Nico Rosberg cruised to victory in the first Formula One race held in Azerbaijan on Sunday and increased his championship lead over Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to 24 points.

While the German enjoyed an uneventful drive in the late afternoon sunshine, triple world champion Hamilton worked up a head of steam as he wrestled with his car's ­settings without the team ­being able to help.

The Briton, who had ­sounded increasingly petulant, fixed the problem but finished fifth in a race billed as the European Grand Prix.

Ferrari's Sebastian ­Vettel took second place, 16.6 seconds behind, with Force India's Mexican Sergio Perez in third place after overtaking Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari on the last lap.