# 2016 Japanese Grand Prix

The 2016 Japanese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2016 Formula 1 Emirates Japanese Grand Prix) 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.

## Report
### Background

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.

### Race

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).

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos. | Car no. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Final grid |
| Pos. | Car no. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final grid |
| 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 | 8 |
| 4 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:31.659 | 1:31.227 | 1:31.028 | 6 |
| 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 | | | 22 |
| 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 | | | 21 |
| 107% time: 1:38.075 ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||

#### 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 – Jenson Button received a thirty-five-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit components.

### Race

| 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: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

* Bold text and an asterisk indicates who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
| | 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: ||||
| | 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: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for the sets of standings.