2016 Formula One World Championship

The 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 70th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ( FIA )'s Formula One motor racing. It featured the 67th Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which is recognised by the sport's governing body, the FIA, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Teams and drivers took part in twenty-one Grands Prix —making for the longest season in the sport's history to that point—sta...

The 2016 season saw the grid expand to twenty-two cars with the addition of the Haas F1 Team entry. [ 2 ] Renault returned to the sport as a constructor after a four-year absence following their takeover of Lotus prior to the start of the season. [ 3 ] The calendar similarly expanded, with the return of the German Grand Prix . The European Grand Prix was also revived, with the event visiting a new circuit in Azerbaijan 's capital city, Baku . [ 1 ]

Nico Rosberg won his only World Drivers' Championship title in the final race of the season. With nine wins and seven other podiums, Rosberg beat teammate and defending World Champion Lewis Hamilton by five points, ending Hamilton's 2 year dominance. In doing so, Rosberg followed the success of his father in 1982 - becoming the second son of a champion to become champion himself, a feat previously achieved by Damon Hill in 1996 and the third title winner for Mercedes. Rosberg announced his retir...

In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes successfully defended their title for the second consecutive year, beating Red Bull Racing by 297 points. Ferrari finished third overall, a further seventy points behind. [ 4 ]

As of 2024, this is the last championship for a German driver . This was the last season to be held during Bernie Ecclestone 's tenure as Chief Executive of the Formula One Group . Ecclestone would be removed from his role on 23 January 2017 after nearly 40 years in the job following Liberty Media 's purchase of the sport from CVC Capital Partners . [ 5 ] It was the final full season for 2009 World Champion Jenson Button , who would only make one more Grand Prix appearance at the 2017 Monaco Gra...

The following teams and drivers took part in the 2016 Formula One World Championship. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli .

Five drivers drove in free practice sessions in place of regular drivers.

Both Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso underwent changes regarding their power unit supply. The former formally ended their nine-year partnership with engine supplier Renault at the end of the 2015 season, [ 24 ] with the team citing the lack of performance from the Renault Energy-F1 2015 engine as a leading factor in the change. [ 25 ] The team continued using Renault engines, but they were rebadged as TAG Heuer . Team principal Christian Horner named Renault's partnership with Mario Illi...

Marussia applied for their team name to be changed to Manor Racing , a request granted in January 2016. [ 30 ] The team adopted the formal name of "Manor Racing MRT" and switched from Ferrari to Mercedes power, [ 31 ] with the team upgrading to a 2016-specification engine after having used a year-old Ferrari engine in 2015. [ 32 ] The team underwent a management reshuffle following the resignation of team principal John Booth and sporting director Graeme Lowdon . [ 33 ]

Sauber underwent a change in ownership in the week prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix , with the team being purchased by Longbow Finance. Despite the acquisition and the retirement of team founder Peter Sauber , the team continued to use the Sauber identity. [ 34 ]

The driver line-ups saw a couple of changes prior to the 2016 season and three more while the season was underway. Romain Grosjean left Lotus at the end of the 2015 season. [ 35 ] He signed with the newly formed Haas F1 Team for 2016, [ 36 ] [ 37 ] where he was joined by former Sauber driver Esteban Gutiérrez . Gutiérrez returned to competition after spending a season as Ferrari's test and reserve driver. [ 38 ]

After having taken over the Lotus team, Renault introduced a new driver-line up. Jolyon Palmer , the 2014 GP2 Series champion, made his race debut in Melbourne . [ 39 ] Palmer had previously made regular free practice appearances with the team when it was known as Lotus in 2015. [ 40 ] Despite originally having signed a contract with Lotus for 2016, [ 41 ] Pastor Maldonado announced he would not be driving for Renault after his sponsors were unable to fulfil their contractual obligations to the ...

Manor did not retain their 2015 drivers either, opting to sign two rookies for its 2016 campaign: reigning Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champion Pascal Wehrlein and GP2 Series regular Rio Haryanto , who became the first Indonesian driver to race in the championship. [ 45 ] Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi —who drove for the team when it competed as Marussia—were not retained by the team. Both moved to the FIA World Endurance Championship with Manor Motorsport , [ 46 ] [ 47 ] [ N 3 ] while Alexande...

