After having taken over the Lotus team, Renault introduced a new driver-line up. Jolyon Palmer, the 2014 GP2 Series champion, made his race debut in Melbourne. Palmer had previously made regular free practice appearances with the team when it was known as Lotus in 2015. Despite originally having signed a contract with Lotus for 2016, Pastor Maldonado announced he would not be driving for Renault after his sponsors were unable to fulfil their contractual obligations to the team. He was replaced by Kevin Magnussen, who was released by McLaren when they chose not to renew his contract after he entered a single race for the team in 2015.