2016 Malaysian Grand Prix

The 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix (officially the 2016 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix) was the sixteenth race of the 2016 Formula One season, and the eighteenth time the Malaysian Grand Prix was held on the Formula One calendar. It was held between 30 September and 2 October 2016.
 driver Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the fourth time at Malaysia, with his teammate Nico Rosberg on the front row. Hamilton led the race from the start, but on the start of his 41st lap, his engine blew, causing him to retire from the race, and enabling Daniel Ricciardo to take victory and Max Verstappen to finish second, and championship leader Nico Rosberg finished third after a collision from Sebastian Vettel on the first lap put him at the back of the field, putting Rosberg twenty-three points ahead of Hamilton in the championship.
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==Background==
Nico Rosberg's win in the gave him enough points to take the lead of the Drivers' Championship from his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who could only finish third in the race. Afterwards, Rosberg led with 273 points, eight points clear of Hamilton. Daniel Ricciardo, who finished second in Singapore, was already far behind, 86 points behind Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel, despite finishing behind Kimi Räikkönen, was still fourth with 153 points, while Räikkönen was fifth and five points behind Vettel. led the Constructors' Championship with 538 points, being 222 points ahead of thanks to the former's dominance. Ricciardo's podium finish and Max Verstappen's sixth-place finish kept Red Bull second, fifteen points ahead of . Sergio Pérez's eighth-place finish resulted in moving up to fourth, just one point ahead of , whose drivers failed to score any points in Singapore.
For the first time since 2000, the Malaysian Grand Prix was held in October rather than March or April. With the extra time, the track was resurfaced and had several upgrades to some of the corners, including to make the drainage at Turn 15 better than before so that there is not a huge amount of rainwater on the turn's entry and exit. However, Vettel felt unsure if the track's resurfacing would improve the track itself.
Driver tyre choices
Team		Driver 	 	 	 		Driver 	 	 	
 		Hamilton 	7	3	3		Rosberg 	7	4	2
 		Vettel 	7	4	2		Räikkönen 	7	3	3
 		Bottas 	8	3	2		Massa 	7	4	2
 		Ricciardo 	6	4	3		Verstappen	6	4	3
 		Magnussen 	7	3	3		Palmer 	7	2	4
 		Hülkenberg	7	3	3		Pérez 	7	3	3
 		Kvyat 	8	2	3		Sainz 	8	2	3
 		Alonso 	7	3	3		Button 	7	3	3
 		Ericsson 	7	4	2		Nasr 	7	4	2
 		Wehrlein 	6	4	3		Ocon 	6	4	3
 		Grosjean 	7	4	2		Gutiérrez 	7	3	3
Soft, medium and hard tyres were chosen for the race, with the first appearance of the soft compound in the 2010s thanks to the regulations of 2016. Most teams chose seven sets of soft tyres, while others chose either six or eight. Jolyon Palmer was the only one of the drivers to choose four sets of hard tyres, while all the other drivers chose two or three. Hamilton was one of those to choose three, while Rosberg chose two, each alternating between their number of medium sets.
On 28 September, the FIA revealed a provisional calendar for that includes the Italian Grand Prix after rumours that it might not be hosted again, although the provisional calendar had also shown that the Canadian, German and Brazilian Grands Prix were yet to be confirmed. Felipe Massa, however, was concerned that the Brazilian Grand Prix may not be held, like how the German Grand Prix was not held in . Coincidentally, more rule changes for 2017 were confirmed, including to have standing starts in races that start during wet weather conditions.
Before the Grand Prix, fitted new parts onto Fernando Alonso's power unit. Due to having gone over the limit of new parts allowed, Alonso was expected to take a 
grid penalty putting him at the back of the grid, while Jenson Button revealed that his own car would not have any upgrades to its power unit that contain grid penalties for Malaysia and especially for his 300th start, and that McLaren were hoping not to take any grid penalties at their engine supplier 's home race in Japan. Due to the penalties, Alonso stated that he would do only one short run in qualifying and get within the 107% time, as well as saving several sets of tyres for the race.
Although he was close to fighting for the win in Singapore, Ricciardo did not feel that he would be very likely to fight for victory in Malaysia: "From the first view it's probably not our shot at a win - unless it rains, and then it is a whole different ball game. And I love ball games!" Meanwhile, Hamilton was sure that he might be able to be back in the fight for the championship if he did better in Malaysia than in Singapore: "Just drive it better, I guess. More time on track. Hopefully we won't have any problems this weekend."
