| 2016 Japanese Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 17 of 21 in the2016 Formula One World Championship
| |||||
 | |||||
| Race details[1] | |||||
| Date | 9 October 2016 (2016-10-09) | ||||
| Official name | 2016 Formula 1EmiratesJapanese 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 | Mercedes | ||||
| Time | 1:30.647 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | |||
| Time | 1:35.118 on lap 36 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Mercedes | ||||
| Second | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | ||||
| Third | Mercedes | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2016 Japanese Grand Prix (formally known as the2016 Formula 1Emirates Japanese Grand Prix)[1] was aFormula Onemotor race that was held on 9 October 2016 at theSuzuka Circuit inSuzuka, Mie,Japan. The race marked the 42nd running of theJapanese 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 in1950.
Mercedes driverNico Rosberg entered the round with a twenty-three-point lead over teammateLewis Hamilton in the World Drivers' Championship. Rosberg started the race frompole position and won the race, extending his championship lead to thirty-three points as Hamilton finished third behindMax Verstappen. Before the race, Mercedes held a 194-point lead overRed 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 finalpole 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 theprevious 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. | 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] | |||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous race: 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2016 season | Next race: 2016 United States Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2015 Japanese Grand Prix | Japanese Grand Prix | Next race: 2017 Japanese Grand Prix |
