# 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula One Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2016) was a Formula One motor race held on 13 November 2016 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. The race was the 20th and penultimate round of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship and marked the 45th running of the Brazilian Grand Prix and the 44th time that the race had been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in 1950. At the race duration of a little over 3 hours, the race was the longest Brazilian Grand Prix in history.
Winner of the previous year's race Nico Rosberg entered the round with a 19-point lead over his teammate Lewis Hamilton in the World Drivers' Championship. Their team, Mercedes, had already clinched the World Constructors' Championship, holding a lead of two hundred and fifty-two points over Red Bull Racing, with third place Scuderia Ferrari another sixty-two points behind. Hamilton took pole position and won the race from Rosberg to take the championship to the final round in Abu Dhabi. Max Verstappen finished third, having dropped to 16th after a pit stop with 16 laps to go.

## 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 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:11.511 | 1:11.238 | 1:10.736 | 1 |
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:11.815 | 1:11.373 | 1:10.838 | 2 |
| 3 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:12.100 | 1:12.301 | 1:11.404 | 3 |
| 4 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 1:11.957 | 1:11.834 | 1:11.485 | 4 |
| 5 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:12.159 | 1:12.010 | 1:11.495 | 5 |
| 6 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 1:12.409 | 1:12.047 | 1:11.540 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1:12.893 | 1:12.343 | 1:11.937 | 7 |
| 8 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:12.428 | 1:12.360 | 1:12.104 | 8 |
| 9 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:12.684 | 1:12.331 | 1:12.165 | 9 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1:12.700 | 1:12.312 | 1:12.266 | 10 |
| 11 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:12.680 | 1:12.420 | | 11 |
| 12 | 21 | Esteban Gutiérrez | Haas-Ferrari | 1:13.052 | 1:12.431 | | 12 |
| 13 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:12.432 | 1:12.521 | | 13 |
| 14 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:13.071 | 1:12.726 | | 14 |
| 15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:12.950 | 1:12.920 | | 15 |
| 16 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:13.259 | 1:13.258 | | 16 |
| 17 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1:13.276 | | | 17 |
| 18 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1:13.410 | | | 18 |
| 19 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | MRT-Mercedes | 1:13.427 | | | 19 |
| 20 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | MRT-Mercedes | 1:13.432 | | | 22 |
| 21 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:13.623 | | | 20 |
| 22 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:13.681 | | | 21 |
| 107% time: 1:16.516 ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||

### Notes

* ^1 – Esteban Ocon received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Jolyon Palmer during Q1.

## Race

The track was very wet at the start so the race began behind the safety car until the start of Lap 8. Lewis Hamilton built up an early lead. Marcus Ericsson crashed on lap 13 on the pit straight bringing the safety car back out again. The race restarted again six laps later only for Kimi Räikkönen to crash on the pit straight immediately, spinning across the track before hitting the wall. The race was red flagged and there was a 35-minute delay before restarting again behind the safety car, however seven laps later it was again red flagged as the conditions were deemed still too dangerous.
After another 25 minute delay the race started again behind the safety car, which finally pulled in after another three laps. Late on in the race Felipe Massa crashed near the pit entry bringing the safety car out again, while walking back to the garage Massa was given applause from several teams and was visibly emotional, as it was expected to be his last Grand Prix in his home country.
The race restarted again and Hamilton went on to win the race from Championship leader Nico Rosberg and Max Verstappen.

### Race classification

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 71 | 3:01:01.335 | 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 71 | +11.455 | 2 | 18 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 71 | +21.481 | 4 | 15 |
| 4 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 71 | +25.346 | 9 | 12 |
| 5 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 71 | +26.334 | 5 | 10 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 71 | +29.160 | 15 | 8 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 71 | +29.827 | 8 | 6 |
| 8 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 71 | +30.486 | 6 | 4 |
| 9 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 71 | +42.620 | 21 | 2 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 71 | +44.432 | 10 | 1 |
| 11 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 71 | +45.292 | 11 | |
| 12 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | MRT-Mercedes | 71 | +45.809 | 22 | |
| 13 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 71 | +51.192 | 14 | |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 71 | +51.555 | 18 | |
| 15 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | MRT-Mercedes | 71 | +1:00.498 | 19 | |
| 16 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 71 | +1:21.994 | 17 | |
| Ret | 21 | Esteban Gutiérrez | Haas-Ferrari | 60 | Electrical | 12 | |
| Ret | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 46 | Accident | 13 | |
| Ret | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 20 | Collision damage | 16 | |
| Ret | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 19 | Accident | 3 | |
| Ret | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 11 | Accident | 20 | |
| DNS | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 0 | Accident | — | |
| Source: ||||||||

#### Notes

* ^1 – Daniel Ricciardo received a 5-second penalty for entering the pit lane when the entry was closed.
* ^2 – Felipe Massa received a 5-second penalty for overtaking before the safety car line. The penalty made no difference as he retired.
* ^3 – Romain Grosjean crashed on the way from the pit lane to the starting grid.

## Championship standings after the race

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Nico Rosberg* | 367 |
| | 2 | Lewis Hamilton* | 355 |
| | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | 246 |
| | 4 | Sebastian Vettel | 197 |
| 1 | 5 | Max Verstappen | 192 |
| Source: ||||
| | Pos. | Constructor | Points |
| | 1 | Mercedes* | 722 |
| | 2 | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 446 |
| | 3 | Ferrari | 375 |
| | 4 | Force India-Mercedes | 163 |
| | 5 | Williams-Mercedes | 136 |
| Source: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for the sets of standings.
* Bold text and an asterisk indicates who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.