2016 Japanese Grand Prix

2016 Japanese Grand Prix
Race 17 of 21 in the 2016 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details[1]
Date	9 October 2016 (2016-10-09)
Official name	2016 Formula 1 Emirates Japanese Grand Prix
Location	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.807 km (3.608 miles)
Distance	53 laps, 307.471 km (191.054 miles)
Weather	Cloudy
Attendance	145,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Time	1:30.647
Fastest lap
Driver	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Time	1:35.118 on lap 36
Podium
First	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Second	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Third	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2016 Japanese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2016 Formula 1 Emirates Japanese Grand Prix)^[1] was a Formula One motor race that was held on 9 October 2016 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie, Japan. The race marked the 42nd running of the Japanese Grand Prix, the 30th time it has been held at Suzuka (28th time as a World Championship round), and the 32nd time that the race has been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural Formula One season in 1950.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg entered the round with a twenty-three-point lead over teammate Lewis Hamilton in the World Drivers' Championship. Rosberg started the race from pole position and won the race, extending his championship lead to thirty-three points as Hamilton finished third behind Max Verstappen. Before the race, Mercedes held a 194-point lead over Red Bull Racing in the World Constructors' Championship, and with forty points for first and third places, secured their third consecutive title. In the Drivers' Championship, the field of title contenders narrowed to just two (Rosberg and Hamilton) after the race. This was Rosberg's 30th and final pole in Formula One as well as his 23rd and final Formula One victory.

Sebastian Vettel entered the race with a three-place grid penalty for his role in causing an avoidable collision on the opening lap of the previous race.^[3]

Lewis Hamilton fell to 8th at the start of the race due to a bad start which was compounded by being on the wetter side of the grid. For the second year in succession in the Japanese Grand Prix, all entrants were classified as having finished the race.

After the race, Nico Rosberg had enough lead in the World Drivers' Championship to win the title, even if Hamilton won all the remaining four races and he finished in second place every time - with this scenario happening, Rosberg won the title with a narrow five point lead (385 points, compared to Hamilton's 380).

Pos.	Car no.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:31.858	1:30.714	1:30.647	1
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:32.218	1:31.129	1:30.660	2
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:31.674	1:31.406	1:30.949	81
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:31.659	1:31.227	1:31.028	62
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:32.487	1:31.489	1:31.178	3
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:32.538	1:31.719	1:31.240	4
7	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	1:32.682	1:32.237	1:31.961	5
8	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:32.458	1:32.176	1:31.961	7
9	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:32.448	1:32.200	1:32.142	9
10	21	Esteban Gutiérrez	Haas-Ferrari	1:32.620	1:32.155	1:32.547	10
11	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:32.383	1:32.315		11
12	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:32.562	1:32.380		12
13	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:32.645	1:32.623		13
14	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:32.789	1:32.685		14
15	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	1:32.819	1:32.689		15
16	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:32.796	1:32.807		16
17	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	1:32.851			223
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	1:33.023			17
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:33.222			18
20	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	1:33.332			19
21	31	Esteban Ocon	MRT-Mercedes	1:33.353			20
22	94	Pascal Wehrlein	MRT-Mercedes	1:33.561			211
107% time: 1:38.075
Source:[4]

Notes

• ^1 – Kimi Räikkönen and Pascal Wehrlein received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.
• ^2 – Sebastian Vettel received a three-place grid penalty for causing an avoidable collision at the previous race in Malaysia.^[3]
• ^3 – Jenson Button received a thirty-five-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit components.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	53	1:26:43.333	1	25
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	53	+4.978	3	18
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	+5.776	2	15
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	53	+20.269	6	12
5	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+28.370	8	10
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	53	+33.941	4	8
7	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	53	+57.495	5	6
8	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	53	+59.177	9	4
9	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	53	+1:37.763	12	2
10	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	53	+1:38.323	11	1
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	53	+1:39.254	7
12	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	52	+1 Lap	16
13	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	13
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	52	+1 Lap	17
15	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	18
16	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	52	+1 Lap	15
17	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	14
18	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	52	+1 Lap	22
19	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	19
20	21	Esteban Gutiérrez	Haas-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	10
21	31	Esteban Ocon	MRT-Mercedes	52	+1 Lap	20
22	94	Pascal Wehrlein	MRT-Mercedes	52	+1 Lap	21
Source:[5]

• Bold text and an asterisk indicates who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Nico Rosberg* 313 2 Lewis Hamilton* 280 3 Daniel Ricciardo 212 4 Kimi Räikkönen 170 1 5 Max Verstappen 165 Source:[6]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Mercedes* 593 2 Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 385 3 Ferrari 335 4 Force India-Mercedes 134 5 Williams-Mercedes 124 Source:[6]

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

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