Whilst Red Bull initially forecast Ricciardo as catching Rosberg with four laps to go, the Australian was only ever within striking range on the final lap as the German managed his flagging car relative to the Red Bull.
As such, though the winning margin was only 0.4s and potentially one lap shy of a different result, Rosberg held it firm to notch up a third straight win and an eighth of the season.
“With 10 or 15 laps to go, just after the pit stop, the team said that he would be with me at the end of the race, which was the case, so for sure I had to be on it in that last stint and get everything right, nail all those laps and it really worked out with management all the way until the end.
“The tyres lasted just right, so I’m very, very happy of course. At the time I started the last lap I knew that it was going to be enough because Daniel’s tyres weren’t as fresh anymore, by that time it was OK.”
Having suffered with braking issues from the early stages, Rosberg was thrilled to pick up his third lights-to-flag win in as many races, but insists he is not focusing on the title battle – which he now leads by eight points – with six races remaining.
“The brakes were on the limit but we know, that’s expected but it worked out fine. It’s right on the edge, it’s was not easy to manage for the whole race.
“I’m just happy to win the race as that’s what I came here to do, I’m going to celebrate after this, can’t wait to get home and then next stop is Malaysia and I’ll try and repeat that because I’m feeling good at the moment. I’m on a good roll so I am going to try and win Malaysia.”