SHANGHAI, China -- Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday for his first career Formula One victory, gambling on a two-stop strategy and managing to hold off the rest of the field on worn tires. Rosberg, who also captured his first pole on Saturday, finished 20.6 seconds ahead of McLaren driver Jenson Button. "Its an unbelievable feeling," said the 26-year-old German, who was competing in his 111th F1 race. "Its been a long time coming for me, and for the team as well over the past two years and a bit. Now its finally here." It was Mercedes first Formula One victory since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. Mercedes pulled out of F1 shortly after that victory and didnt return as a contructor until it bought out Brawn GP at the end of 2009. "Its just nice to see how quickly we are now progressing," Rosberg said. "I didnt expect to be that fast today." Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was third, followed by the Red Bull duo of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel in fourth and fifth. Vettel started 11th on the grid and at one stage moved up to second, but the two-time defending world champion couldnt hold off Button, Hamilton and Webber in the closing stages. Rosbergs teammate, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, had also been expecting to perform well after finishing third in qualifying and moving up to the front row when Hamilton, who qualified second, was penalized for a gearbox change. But the German retired on the 13th lap after his right front wheel was improperly fitted during his first pit stop. With his third third-place finish of the season, Hamilton took the lead in the driver standings with 45 points, two ahead of Button. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari is third with 37 points, followed by Webber (36) and Vettel (28). Rosberg rose to sixth with 25. McLaren leads the constructor standings with 88 points, followed by Red Bull with 64 and Ferrari on 37. For Mercedes, the victory is evidence it has remedied the quick tire degradation problem that led to disappointing results in the first two races of the year. Rosberg and Schumacher have been fast in qualifying this season but failed to keep up with other teams when it mattered in the races. Mercedes is also the third different team to win a race this year, following Buttons victory at the Australian GP for McLaren and Fernando Alonsos win at the Malaysian GP for Ferrari. The 2011 constructors champion, Red Bull, is still looking for its first win. Rosberg drove just one lap in the final session of qualifying to preserve his tires, and said an improved setup helped take the pressure off his tires on Sunday to allow his teams strategy to pay off. "Before the race, that was our plan," he said. "The tires lasted for exactly the amount of laps that we were hoping for, so it all just went to plan." Rosberg also benefited from a sloppy pit stop by Button at the end of the 39th lap when he lost several crucial seconds and came out of the pit behind a pack of drivers. As Button jockeyed with Vettel, Webber, Hamilton and Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean for position, Rosberg was able to widen his lead to 25 seconds and coast to victory. "I stopped on the marks (in the pits) and we had a problem with the rear of the car, so I was stuck there for nine or 10 seconds," Button said. "It was a pity because when I exited the pits I had four cars in front of me, cars that I wouldnt have been racing, and I would have had a nice clear track to hopefully hunt down Nico." The battle for the minor places featured wheel-to-wheel racing with Button and Hamilton eventually coming out on top in the closing laps. The final stages witnessed a spectacular collapse by Raikkonen, who also only pitted twice in the race but was unable to hold his place as his tires slowly gave out. The Finn dropped from second to sixth on the 48th lap and then slipped to 12th on the next lap before eventually finishing 14th. As Raikkonen fell down the order, Vettel took second and looked to be headed for the podium after a disastrous performance in qualifying left him in 11th position on the starting grid. But his intermediate tires also started to wear out after a two-pit strategy, allowing the McLarens to catch him. Button slipped by the German on the inside of a hairpin turn in the 51st lap, and Hamilton and Webber followed in the closing laps. "I had no tires left at the end of the race," Vettel said. Schumacher had been hoping for his first podium finish since his comeback in 2010 after posting solid times in practice this week on the Shanghai circuit. Instead, he retired from a race for the second time this season. In Melbourne, he ran wide over the grass at the first turn and was forced to quit soon after with a gear problem. Mercedes was fined $6,540 after Sundays race for the unsafe release from the pits. "I dont have any hard feelings," he said. "I feel a bit sorry for one of my boys that I guess he feels responsible, but its part of the game." Nick Foligno Jersey . -- San Francisco Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro says he will begin the season on the disabled list. RJ Umberger Authentic Jersey . -- Eric Winston was elected president of the NFL Players Association on Wednesday, three years after he was active for the union during the lockout. http://www.hockeybluejacketsjerseysshop.com/White-James-Wisniewski-Jersey/. Make that 2-40 now. Tony Gwynn Jr. led off the ninth with a walk against Miami closer Steve Cishek and later scored, Ben Revere added the go-ahead run when Miami second baseman Donovan Solano bobbled a potential double-play grounder and the Phillies rallied past the Marlins 5-4 Thursday night to snap a six-game losing streak. Sergei Bobrovsky Authentic Jersey . The solutions? Not so much. Given an extra week to stew over the worst start in 45 years, Tomlin is tweaking the lineup hoping to find a spark that will help his team begin the long road back to respectability. Brandon Dubinsky Authentic Jersey . Fortunately for the Ragin Cajuns, they had Corey Trim to make a game-changing play on defence. Trim returned an interception 82 yards for a touchdown, Hunter Stover hit a go-ahead 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, and Louisiana-Lafayette held off Tulane 24-21 on Saturday night for its third straight New Orleans Bowl victory.NEW YORK -- The hang time is over for Ray Guy. The longtime punter for the Oakland Raiders is all by himself once again. After waiting 23 years, Guy is the first punter elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "Good things are worth waiting for," Guy said Saturday night after being elected along with six other players. "Its just a matter of time when it will show up. And I knew it would, sooner or later. It had to, whether it was me or somebody down the road. But sooner or later, it had to show up, because that is a part of a football game." Defensive end Michael Strahan, receiver Andre Reed, defensive back Aeneas Williams and defensive end Claude Humphrey also were part of the class of 2014. Two first-time eligible players, linebacker Derrick Brooks and offensive tackle Walter Jones, were selected. The announcement was made at the NFL Honors award show, less than 24 hours before the Denver Broncos take on the Seattle Seahawks in the first Super Bowl. Among the finalists who didnt get in were two with ties to the Indianapolis Colts and current Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning -- coach Tony Dungy and receiver Marvin Harrison. Each incoming Hall of Famer walked to the stage and was announced individually. Strahan, who helped the Giants make two Super Bowls, got a huge cheer from the home crowd. Induction will be on Aug. 1 in Canton, Ohio. Guy turned the punting job into a defensive weapon after he became the first player at his position to be selected in the first round of the draft in 1973. He made "hang time" part of the football vernacular while playing all of his 207 games in 14 seasons with the Raiders. The Southern Mississippi product averaged 42.4 yards for his career. Only three of his 1,049 punts were blocked, and he had 209 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. "Its gratifying to now see a punter go into the Hall of Fame," Guy said, who joins Jan Stenerud as the only kickers enshrined . "Whether it was me or somebody else, they needed representation in that position." Brooks was the cornerstone of a Bucs defence that led the league in 2002 and 05, and the NFC five times. He was The Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year when Tampa Bay won its only Super Bowl after the 2002 season. The linebacker never missed a game in his 14 seasons and averaged a remarkable 146 tackles. Six of his 25 interceptions were returned for touchdowns, including a league-record three in 02. Seattle certainly got a winner when it moved up to the No. 6 spot in the 1997 draft to take Jones. He immediately provided blindside protection for Warren Moon and quickly became the first Seahawks lineman to earn a Pro Bowl spot. He was one of the chief road graders who helped Shaun Alexander rush for 266 yards in a 2001 game -- the fourth-highest total in NFL history -- andd then rush for a team-record 1,880 yards and 28 TDs in his MVP season in 2005.dddddddddddd "Coming into the league all I wanted to do was get here, and ... say I could play this game," Jones said. "For me to be here now, and for my team that I started with and finished with, to be here in the Super Bowl is just like the icing on the cake." Strahan set the NFL record for sacks in a single season, getting 22 1/2 in 2001. The one most people remember is the record-setter in the final game of the regular season, when Green Bays Brett Favre seemed to lay down on a play late in the game. While there is controversy about that play, the gap-toothed Strahan was one of the top two-way defensive ends. Younger teammates said he taught them how to work to become NFL players, and he walked away from the NFL after winning the Super Bowl in February 2008. "Its hard to find guys with everything, but this guy had everything . size, speed, power, toughness, endurance, motor, smarts, leadership, heart, love for the game, but what I admired most about Michael was his pride," Giants general Jerry Reese said. "No matter what the circumstances were, when he walked out on that field on Sunday, he was going to give it ALL to you. There arent many guys who can say that." Reed came out of little Kutztown (Pa.) University and played his first 15 seasons with Buffalo, getting to four Super Bowls, but never winning one. His final season was with Washington. His 951 career receptions are third in league history, highlighted by nine consecutive seasons of 50-plus catches. Long before people spoke about yards after the catch, Reed was doing it. He finished with 13,198 yards and 87 touchdowns. "Having to wait this long for him is a sin, but the bottom line is hes in and thats what counts," former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly said of Reeds nine-year wait to get into the Hall. A walk-on at Southern University, Williams was a shutdown cornerback in his 14 NFL seasons, the first 10 with the Cardinals and the last four with the Rams. He had 55 career interceptions, getting at least one in every season except his last. He had five or more in picks in six seasons, with nine being his best in 1994. Williams spent his last four seasons with St. Louis. He started at cornerback for the Rams in the 2001 Super Bowl and played safety in his final two seasons. The Hall of Fame doors finally opened for Humphrey on his 28th year of eligibility and his fifth as a finalist. The durable six-time Pro Bowl pick had 122 career sacks in 14 seasons with the Falcons and Eagles, who acquired him after a brief retirement in the 1978 season. "I never really gave up hope," said Humphrey, whose only regret was his wife died in July and didnt get to see his election. "I always figured there was a place for me here." cheap jerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
