2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

  2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Race details[1]
Race 21 of 21 in the 2016 Formula One season
Date	27 November 2016
Official name	2016 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Location	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.554 km (3.451 mi)
Distance	55 laps, 305.470 km (189.810 mi)
Pole position
Driver	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time	1:38.755
Fastest lap
Driver	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Time	1:43.729 on lap 43
Podium
First	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Third	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally known as the 2016 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 27 November 2016 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The race was the final round of the 2016 season and determined the 2016 World Drivers' Championship. It marked the eighth running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the eighth time that the race had been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in 1950.

Defending race winner Nico Rosberg entered the round with a twelve point lead over team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the World Drivers' Championship. Their team, Mercedes, held a lead of two hundred and seventy-six points over Red Bull Racing in the World Constructors' Championship. Rosberg required a podium finish to secure the championship; Hamilton required a podium to remain in mathematical contention. Hamilton started the race from pole and went on to win the race, while Rosberg finished second, securing his maiden World Drivers Championship title. Sebastian Vettel completed the podium in third.^[2]

A week after the Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg announced his retirement from Formula One, making this Grand Prix his last.^[3]

Report

Race

At the start, Max Verstappen went into a spin after gently touching Nico Hulkenberg's Force India. In their last ever races, Jenson Button was forced to retire with broken right front suspension but Felipe Massa was able to finish in 9th position.

The final laps of the race saw Lewis Hamilton slowing down to allowed other drivers to challenge Nico Rosberg for second and third placing. If Rosberg was bypassed for a podium finishing, Hamiltion would have won the World Championship Drivers' title and denied Rosberg his first title. Hamilton had ignored commands, first by his race engineer then by the team's technical director - to speed up as they saw the opposing teams catching up. They were concerned that Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel had faster closing laps of up to two seconds per lap. Hamilton was reprimanded for insubordination by the management, having placed his own interests before that of the team. Others have supported him, going with the principle that "drivers are free to race".^[4][5]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	Grid
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:39.487	1:39.382	1:38.755	1
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:40.511	1:39.490	1:39.058	2
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:41.002	1:40.429	1:39.589	3
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:40.338	1:39.629	1:39.604	4
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:40.341	1:40.034	1:39.661	5
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:40.424	1:39.903	1:39.818	6
7	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:41.000	1:40.709	1:40.501	7
8	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	1:40.864	1:40.743	1:40.519	8
9	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	1:41.616	1:41.044	1:41.106	9
10	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:41.157	1:40.858	1:41.213	10
11	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:41.192	1:41.084		11
12	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	1:41.158	1:41.272		12
13	21	Esteban Gutiérrez	Haas-Ferrari	1:41.639	1:41.480		13
14	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:41.467	1:41.564		14
15	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:41.775	1:41.820		15
16	94	Pascal Wehrlein	MRT-Mercedes	1:41.886	1:41.995		16
17	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:42.003			17
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	1:42.142			18
19	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	1:42.247			19
20	31	Esteban Ocon	MRT-Mercedes	1:42.286			20
21	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:42.393			21
22	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:42.637			22
107% time: 1:46.451
Source:[6]

Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	55	1:38:04.013	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 Racing-TAG Heuer	55	+1.685	6	12
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-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	+59.436	10	2
10	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	55	+59.896	9	1
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	55	+1:16.777	14
12	21	Esteban Gutiérrez	Haas-Ferrari	55	+1:35.113	13
13	31	Esteban Ocon	MRT-Mercedes	54	+1 Lap	20
14	94	Pascal Wehrlein	MRT-Mercedes	54	+1 Lap	16
15	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	54	+1 Lap	22
16	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	54	+1 Lap	19
17	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	54	+1 Lap^1	15
Ret	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	41	Collision damage	21
Ret	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	14	Gearbox	17
Ret	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	12	Suspension	12
Ret	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	6	Suspension	11
Ret	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	5	Suspension	18
Source:[7]

Notes

• ^1 — Jolyon Palmer received a 5-second penalty for causing a collision with Carlos Sainz Jr.^[7]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Nico Rosberg 385 2 Lewis Hamilton 380 3 Daniel Ricciardo 256 4 Sebastian Vettel 212 5 Max Verstappen 204

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Mercedes 765 2 Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 468 3 Ferrari 398 4 Force India-Mercedes 173 5 Williams-Mercedes 138

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for the sets of standings.

References

1. "Abu Dhabi". formula1.com. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
2. Benson, Andrew (27 November 2016). "Nico Rosberg wins F1 title as Lewis Hamilton wins in Abu Dhabi". BBC Sport. Abu Dhabi: BBC. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
3. "Nico Rosberg retires: World champion quits Formula 1 five days after title win". BBC Sport. 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
4. "Lewis Hamilton could be suspended by Mercedes for defying team orders during dramatic Abu Dhabi finale". The Telegraph. 29 November 2016.
5. "Lewis Hamilton did nothing wrong in Abu Dhabi decider - BBC Sport". BBC News. 29 November 2016.
6. "2016 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Qualifying". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
7. "2016 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Race Result". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.

External links