The 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (officially the 2016 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix)[1] was the twenty-first and final race of the 2016 Formula One season, and the eighth time the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held. It was held between 25 November and 27 November 2016.
The race was to determine whether Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg would become World Champion of 2016. Hamilton took his third pole position at the Yas Marina Circuit, with Rosberg second on the grid. Hamilton and Rosberg both made good starts, but although Hamilton backed Rosberg into the field in the closing stages, Hamilton won the race while Rosberg finished second to become the 2016 World Champion, winning his first ever F1 title. Sebastian Vettel completed the podium. Five days later, Rosberg confirmed his retirement from Formula One.[2]
Background[]
At the last race in Brazil, Lewis Hamilton took his first Brazilian Grand Prix win, while Nico Rosberg took another second-place finish, moving Hamilton another seven points closer to Rosberg in the Drivers' Championship, putting the gap to twelve points. Rosberg was on 367 points, while Hamilton was on 355. Daniel Ricciardo had already secured third place in the standings, but an eighth-place finish gave him four more points to be forty-nine points ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who finished fifth in Brazil. Kimi Räikkönen's accident in the aforementioned race promoted Max Verstappen, who finished third, to fourth in the standings, five points behind Vettel.[3] Mercedes were still the Constructors' Champion of 2016, having 722 points. Meanwhile, Red Bull secured second place with 446 points compared to Ferrari's 375. Force India opened their gap to Williams to twenty-seven points, after Williams failed to finish in the top ten in Brazil.[3]
| Team | Driver | 
|
|
|
Driver |
|
|
| ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes | Hamilton | 7 | 2 | 4 | Rosberg | 7 | 2 | 4 | ||
| Ferrari | Vettel | 7 | 1 | 5 | Räikkönen | 7 | 2 | 4 | ||
| Williams | Bottas | 7 | 2 | 4 | Massa | 7 | 1 | 5 | ||
| Red Bull | Ricciardo | 6 | 2 | 5 | Verstappen | 6 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Renault | Magnussen | 6 | 2 | 5 | Palmer | 6 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Force India | Hülkenberg | 8 | 2 | 3 | Pérez | 7 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Toro Rosso | Kvyat | 7 | 2 | 4 | Sainz | 7 | 2 | 4 | ||
| McLaren | Alonso | 7 | 1 | 5 | Button | 7 | 1 | 5 | ||
| Sauber | Ericsson | 6 | 4 | 3 | Nasr | 6 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Manor | Wehrlein | 6 | 3 | 4 | Ocon | 6 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Haas | Grosjean | 7 | 2 | 4 | Gutiérrez | 7 | 3 | 3 |
Like the previous year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the drivers used soft and supersoft tyres, and this time also used ultrasofts. Hamilton and Rosberg took the same number of sets, being seven ultrasofts, two supersofts, and four softs. Vettel, Felipe Massa and McLaren all chose just one set of supersofts, along with five soft sets and seven ultrasoft sets.[4]
