Carroll could only manage to finish a disappointing 21st after his race was blighted by first a spin and then a puncture, which saw him finish two laps down on winner Rosberg.

The Super Nova driver’s failure to pick up any points in race one today means he concedes second place in the championship to Rosberg and slips to third.

Rosberg pulled away well at the start to lead from Kovalainen with Carroll up in third.

The order stayed the same until lap 15, when Rosberg and Kovalainen made their first pit-stops with Carroll taking temporary charge of the race.

Carroll soon slipped down the order to fourth after making his visit to the pits as he returned to the race behind Premat.

The Ulsterman could not make any ground on his French rival in his bid to make the podium before he suffered a spin on lap 30 which dropped him down to fifth behind Scott Speed.

Disaster then struck for Carroll towards the end as he picked up a puncture to finish up 21st. Scotland’s Ryan Sharp also failed to finish.

Frenchman Alexandre Premat hauled his way back up the order to finish third, after being forced to drop 10 places on the starting grid to 14th due to a penalty handed to him in race two at Magny Cours last weekend.

Nelson Piquet junior, who had qualified second yesterday, failed to start the race as officials retrieved his car from the grass before the chequered flag had been raised.