==Entry list==
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis 	Engine	Model 	Tyre
44 	Lewis Hamilton 	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	 	W07 Hybrid	 	PU106C Hybrid	
6 	Nico Rosberg 	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	 	W07 Hybrid	 	PU106C Hybrid	
5 	Sebastian Vettel 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	SF16-H 	 	059/5 	
7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	SF16-H 	 	059/5 	
19 	Felipe Massa 	Williams Martini Racing 	 	FW38 	 	PU106C Hybrid	
77 	Valtteri Bottas 	Williams Martini Racing 	 	FW38 	 	PU106C Hybrid	
3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB12 	 	TAG Heuer 	
33 	Max Verstappen 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB12 	 	TAG Heuer 	
27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	Sahara Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM09 	 	PU106C Hybrid	
11 	Sergio Pérez 	Sahara Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM09 	 	PU106C Hybrid	
20 	Kevin Magnussen 	Renault Sport F1 Team 	 	RS16 	 	RE16 	
30 	Jolyon Palmer 	Renault Sport F1 Team 	 	RS16 	 	RE16 	
26 	Daniil Kvyat 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR11 	 	059/4 	
55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR11 	 	059/4 	
9 	Marcus Ericsson 	Sauber F1 Team 	 	C35 	 	059/5 	
12 	Felipe Nasr 	Sauber F1 Team 	 	C35 	 	059/5 	
14 	Fernando Alonso 	McLaren Honda 	 	MP4-31 	 	RA616H 	
22 	Jenson Button 	McLaren Honda 	 	MP4-31 	 	RA616H 	
94 	Pascal Wehrlein 	Manor Racing MRT 	 	MRT05 	 	PU106C Hybrid	
31 	Esteban Ocon 	Manor Racing MRT 	 	MRT05 	 	PU106C Hybrid	
8 	Romain Grosjean 	Haas F1 Team 	 	VF-16 	 	059/5 	
21 	Esteban Gutiérrez	Haas F1 Team 	 	VF-16 	 	059/5 	
source	source 	source 	source 	source 	source	source 	source
==Practice Overview==
===FP1===
Kevin Magnussen's caught fire just after a few minutes in the first Free Practice session. The team confirmed the cause of fire as a fuel leak.
===FP2===
During the second Free Practice session, driver Jenson Button prompted an angry team radio towards Renault's Kevin Magnussen.
===FP3===
===Practice Results===
The full practice results for the are outlined below:
No 	Driver 	Team 	FP1 	 	FP2 	 	FP3 	 	 	 	 	 	
No 	Driver 	Team 	Time 	Pos 	Time 	Pos 	Time 	Pos 	 	 	 	 	
3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	1:36.753	6 	1:36.337	8 	1:35.461	6 	 	 	 	 	
5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	1:36.331	4 	1:35.605	3 	1:35.170	5 	 	 	 	 	
6 	Nico Rosberg 	 	1:35.227	1 	1:35.177	2 	1:35.053	3 	 	 	 	 	
7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	1:36.315	3 	1:35.842	4 	1:35.150	4 	 	 	 	 	
8 	Romain Grosjean 	 	1:37.886	13 	1:37.789	20 	1:36.687	15 	 	 	 	 	
9 	Marcus Ericsson 	 	1:38.313	17 	1:37.449	17 	1:36.765	18 	 	 	 	 	
11 	Sergio Pérez 	 	1:37.601	9 	1:36.284	6 	1:36.259	11 	 	 	 	 	
12 	Felipe Nasr 	 	1:38.184	16 	1:37.547	18 	1:37.106	19 	 	 	 	 	
14 	Fernando Alonso 	 	1:36.510	5 	1:36.296	7 	1:41.199	22 	 	 	 	 	
19 	Felipe Massa 	 	1:38.339	18 	1:37.110	15 	1:36.227	10 	 	 	 	 	
20 	Kevin Magnussen 	 	No Time 	22 	1:37.664	19 	1:36.741	16 	 	 	 	 	
21 	Esteban Gutiérrez	 	1:37.921	14 	1:37.048	14 	1:36.553	13 	 	 	 	 	
22 	Jenson Button 	 	1:37.613	10 	1:36.715	10 	1:36.363	12 	 	 	 	 	
26 	Daniil Kvyat 	 	1:37.847	11 	1:37.297	16 	1:36.752	17 	 	 	 	 	
27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	1:37.513	8 	1:36.390	9 	1:35.776	7 	 	 	 	 	
30 	Jolyon Palmer 	 	1:39.148	19 	1:36.940	12 	1:36.604	14 	 	 	 	 	
31 	Esteban Ocon 	 	1:40.036	20 	1:37.990	22 	1:37.961	20 	 	 	 	 	
33 	Max Verstappen 	 	1:36.973	7 	1:36.037	5 	1:34.879	2 	 	 	 	 	
44 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	1:35.721	2 	1:34.944	1 	1:34.434	1 	 	 	 	 	
55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	 	1:38.055	15 	1:36.836	11 	1:36.222	9 	 	 	 	 	
77 	Valtteri Bottas 	 	1:37.861	12 	1:37.016	13 	1:35.902	8 	 	 	 	 	
94 	Pascal Wehrlein 	 	1:40.627	21 	1:37.878	21 	1:38.089	21 	 	 	 	 	
Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:
==Qualifying==
===Qualifying Results===
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Q1 	Q1 	 	Q2 	Q2 	 	Q3 	Q3 	Grid
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Pos 	Time 	 	Pos 	Time 	 	Pos 	Time 	Grid
1 	44 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	 	1 	1:34.444 	 	1 	1:33.046 	 	1 	1:32.850 	1
2 	6 	Nico Rosberg 	 	 	2 	1:34.460 	 	2 	1:33.609 	 	2 	1:33.609 	2
3 	33 	Max Verstappen 	 	 	12 	1:35.443 	 	3 	1:33.775 	 	3 	1:33.420 	3
4 	3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	 	7 	1:35.079 	 	4 	1:33.888 	 	4 	1:33.467 	4
5 	5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	 	4 	1:34.557 	 	6 	1:33.972 	 	5 	1:33.584 	5
6 	7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	 	4 	1:34.556 	 	5 	1:33.903 	 	6 	1:33.632 	6
7 	11 	Sergio Pérez 	 	 	6 	1:35.068 	 	10 	1:34.538 	 	7 	1:34.319 	7
8 	27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	 	5 	1:34.827 	 	9 	1:34.441 	 	8 	1:34.489 	8
9 	22 	Jenson Button 	 	 	10 	1:35.267 	 	8 	1:34.431 	 	9 	1:34.518 	9
10 	19 	Felipe Massa 	 	 	9 	1:35.267 	 	7 	1:34.422 	 	10 	1:34.671 	10
11 	77 	Valtteri Bottas 	 	 	8 	1:35.166 	 	11 	1:34.577 	 	 	 	11
12 	8 	Romain Grosjean 	 	 	11 	1:35.400 	 	12 	1:35.001 	 	 	 	12
13 	21 	Esteban Gutiérrez 	 	 	15 	1:35.658 	 	13 	1:35.097 	 	 	 	13
14 	20 	Kevin Magnussen 	 	 	13 	1:35.593 	 	14 	1:35.277 	 	 	 	14
15 	26 	Daniil Kvyat 	 	 	16 	1:35.695 	 	15 	1:35.369 	 	 	 	15
16 	55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr. 	 	 	14 	1:35.605 	 	16 	1:35.374 	 	 	 	16
17 	9 	Marcus Ericsson 	 	 	17 	1:35.816 	 	 	 	 	 	 	17
18 	12 	Felipe Nasr 	 	 	18 	1:35.949 	 	 	 	 	 	 	18
19 	30 	Jolyon Palmer 	 	 	19 	1:35.999 	 	 	 	 	 	 	19
20 	31 	Esteban Ocon 	 	 	20 	1:36.451 	 	 	 	 	 	 	20
21 	94 	Pascal Wehrlein 	 	 	21 	1:36.587 	 	 	 	 	 	 	21
22 	14 	Fernando Alonso 	 	 	22 	1:37.155 	 	 	 	 	 	 	22*
107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055	107% time: 1:41.055
Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source:
* Alonso was given a 45-place grid penalty for having elements of his power unit being unscheduled changed.
===Grid===
The starting grid of the is as below:
Show Grid
Source
* Alonso was given a 45-place grid penalty for having elements of his power unit being unscheduled changed.
*† Massa had a throttle issue last-minute, and started the race from the pit lane.
==Race==
===Report===
===Post-race===
Three days following the race, Paddy Lowe explained that by the time he was saying it, they still had no idea what caused the engine failure on Hamilton's car while also investigating it. One day later, the Mercedes team confirmed that the engine failure was due to crankshaft bearing failure, after the car's oil pressure suddenly dropped at Turn 15 on lap 40 without any warning. Responding to this, the team informed all of the teams with Mercedes engines to make sure they check the engine settings in the future, while Hamilton's car was fitted with the engine he used in Singapore.
After the race, the stewards investigated Vettel's collision with Rosberg, and decided to give him two penalty points and a three-place grid penalty for Japan. While Gutiérrez was not penalised for the loss of his tyre, his team was fined €5000, as the FIA mentioned "some function of the design, part failure or fitting allowed the wheel to come loose on the track, which is considered a serious safety issue", considering it an unsafe release.
Nine Australian fans were arrested after having stripped at the Malaysian Grand Prix, being investigated whether they were insulting the country.
Renault also announced that thanks to the drama occurring with Magnussen's car during free practice, they were to alter their fuel system's design in time for the Japanese Grand Prix.
===Results===
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid 	Points
1 	3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	56 	1h 37m 12.776s	4 	25
2 	33 	Max Verstappen 	 	56 	+2.443 	3 	18
3 	6 	Nico Rosberg 	 	56 	+25.516* 	2 	15
4 	7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	56 	+28.785 	6 	12
5 	77 	Valtteri Bottas 	 	56 	+61.582 	11 	10
6 	11 	Sergio Pérez 	 	56 	+63.794 	7 	8
7 	14 	Fernando Alonso 	 	56 	+65.205 	22 	6
8 	27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	56 	+74.062 	8 	4
9 	22 	Jenson Button 	 	56 	+81.816 	9 	2
10 	30 	Jolyon Palmer 	 	56 	+95.466 	19 	1
11 	55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	 	56 	+98.878 	16 	
12 	9 	Marcus Ericsson 	 	55 	+1 Lap 	17 	
13 	19 	Felipe Massa 	 	55 	+1 Lap 	10 	
14 	26 	Daniil Kvyat 	 	55 	+1 Lap 	15 	
15 	94 	Pascal Wehrlein 	 	55 	+1 Lap 	21 	
16 	31 	Esteban Ocon 	 	55 	+1 Lap† 	20 	
17 	12 	Felipe Nasr 	 	46 	Gearbox 	18 	
Ret 	44 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	40 	Engine 	1 	
Ret 	21 	Esteban Gutiérrez	 	39 	Wheel 	13 	
Ret 	20 	Kevin Magnussen 	 	17 	Transmission 	14 	
Ret 	8 	Romain Grosjean 	 	7 	Spun off 	12 	
Ret 	5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	0 	Accident 	5 	
Source:	Source:	Source: 	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source:
** Rosberg was given a ten-second time penalty for making contact with Räikkönen. However, since he finished the race more than ten seconds ahead, his results were not affected.
*† Ocon was given two five-second time penalties for speeding in the pit lane.
==Milestones==
*Jenson Button's 300th start (303rd entry).
*Lewis Hamilton's 100th front row start.
*Daniel Ricciardo's first win since the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix.
*'s first 1-2 finish since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix.
*Jolyon Palmer's first championship point.
==Standings after race==
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	+/- 	
1 	Nico Rosberg 	288 	 	
2 	Lewis Hamilton 	265 	 	
3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	204 	 	
4 	Kimi Räikkönen 	160 	1 	
5 	Sebastian Vettel 	153 	1 	
6 	Max Verstappen 	147 	 	
7 	Valtteri Bottas 	80 	 	
8 	Sergio Pérez 	74 	 	
9 	Nico Hülkenberg 	50 	 	
10 	Fernando Alonso 	42 	1 	
11 	Felipe Massa 	41 	1 	
12 	Carlos Sainz, Jr. 	30 	 	
13 	Romain Grosjean 	28 	 	
14 	Daniil Kvyat 	25 	 	
15 	Jenson Button 	19 	 	
16 	Kevin Magnussen 	7 	 	
17 	Jolyon Palmer 	1 	3 	
18 	Pascal Wehrlein 	1 	1 	
19 	Stoffel Vandoorne 	1 	1 	
20 	Esteban Gutiérrez 	0 	1 	
21 	Marcus Ericsson 	0 	 	
22 	Felipe Nasr 	0 	 	
23 	Rio Haryanto 	0 	 	
24 	Esteban Ocon 	0 	 	
Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source:
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	+/- 	
1 	 	553 	 	
2 	 	359 	 	
3 	 	313 	 	
4 	 	124 	 	
5 	 	121 	 	
6 	 	62 	 	
7 	 	47 	 	
8 	 	28 	 	
9 	 	8 	 	
10 	 	1 	 	
11 	 	0 	 	
Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source:
==See Also==
==Notes==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:2016 Grands Prix