page_title: 2016 Formula One World Championship
section_title: Return to Asia
hierarchical_section_title: 2016 Formula One World Championship / Season report / Return to Asia
caption_attribution_description: English: Formula One 2016 Rd.16 Malaysian GP: Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) under virtual safety car.
context_page_description: The 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 70th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 67th Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which is recognised by the sport's governing body, the FIA, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Teams and drivers took part in twenty-one Grands Prix—making for the longest season in the sport's history—starting in Australia on 20 March and finishing in Abu Dhabi on 27 November as they competed for the World Drivers' and World Constructors' championships.
  The 2016 season saw the grid expand to twenty-two cars with the addition of the Haas F1 Team entry. Renault returned to the sport as a constructor after a four-year absence following their takeover of Lotus prior to the start of the season. The calendar similarly expanded, with the return of the German Grand Prix. The European Grand Prix was also revived, with the event visiting a new circuit in Azerbaijan's capital city, Baku.
  Nico Rosberg won his only World Drivers' Championship title in the final race of the season.
context_section_description: Rosberg reclaimed the championship lead in Singapore, qualifying on pole while Hamilton was forced to settle for third after struggling with mechanical issues and driving errors. A late pit stop during the race by Mercedes saw Hamilton pass Kimi Räikkönen for third which he held until the end of the race. Red Bull Racing decided to pit Daniel Ricciardo from second to prevent coming under threat from Hamilton. Rosberg decided to stay out because his lead over Ricciardo was not large enough to pit and stay ahead, but was able to hold on to first place to take the win. Ricciardo made late efforts to catch Rosberg from 27 seconds behind, but could not quite catch him, finishing 0.6 seconds behind at the chequered flag. With Hamilton finishing third, Rosberg turned a two-point deficit into an eight-point lead.
  Mercedes's streak of ten consecutive wins came to an end in Malaysia. Hamilton established an early lead, but retired sixteen laps from the end of the race when his engine failed, leaving Daniel Ricciardo in control of the race. Nico Rosberg was turned around by Sebastian Vettel in a first corner accident that eliminated Vettel and forced Rosberg to work his way up through the field. Ricciardo raced Max Verstappen for the lead when Hamilton's retirement triggered a Virtual Safety Car, prompting Red Bull to pit both drivers at the same time. On fresher tyres, Ricciardo was able to withstand pressure from Verstappen to win his first race since the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg finished third despite having ten seconds added to his race time for contact with Kimi Räikkönen, extending his championship lead to twenty-three points.
  Rosberg further extended his championship lead to thirty-three points in Japan, starting the race from pole and winning it. Meanwhile, Hamilton suffered a poor start, slipping from second on the grid to eighth by the end of the first lap. He was forced to run a race of recovery, using pit strategy to reclaim third place going into the final phase of the race, but was unable to pass Max Verstappen, and finished third. The result secured Mercedes's third consecutive World Constructors' Championship title.
caption: Lewis Hamilton's engine failure in Malaysia was a key moment in the Drivers' Championship fight.
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