After suffering broken ribs and a pneumothorax injury as a result of an accident during the Australian Grand Prix , Fernando Alonso was ruled out of the Bahrain Grand Prix as a precaution after medical exams. [ 50 ] McLaren reserve driver and reigning GP2 Series champion Stoffel Vandoorne made his Formula One debut, replacing Alonso. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Alonso returned to his seat for the Chinese Grand Prix two weeks later. Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen traded places ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix ...

Cars were required to be designed with a separate wastegate for exhaust gases to pass through in a bid to increase the noise of the cars following criticism since the introduction of the 2014 generation of engines . [ 71 ] The FIA also opted to increase the number of tokens available for power unit development starting in 2016. While the initial plans would have given manufacturers fifteen tokens for the season, the number was raised to thirty-two, the same number as 2014, in order to allow stru...

Tyre supplier Pirelli introduced a fifth dry tyre compound known as "ultrasoft", [ 75 ] with the manufacturer stating that they would only be available on street circuits. [ 76 ] Pirelli further changed their approach to tyre supply in 2016, bringing three dry compounds to races instead of two. The compounds are made public two weeks before each event. [ 77 ] [ 78 ] Pirelli assigns two "choice" compounds, and a third set (the softest available regardless of Pirelli's selection) are given to team...

The stewards were given greater powers in enforcing track limits, with drivers required to stay between the white lines marking the edges of the circuit, except in cases of driver error. [ 71 ] Any driver who caused the start of a race to be aborted would have been required to start the race from pit lane at the restart. [ 71 ] The procedure for issuing gearbox penalties was amended as well, so that penalties were applied in the order that they were awarded, bringing the system in line with the ...

The usage of the Virtual Safety Car system was expanded to practice sessions as well to avoid the unnecessary use of red flags and session stoppages. [ 77 ] The rules governing the use of the drag reduction system , which is deactivated when under Virtual Safety Car periods and full-course yellow flags, were also amended. Drivers were now allowed to make use of the device as soon as a Virtual Safety Car period has ended; [ 77 ] while they previously had to wait two laps before the system was rea...

The stewards' powers to monitor pit-to-car communications were broadened for the 2016 season, with race control able to monitor the radio feeds for each driver in real time and consult with engineering advisors to further monitor the content in a bid to crack down on driver coaching and the use of coded messages. [ 85 ] Following a series of controversial penalties at the British and Hungarian Grands Prix and extended debate over the application of the rules, however, the FIA relaxed the restric...

The process new drivers go through in order to qualify for a superlicence was changed as well, [ 87 ] with additional restrictions—including the requirement that drivers complete eighty percent of two seasons from a series outside a recognised points-paying championship [ 88 ] —put in place as part of the wider FIA Global Pathway . [ 89 ] [ 90 ] The new points system was retroactively applied, with all results for all eligible drivers automatically qualifying for superlicence points. [ 88 ] The ...

For the second year in a row, Hamilton decided not to exercise his option of switching his car number to 1, as was his prerogative as reigning World Champion, and would instead race with his career number 44. [ 15 ] A pre-season tyre test was held at Circuit Paul Ricard in France in January, conducted by Pirelli to evaluate their wet weather tyres. [ 91 ] The first pre-season team test was held a month later at the Circuit de Catalunya. [ 92 ] Ferrari were fastest on three of the four testing da...

The season started with the Australian Grand Prix, and featured the newly introduced elimination-style qualifying format. [ 100 ] This format was heavily criticized by teams, drivers, fans and the press, which led to a review of the format before the next race. [ 101 ] The race ended with a 1–2 finish for Mercedes with Nico Rosberg taking victory from Lewis Hamilton in second. [ 102 ] Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari finished on the last remaining step of the podium. [ 103 ] Teammate Kimi Räikkönen ...

At the next race in Bahrain, Alonso was ruled out of taking part on medical grounds and was later revealed to have suffered broken ribs and a pneumothorax as a result of the previous race's collision, and was replaced by rookie Stoffel Vandoorne. [ 107 ] Following the widespread criticism of the new qualifying format, the teams voted to abandon it and revert to the system used in 2015. [ 108 ] However, in the week before the race weekend, the sport's Strategy Working Group over-ruled the teams i...

