilton found himself stuck behind Vettel and unable to get close enough to pass, even with DRS. By lap 13 Mercedes reacted, pitting Hamilton for fresh mediums in an attempt to undercut the German in front, but a problem with the world champion's left rear cost him vital time at the pit stop. Vettel would emerge 1.5s ahead of Hamilton the following lap.
Much of the early action involved the DRS and the main straight. The Toro Rossos had been the stars of qualifying but were soon going backwards and were sitting ducks to the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. Pastor Maldonado, at the circuit where he claimed his maiden race win in 2012, was in fine form at the start of the race, and soon dispatched both Toro Rossos in the DRS zone.
The Venezuelan was then hit in the rear by team-mate Romain Grosjean on the third lap while they vied for position at Turn 3 and sustained damage to his rear wing endplate. Lotus' solution was to rip off the broken piece and send him on his way at his first pit stop, but Maldonado ended up retiring on lap 43.
In the battle for second, Hamilton unsuccessfully launched another attack on Vettel before Mercedes called him into the pits on lap 33 for hard tyres. The fact Ferrari did not react by pitting Vettel suggested the German was staying on a two-stop strategy, while it looked like Hamilton would have to stop again.
Hamilton moved up to second on lap 41 when Vettel pitted for new tyres, before he inherited the lead on lap 48 when Rosberg made his second stop of the afternoon.
However, by that point the Englishman's main focus was building enough of a gap to emerge from his final stop ahead of Vettel. Hamilton's final stop on lap 51 was a tidy one and he emerged comfortably clear of Vettel, who took to the radio to complain "we lost too much time in traffic".
Hamilton was soon asking Mercedes about victory but had a mighty 18-second deficit to Rosberg with 15 laps remaining. He had the benefit of new option tyres but did not appear to have enough pace or laps in hand.
Mercedes soon told him it was "impossible" and suggested he consolidated the position, which he seemed happy to do. In the battle for fourth, Raikkonen had reeled in fellow countryman Valtteri Bottas. However, much like team-mate Vettel in Bahrain, Raikkonen could not find a way past, even with the benefit of DRS, and had to settle for fifth behind the man linked with his seat for next season.
In the closing laps there was applause along the main straight as Carlos Sainz powered past team-mate Max Verstappen thanks to DRS. On the final lap Sainz barged his way around the outside of Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat, with the two men making contact through Turn 1. Kvyat held the inside line and forced the Spaniard across the rumble strips, but the Toro Rosso rookie still finished the lap and the race ahead, something which the FIA confirmed was under investigation after the chequered flag fell.
It proved to be an afternoon to forget for McLaren. Fernando Alonso enjoyed a great start and was in the points by his first pit stop, thanks in part to some fantastic tyre management, but in his second stint it quickly became apparent he had a brake issue when he ran wide at Turn 1.
He pitted the following lap but his car failed to stop at the mark, sending the jack flying after the mechanic only just jumped out of the way in time. Jenson Button's race was far from smooth either, complaining early that "the rear is gone", before suffering from wheelspin every time he hit the throttle. Button ended up finishing ahead of the Manors in 16th.
It proved to be a bad day for front-jack pit crew members in general, with Romain Grosjean nearly flattening his own later in the race. The mechanic was uninjured and there followed a moment of light relief when the FOM cameras captured the smiling team member holding an ice pack over a rather delicate body part.
Here are the results of the race:
1. Nico Rosberg (GER / Mercedes) 1hr 41min 12.555sec
2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR / Mercedes) at 17.551sec
3. Sebastian Vettel (GER / Ferrari) 45 342
4. Valtteri Bottas (FIN / Williams) 59 217
5. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN / Ferrari) 1: 00 002
6. Felipe Massa (BRA / Williams) 1: 21 314
7. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS / Red Bull) 1 lap
8. Romain Grosjean (FRA / Lotus) 1 lap
9. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP / Toro Rosso) 1 lap
10. Daniil Kvyat (RUS / Red Bull) 1 lap
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