It was apparently the final race for Jenson Button before Stoffel Vandoorne races for McLaren in 2017. Although Button has a contract available for 2018, he doubted that he would go back to Formula One, saying that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix might be his final race.[5]
Title permutations[]
The title battle was held, with Nico Rosberg twelve points ahead of Lewis Hamilton:[6]
- For Rosberg to win his first title:
- If he finishes on the podium, he will win the title
- If Rosberg finishes fourth, fifth or sixth, Hamilton must finish second or worse
- If Rosberg finishes seventh or eighth, Hamilton must finish third or worse
- If Hamilton finishes fourth or lower, Rosberg will win the title
- For Hamilton to win his fourth title:
- If he wins, Rosberg must finish fourth or worse
- If Hamilton finishes second, Rosberg must finish seventh or worse
- If Hamilton finishes third, Rosberg must ninth or worse
Entry list[]
Practice Overview[]
Practice Results[]
The full practice results for the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix are outlined below:
| No | Driver | Team | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Pos | Time | Pos | Time | Pos | ||||||||
| 3 |  Daniel Ricciardo
|
 Red Bull-TAG Heuer
|
1:43.362 | 4 | 1:41.390 | 5 | 1:41.831 | 6 | |||||
| 5 |  Sebastian Vettel
|
 Ferrari
|
1:44.005 | 5 | 1:41.130 | 3 | 1:40.775 | 1 | |||||
| 6 | Nico Rosberg
|
Mercedes
|
1:43.243 | 2 | 1:40.940 | 2 | 1:41.168 | 5 | |||||
| 7 |  Kimi Räikkönen
|
Ferrari
|
1:44.556 | 7 | 1:41.464 | 6 | 1:40.999 | 3 | |||||
| 8 |  Romain Grosjean
|
 Haas-Ferrari
|
1:45.600 | 12 | 1:43.108 | 14 | 1:42.805 | 15 | |||||
| 9 |  Marcus Ericsson
|
 Sauber-Ferrari
|
1:45.168 | 10 | 1:44.045 | 19 | 1:44.238 | 22 | |||||
| 11 |  Sergio Pérez
|
 Force India-Mercedes
|
1:44.155 | 6 | 1:42.041 | 8 | 1:41.885 | 7 | |||||
| 12 |  Felipe Nasr
|
Sauber-Ferrari
|
1:45.778 | 13 | 1:43.903 | 18 | 1:43.417 | 19 | |||||
| 14 |  Fernando Alonso
|
 McLaren-Honda
|
1:46.379 | 18 | 1:42.366 | 11 | 1:42.585 | 11 | |||||
| 19 | Felipe Massa
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
1:45.039 | 9 | 1:42.268 | 10 | 1:42.683 | 14 | |||||
| 20 |  Kevin Magnussen
|
Renault
|
1:46.372 | 17 | 1:44.117 | 20 | 1:43.057 | 16 | |||||
| 21 | Esteban Gutiérrez
|
Haas-Ferrari
|
1:45.925 | 14 | 1:43.012 | 13 | 1:42.354 | 10 | |||||
| 22 | Jenson Button
|
McLaren-Honda
|
1:47.127 | 20 | 1:42.823 | 12 | 1:42.664 | 13 | |||||
| 26 |  Daniil Kvyat
|
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
|
2:01.989 | 22 | 1:45.948 | 22 | 1:44.105 | 21 | |||||
| 27 | Nico Hülkenberg
|
Force India-Mercedes
|
1:42.264 | 9 | 1:42.067 | 8 | |||||||
| 30 | Jolyon Palmer
|
Renault
|
1:46.219 | 16 | 1:43.272 | 15 | 1:42.616 | 12 | |||||
| 31 | Esteban Ocon
|
Manor-Mercedes
|
1:43.600 | 16 | 1:43.733 | 20 | |||||||
| 33 |  Max Verstappen
|
Red Bull-TAG Heuer
|
1:43.297 | 3 | 1:41.389 | 4 | 1:40.912 | 2 | |||||
| 34 | Alfonso Celis, Jr.
|
Force India-Mercedes
|
1:45.476 | 11 | |||||||||
| 42 | Jordan King
|
Manor-Mercedes
|
1:47.558 | 21 | |||||||||
| 44 | Lewis Hamilton
|
Mercedes
|
1:42.869 | 1 | 1:40.861 | 1 | 1:41.065 | 4 | |||||
| 55 | Carlos Sainz, Jr.
|
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
|
1:44.685 | 8 | 1:44.478 | 21 | 1:43.301 | 18 | |||||
| 77 | Valtteri Bottas
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
1:45.940 | 15 | 1:41.959 | 7 | 1:42.076 | 9 | |||||
| 94 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Manor-Mercedes
|
1:46.458 | 19 | 1:43.754 | 17 | 1:43.145 | 17 | |||||
| Source: [7][8][9] | |||||||||||||
Qualifying[]
Qualifying Results[]
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Grid | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Time | Pos | Time | Pos | Time | ||||||||
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton
|
Mercedes
|
1 | 1:39.487 | 1 | 1:39.382 | 1 | 1:38.755 | 1 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg
|
Mercedes
|
5 | 1:40.511 | 2 | 1:39.490 | 2 | 1:39.058 | 2 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo
|
Red Bull-TAG Heuer
|
8 | 1:41.002 | 6 | 1:40.429 | 3 | 1:39.589 | 3 | |||
| 4 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen
|
Ferrari
|
2 | 1:40.338 | 3 | 1:39.629 | 4 | 1:39.604 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel
|
Ferrari
|
3 | 1:40.341 | 5 | 1:40.034 | 5 | 1:39.661 | 5 | |||
| 6 | 33 | Max Verstappen
|
Red Bull-TAG Heuer
|
4 | 1:40.424 | 4 | 1:39.903 | 6 | 1:39.818 | 6 | |||
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg
|
Force India-Mercedes
|
7 | 1:41.000 | 7 | 1:40.709 | 7 | 1:40.501 | 7 | |||
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Pérez
|
Force India-Mercedes
|
6 | 1:40.864 | 8 | 1:40.743 | 8 | 1:40.519 | 8 | |||
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso
|
McLaren-Honda
|
13 | 1:41.616 | 10 | 1:41.044 | 9 | 1:41.106 | 9 | |||
| 10 | 19 | Felipe Massa
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
9 | 1:41.157 | 9 | 1:40.858 | 10 | 1:41.213 | 10 | |||
| 11 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
11 | 1:41.192 | 11 | 1:41.084 | 11 | |||||
| 12 | 22 | Jenson Button
|
McLaren-Honda
|
10 | 1:41.158 | 12 | 1:41.272 | 12 | |||||
| 13 | 21 | Esteban Gutiérrez
|
Haas-Ferrari
|
14 | 1:41.639 | 13 | 1:41.480 | 13 | |||||
| 14 | 8 | Romain Grosjean
|
Haas-Ferrari
|
12 | 1:41.467 | 14 | 1:41.564 | 14 | |||||
| 15 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer
|
Renault
|
15 | 1:41.775 | 15 | 1:41.820 | 15 | |||||
| 16 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Manor-Mercedes
|
16 | 1:41.886 | 16 | 1:41.995 | 16 | |||||
| 17 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat
|
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
|
17 | 1:42.003 |
no time |
17 | ||||||
| 18 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen
|
Renault
|
18 | 1:42.142 | 18 | |||||||
| 19 | 12 | Felipe Nasr
|
Sauber-Ferrari
|
19 | 1:42.247 | 19 | |||||||
| 20 | 31 | Esteban Ocon
|
Manor-Mercedes
|
20 | 1:42.286 | 20 | |||||||
| 21 | 55 | Carlos Sainz, Jr.
|
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
|
21 | 1:42.393 | 21 | |||||||
| NC | 9 | Marcus Ericsson
|
Sauber-Ferrari
|
PL | 1:42.637 | PL | |||||||
| 107% time: 1:46.451 | |||||||||||||
| Source: [10] | |||||||||||||
Grid[]
| Pos. | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | |
| ______________ | ||
| Row 1 | 1 | ______________ |
| Lewis Hamilton | 2 | |
| ______________ | Nico Rosberg | |
| Row 2 | 3 | ______________ |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 4 | |
| ______________ | Kimi Räikkönen | |
| Row 3 | 5 | ______________ |
| Sebastian Vettel | 6 | |
| ______________ | Max Verstappen | |
| Row 4 | 7 | ______________ |
| Nico Hülkenberg | 8 | |
| ______________ | Sergio Pérez | |
| Row 5 | 9 | ______________ |
| Fernando Alonso | 10 | |
| ______________ | Felipe Massa | |
| Row 6 | 11 | ______________ |
| Valtteri Bottas | 12 | |
| ______________ | Jenson Button | |
| Row 7 | 13 | ______________ |
| Esteban Gutiérrez | 14 | |
| ______________ | Romain Grosjean | |
| Row 8 | 15 | ______________ |
| Jolyon Palmer | 16 | |
| ______________ | Pascal Wehrlein | |
| Row 9 | 17 | ______________ |
| Daniil Kvyat | 18 | |
| ______________ | Kevin Magnussen | |
| Row 10 | 19 | ______________ |
| Felipe Nasr | 20 | |
| ______________ | Esteban Ocon | |
| Row 11 | 21 | ______________ |
| Carlos Sainz, Jr. | 22 | |
| ______________ | Marcus Ericsson |
Race[]
Results[]
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton
|
Mercedes
|
55 | 1h 38m 04.013s | 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg
|
Mercedes
|
55 | +0.439 | 2 | 18 |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel
|
Ferrari
|
55 | +0.843 | 5 | 15 |
| 4 | 33 | Max Verstappen
|
Red Bull-TAG Heuer
|
55 | +1.685 | 6 | 12 |
| 5 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo
|
Red Bull-TAG Heuer
|
55 | +5.315 | 3 | 10 |
| 6 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen
|
Ferrari
|
55 | +18.816 | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg
|
Force India-Mercedes
|
55 | +50.114 | 7 | 6 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Pérez
|
Force India-Mercedes
|
55 | +58.776 | 8 | 4 |
| 9 | 19 | Felipe Massa
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
55 | +49.436 | 10 | 2 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso
|
McLaren-Honda
|
55 | +59.896 | 9 | 1 |
| 11 | 8 | Romain Grosjean
|
Haas-Ferrari
|
55 | +76.777 | 14 | |
| 12 | 21 | Esteban Gutiérrez
|
Haas-Ferrari
|
55 | +95.113 | 13 | |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon
|
Manor-Mercedes
|
54 | +1 Lap | 20 | |
| 14 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Manor-Mercedes
|
54 | +1 Lap | 16 | |
| 15 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson
|
Sauber-Ferrari
|
54 | +1 Lap | PL | |
| 16 | 12 | Felipe Nasr
|
Sauber-Ferrari
|
54 | +1 Lap | 19 | |
| 17 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer
|
Renault
|
54 | +1 Lap* | 15 | |
| 18 | 55 | Carlos Sainz, Jr.
|
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
|
41 | Suspension | 21 | |
| Ret | 26 | Daniil Kvyat
|
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
|
14 | Electrical / Wheel | 17 | |
| Ret | 22 | Jenson Button
|
McLaren-Honda
|
12 | Accident Damage | 12 | |
| Ret | 77 | Valtteri Bottas
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
6 | Throttle | 11 | |
| Ret | 20 | Kevin Magnussen
|
Renault
|
5 | Hydraulics | 18 | |
| Source: [11] | |||||||
- * Palmer was given a five-second time penalty for his collision with Sainz.[11]
Milestones[]
- Final race using the power unit token system.
- Felipe Massa's 250th start (252nd entry).
- Jenson Button's 305th and final start (308th and final entry).
- Nico Hülkenberg's final race at Force India, Kevin Magnussen's final race at Renault, Esteban Ocon's final race at Manor, Esteban Gutiérrez's final race at Haas, Pascal Wehrlein's final race at Manor, Felipe Nasr's final race at Sauber, and Valtteri Bottas' final race at Williams.
- Nico Rosberg's first world championship and final race.
Standings[]
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Notes[]
- ↑ "2016 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix". formula1.com. Formula One Administration. https://www.formula1.com/en/championship/races/2016/Abu_Dhabi.html. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- ↑ "Nico Rosberg retires: World champion quits Formula 1 five days after title win" (in en-GB). British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 December 2016. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38185846. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Collantine, Keith (13 November 2016). "2016 Brazilian Grand Prix championship points". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/11/13/2016-brazilian-grand-prix-championship-points/. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- ↑ "Rosberg, Hamilton take identical tyre selections to title showdown". formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 15 November 2016. http://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2016/11/rosberg--hamilton-take-identical-tyre-selections-to-title-showdo.html. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- ↑ "Button heading into Abu Dhabi 'thinking it will be my last race'". formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 24 November 2016. http://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2016/11/f1-button-abu-dhabi-last-race.html. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- ↑ "The 2016 title permutations for Abu Dhabi". formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 21 November 2016. http://www.formula1.com/en/latest/features/2016/11/f1-2016-title-permutations-abu-dhabi-gp.html. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- ↑ "2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Practice 1 results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 25 November 2016. http://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2016/races/957/abu-dhabi/practice-1.html. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- ↑ "2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Practice 2 results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 25 November 2016. http://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2016/races/957/abu-dhabi/practice-2.html. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- ↑ "2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Practice 3 results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 26 November 2016. http://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2016/races/957/abu-dhabi/practice-3.html. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
- ↑ "2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Qualifying results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 26 November 2016. http://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2016/races/957/united-arab-emirates/qualifying.html. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2016 Race Results". formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 27 November 2016.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Collantine, Keith (27 November 2016). "2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix championship points". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/11/27/2016-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-championship-points/. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
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