Before the race in Spain, Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen swapped places with Kvyat going to Toro Rosso and Verstappen to Red Bull. [ 120 ] The start of the race saw Hamilton and Rosberg collide, handing the lead to Daniel Ricciardo . [ 121 ] The race also saw the youngest race winner as Max Verstappen won the Grand Prix, defending against Kimi Räikkönen after Red Bull committed Ricciardo to an additional pit stop. [ 121 ]

At the next round in Monaco, Ricciardo took the first pole position of his career. [ 122 ] Helped by the race starting behind the safety car he held the lead for 33 laps, but was unable to convert it to a win after his team made a costly error during his pit-stop. [ 123 ] As a result, Lewis Hamilton inherited the lead and went on to win the race, his first of the season. [ 123 ] Ricciardo finished second ahead of Sergio Pérez . [ 123 ] Hamilton then went on to win the Canadian Grand Prix despite...

Hamilton took pole position at the next round in Austria while Rosberg started sixth after a grid penalty. [ 126 ] The two drivers followed opposing strategies to be first and second after the pit stops, with Hamilton on the preferred racing tyre gradually catching Rosberg. [ 127 ] The two made contact as Hamilton tried to pass Rosberg on the final lap; Hamilton won the race, while Rosberg broke his front wing and finished fourth behind Verstappen and Räikkönen. [ 128 ] A stewards' inquiry found...

Lewis Hamilton took the championship lead from Nico Rosberg at the next round in Hungary, leading another Mercedes 1–2 finish to gain a six-point lead in the Drivers' Championship standings. [ 132 ] The Grand Prix was marked by controversy: Rosberg secured pole position on a drying circuit in qualifying after McLaren's Fernando Alonso spun in front of him necessitating a double waved yellow flag. [ 133 ] Although race stewards confirmed that Rosberg had slowed, he nevertheless secured pole with ...

Rosberg reduced Hamilton's championship lead to two points at the next round in Italy, taking advantage of a slow start by Hamilton to establish an early lead that went unchallenged through the race. [ 143 ] Hamilton dropped as low as fifth at the start, recovering to fourth in the opening laps and got ahead of the Ferraris of Vettel and Räikkönen by making one pit-stop less. [ 143 ] Vettel went on to finish third—his first podium finish in five races—with Räikkönen fourth as the team introduced...

Mercedes's streak of ten consecutive wins came to an end in Malaysia. [ 148 ] Hamilton established an early lead, but retired sixteen laps from the end of the race when his engine failed, leaving Daniel Ricciardo in control of the race. [ 148 ] Nico Rosberg was turned around by Sebastian Vettel in a first corner accident that eliminated Vettel and forced Rosberg to work his way up through the field. [ 149 ] Ricciardo raced Max Verstappen for the lead when Hamilton's retirement triggered a Virtua...

Rosberg further extended his championship lead to thirty-three points in Japan, starting the race from pole and winning it. [ 150 ] Meanwhile, Hamilton suffered a poor start, slipping from second on the grid to eighth by the end of the first lap. [ 151 ] He was forced to run a race of recovery, using pit strategy to reclaim third place going into the final phase of the race, but was unable to pass Max Verstappen, and finished third. [ 150 ] The result secured Mercedes's third consecutive World C...

With the championship leaving Asia for the Americas, Hamilton gradually started to erode Rosberg's championship lead. [ 152 ] Mercedes scored a 1–2 finish in the United States, with Rosberg taking advantage of a Virtual Safety Car triggered by Max Verstappen to take second place from Daniel Ricciardo. [ 152 ] Hamilton led another Mercedes 1–2 in Mexico, with the race overshadowed by a late incident that saw Verstappen run wide and cut part of the circuit, triggering an angry radio message from S...

Going into the final round at Abu Dhabi, Rosberg led Hamilton by twelve points. [ 157 ] That meant that if Hamilton won the race, Rosberg needed to finish third to win the championship. Hamilton secured pole ahead of Rosberg and led from the start. [ 158 ] In the closing laps of the race, he slowed down in attempt to allow other drivers to catch and pass Rosberg, despite repeated instructions from Mercedes not to risk losing the race to Sebastian Vettel, who used pit strategy to bring himself in...

Five days after winning the title, Rosberg announced his immediate retirement from the sport at the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony in Vienna. He was the first reigning champion to do so since Alain Prost in 1993 . [ 161 ]

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers in every race, using the following structure: [ 164 ]

In the event of a tie, a count-back system was used as a tie-breaker, with a driver's best result used to decide the standings. [ N 4 ]

Notes:

In the event of a tie, a count-back system was used as a tie-breaker, with a constructor's best result used to decide the standings. [ N 4 ]

Notes: