2016 European Grand Prix

The 2016 European Grand Prix (officially the 2016 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe) was the 8th round of the 2016 Formula One season. It was held between 17 June and 19 June 2016. It was the first European Grand Prix since the last race in at the Valencia Street Circuit, but was instead held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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==Background==
After the results of the , Nico Rosberg went into the European Grand Prix with 116 points in the Drivers' Championship, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton was nine points behind. With his second-place finish in Canada, Sebastian Vettel moved up to third, having 78 points in total. Daniel Ricciardo fell down to fourth, six points behind Vettel, while Kimi Räikkönen was dropped down to fifth with 69 points in total. led the Constructors' Championship with 223 points. were second with 147 points, while were 17 points behind Ferrari. were fourth with 81 points, followed by with 42 points.
After the 2012 European Grand Prix in Valencia, the European Grand Prix was absent on the calendar three times consecutively, while the Korean Grand Prix was removed from the calendar in despite its seven-year contract starting from . Following this, Bernie Ecclestone decided to find a different Grand Prix to take its place, which it would result in the European Grand Prix returning to the calendar and be held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Following its final inspection in May 2016, the FIA race director Charlie Whiting confirmed that the circuit was ready to be used. However, the drivers criticised the circuit for some corners having run-off plus the pit entry being tight and located on a fast part of the track. During free practice, there were problems where parts of the kerbs became loose. In response, the kerbs at Turns 6 and 12 were replaced with markings, plus the apex kerbs at the pit exit's curve. Additionally, following the drivers' concerns about the pit entry having a tight corner and the white line not being visible at a fast speed, the pit entry was extended and moved to the left part of the track along with a "pit entry" marking displayed on the track. To improve safety, a rule was given out to not cross the white line in any direction, meaning that drivers must keep away from the white line if they are not going into the pits.
Driver tyre choices
Team		Driver 	 	 	 		Driver 	 	 	
 		Hamilton 	8	4	1		Rosberg 	8	3	2
 		Vettel 	7	5	1		Räikkönen 	7	5	1
 		Bottas 	7	4	2		Massa 	7	5	1
 		Ricciardo 	8	4	1		Verstappen	8	4	1
 		Magnussen 	8	4	1		Palmer 	8	4	1
 		Hülkenberg	7	4	2		Pérez 	7	4	2
 		Kvyat 	8	4	1		Sainz 	8	4	1
 		Alonso 	7	5	1		Button 	7	5	1
 		Ericsson 	6	5	2		Nasr 	6	6	1
 		Wehrlein 	7	4	2		Haryanto 	7	4	2
 		Grosjean 	8	3	2		Gutiérrez 	8	4	1
In the two previous races in Monaco and Canada, the drivers used the ultrasoft tyres, as those are allowed to be used on a street circuit. Although the Baku City Circuit is a street circuit, Pirelli decided not to have ultrasoft tyres used in the race, because they could not get any more information since the circuit was being used for the first time, meaning they were not sure if the ultrasoft tyres were safe on the circuit. They allowed the medium, soft and supersoft tyres to be used in the race, where all the drivers decided to use around seven sets of supersoft tyres each, and only one or two sets of mediums each. Pirelli were also worried about if the long straights and drivers changing direction could cause "standing waves" when going on a set of tyres for a longer distance, where the energy coming through the wheels can change the tyres' build, which could result in the tyres not being stiff and more likely to fail. There were even concerns about that the temporarily surface that was put above the cobblestones in the Old City section could put impact onto the tyres, as well as if the surface could be broken up by high temperatures. After the first practice session, it was discovered that the loose bolts on the kerbs were also affecting the tyres, which resulted in race officials solving the issue. On 17 June 2016, Pirelli confirmed they extended their deal to support tyres for the Formula One teams until the end of .
Two DRS zones are located on the circuit: one on the start/finish straight, and the other on the straight between Turns 2 and 3.
Also occurring that weekend was the third race of the 2016 GP2 Series.
After the European Grand Prix was announced back in 2014, controversy was sparked by the fact that the Azerbaijani government gave financial support to the race despite Azerbaijan's human rights record. At the same time, the Russian Grand Prix was also given financial support, while Russia was thought to be involved in an incident in Ukraine. The heads of Red Bull and Mercedes, Christian Horner and Toto Wolff, replied by advising not to have any political issues close to sport. on 7 June 2016, Ecclestone was reached out by an organisation called Sport for Rights, as they wanted him to talk about the country's human rights, while saying that they were not demanding the race to be cancelled, but instead to send the issues out in public.
The date of the race was also controversial, due to the fact that the 24 Hours of Le Mans was on the same date, which meant that Nico Hülkenberg, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015, could not compete in the 2016 Le Mans race. Following this, Azerbaijan made a decision to no longer use daylight saving time in their country, in an attempt to have the European Grand Prix and 2016 Le Mans start at different times.
==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	
88 	Rio Haryanto 	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==
===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 	 	1:49.778	13 	1:46.293	10 	1:45.620	4 	 	 	 	 	
5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	1:48.627	5 	1:46.219	8 	1:45.630	5 	 	 	 	 	
6 	Nico Rosberg 	 	1:46.812	2 	1:44.913	2 	1:44.610	2 	 	 	 	 	
7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	1:49.635	12 	1:46.694	13 	1:46.024	10 	 	 	 	 	
8 	Romain Grosjean 	 	1:49.611	11 	1:46.681	12 	1:46.361	13 	 	 	 	 	
9 	Marcus Ericsson 	 	1:50.473	15 	1:47.772	19 	1:47.328	19 	 	 	 	 	
11 	Sergio Pérez 	 	1:48.922	6 	1:45.336	3 	1:45.735	6 	 	 	 	 	
12 	Felipe Nasr 	 	1:51.771	21 	1:48.081	22 	1:47.379	20 	 	 	 	 	
14 	Fernando Alonso 	 	1:47.989	4 	1:46.498	11 	1:46.131	11 	 	 	 	 	
19 	Felipe Massa 	 	1:49.125	8 	1:47.060	16 	1:46.510	14 	 	 	 	 	
20 	Kevin Magnussen 	 	1:50.939	19 	1:47.329	17 	1:47.024	16 	 	 	 	 	
21 	Esteban Gutiérrez	 	1:50.167	14 	1:46.830	15 	1:46.670	15 	 	 	 	 	
22 	Jenson Button 	 	1:49.019	7 	1:46.234	9 	1:45.954	8 	 	 	 	 	
26 	Daniil Kvyat 	 	1:50.551	17 	1:46.744	14 	1:45.981	9 	 	 	 	 	
27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	1:49.301	10 	1:45.920	5 	1:45.540	3 	 	 	 	 	
30 	Jolyon Palmer 	 	1:50.910	18 	1:47.794	20 	1:47.158	18 	 	 	 	 	
33 	Max Verstappen 	 	1:50.485	16 	1:46.068	7 	1:45.901	7 	 	 	 	 	
44 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	1:46.435	1 	1:44.223	1 	1:44.352	1 	 	 	 	 	
55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	 	1:49.267	9 	1:46.027	6 	1:46.190	12 	 	 	 	 	
77 	Valtteri Bottas 	 	1:47.096	3 	1:45.764	4 	No Time 	22 	 	 	 	 	
88 	Rio Haryanto 	 	1:51.925	22 	1:47.487	18 	1:47.556	21 	 	 	 	 	
94 	Pascal Wehrlein 	 	1:51.219	20 	1:48.018	21 	1:47.100	17 	 	 	 	 	
Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:
==Qualifying==
===Post-qualifying===
After being knocked out in Q2, Alonso revealed that he and Button could not match the speed of the midfield due to the long start/finish straight: "The car works in the corners, but on the straight we are losing seven or eight tenths. On full throttle and with the steering wheel straight we are losing all that. It's frustrating but it's not something we didn't know when we arrived here. The lack of power is obvious and on circuits like this we try to make do, especially in the race with other cars. It will be hard but hopefully we can score some points. We have seen a lot of offs and a lot of accidents so it's all to play for. We have to stay on track and at any point you can find yourself in sixth or seventh with a bit of luck."
Verstappen was left unhappy following the two overtakes Bottas had on him during qualifying, stating them to be "dangerous" and "unnecessary", plus ruining both their laps. Bottas, meanwhile, said: "I thought, and the team thought, that Verstappen was on a double out lap, as they had been doing all weekend. I got the confirmation of that myself when exiting Turn 16. I saw his ERS lights flashing, so he was not in the [engine] mode yet. I was trying to get a good gap so I could get a nice slipstream to the lap and open the lap, but then he pulled away in Turn 19. So I found out at Turn 19/20 that maybe he was going for the lap and at that place you cannot back off any more as you lose all the straight line speed. So I thought the only option for me was to try to overtake. But it ruined his lap but also my lap. I got some dirt on my tyres and I don't even call that a lap – there was a lap time on the board that put me for P8. Then the second run I had the red flag with Lewis [Hamilton]. I went out again after the red flag, but I don't think the lap would have been mega. I felt with the tyres we lost quite a bit of temperature with the red flag, and there was just a bit of traffic. Everyone was trying to gain a track position and opening the lap I knew there was probably not much time left, so I didn't have time to leave a proper gap to Verstappen. Again I saw my only opportunity was to try to fight for the track position and try to overtake, but I couldn't do it again. Again it ruined my lap and his lap. I think it was really unlucky – and I was driven into really difficult decisions and situations today. Not my day at all.
Hamilton declared that there was nothing wrong with his car when he hit the wall during Q3: "The car was good. It was me - I just wasn't on it. I wasn't hitting apexes; wasn't hitting the right braking zones. These kinds of days come and go, and you just have to take the rough with the smooth. I just have to get as high as possible. I'll do what I can. I highly doubt I can win the race; my job is just to try and get through the big tangle of cars I have in front of me." His teammate Rosberg stated there would still be a chance of Hamilton battling him for the lead: "Lewis, never forget him. He can always come back from tenth. I'm sure the race will be very exciting - it's one of the easiest circuits to overtake on, so there is going to be a lot of changing places..." He was also given permission to have his front-left tyre from Q2 changed, since it was damaged from its lockup.
===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 	6 	Nico Rosberg 	 	 	1 	1:43.685 	 	1 	1:42.520 	 	1 	1:42.758 	1
2 	11 	Sergio Pérez 	 	 	3 	1:44.462 	 	3 	1:43.939 	 	2 	1:43.515 	7*
3 	3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	 	4 	1:44.570 	 	4 	1:44.141 	 	3 	1:43.966† 	2
4 	5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	 	11 	1:45.062 	 	6 	1:44.461 	 	4 	1:43.966† 	3
5 	7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	 	9 	1:44.936 	 	8 	1:44.533 	 	5 	1:44.269 	4
6 	19 	Felipe Massa 	 	 	13 	1:45.494 	 	10 	1:44.696 	 	6 	1:44.483 	5
7 	26 	Daniil Kvyat 	 	 	5 	1:44.694 	 	9 	1:44.687 	 	7 	1:44.717 	6
8 	77 	Valtteri Bottas 	 	 	6 	1:44.706 	 	7 	1:44.477 	 	8 	1:45.246 	8
9 	33 	Max Verstappen 	 	 	10 	1:44.939 	 	5 	1:44.387 	 	9 	1:45.570 	9
10 	44 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	 	2 	1:44.259 	 	2 	1:43.526 	 	10 	2:01.954 	10
11 	8 	Romain Grosjean 	 	 	14 	1:45.507 	 	11 	1:44.755 	 	 	 	11
12 	27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	 	8 	1:44.860 	 	12 	1:44.824 	 	 	 	12
13 	55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr. 	 	 	7 	1:44.827 	 	13 	1:45.000 	 	 	 	18‡
14 	14 	Fernando Alonso 	 	 	15 	1:45.525 	 	14 	1:45.270 	 	 	 	13
15 	21 	Esteban Gutiérrez 	 	 	12 	1:45.300 	 	15 	1:45.349 	 	 	 	14
16 	12 	Felipe Nasr 	 	 	16 	1:45.549 	 	16 	1:46.048 	 	 	 	15
17 	88 	Rio Haryanto 	 	 	17 	1:45.665 	 	 	 	 	 	 	16
18 	94 	Pascal Wehrlein 	 	 	18 	1:45.750 	 	 	 	 	 	 	17
19 	22 	Jenson Button 	 	 	19 	1:45.804 	 	 	 	 	 	 	19
20 	9 	Marcus Ericsson 	 	 	20 	1:46.231 	 	 	 	 	 	 	20
21 	20 	Kevin Magnussen 	 	 	21 	1:46.348 	 	 	 	 	 	 	PL§
22 	30 	Jolyon Palmer 	 	 	22 	1:46.394 	 	 	 	 	 	 	21
107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942	107% time: 1:50.942
Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source:
** Pérez was given a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change which was not scheduled.
*† Ricciardo and Vettel both set the same times in Q3, but since Ricciardo crossed the start/finish line first, he was given second place on the grid.
*‡ Sainz was given a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change which was not scheduled.
*§ Magnussen had an unscheduled gearbox change, plus changes to his suspension set-up. These both resulted in a pit lane start.
===Grid===
The starting grid of the is as below:
Show Grid
Source
** Pérez was given a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change which was not scheduled.
*† Sainz was given a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change which was not scheduled.
*‡ Magnussen had an unscheduled gearbox change, plus changes to his suspension set-up in the parc fermé. These both resulted in a pit lane start.
==Race==
===Report===
===Post-race===
Following the race, both Hamilton and Mercedes explained that both his and Rosberg's cars were not on the right energy deployment settings thanks to a mishap on Friday. Rosberg was able to fix the issue right away after it occurred on him during one point in the race, while Hamilton received the issue at the start of the race and struggled to find the correct settings himself due to the new restriction rules of 2016 having banned his team from telling him which was the correct setting. By the time he got onto the right setting, he noticed he did not have enough laps to catch up to the leaders, so Hamilton just focused on saving the engine.
===Results===
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid 	Points
1 	6 	Nico Rosberg 	 	51 	1h 32m 52.366s	1 	25
2 	5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	51 	+16.696 	3 	18
3 	11 	Sergio Pérez 	 	51 	+25.241 	7 	15
4 	7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	51 	+33.102* 	4 	12
5 	44 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	51 	+56.335 	10 	10
6 	77 	Valtteri Bottas 	 	51 	+60.886 	8 	8
7 	3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	51 	+69.229 	2 	6
8 	33 	Max Verstappen 	 	51 	+70.696 	9 	4
9 	27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	51 	+77.708 	12 	2
10 	19 	Felipe Massa 	 	51 	+85.375 	5 	1
11 	22 	Jenson Button 	 	51 	+104.817 	19 	
12 	12 	Felipe Nasr 	 	50 	+1 Lap 	15 	
13 	8 	Romain Grosjean 	 	50 	+1 Lap 	11 	
14 	20 	Kevin Magnussen 	 	50 	+1 Lap 	PL 	
15 	30 	Jolyon Palmer 	 	50 	+1 Lap 	21 	
16 	21 	Esteban Gutiérrez	 	50 	+1 Lap 	14 	
17 	9 	Marcus Ericsson 	 	50 	+1 Lap 	20 	
18 	88 	Rio Haryanto 	 	49 	+2 Laps 	16 	
19 	14 	Fernando Alonso 	 	42 	Electrical 	13 	
Ret 	94 	Pascal Wehrlein 	 	39 	Wheel 	17 	
Ret 	55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	 	31 	Throttle 	18 	
Ret 	26 	Daniil Kvyat 	 	6 	Hydraulics 	6 	
Source:	Source:	Source: 	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source:
** Räikkönen was given a five-second time penalty for crossing the white line of the pit entry. However, it did not affect his results.
==Milestones==
*'s fifth podium.
*Nico Rosberg scored his second Grand Chelem.
*Last 1-2 finish between German drivers.
==Standings after race==
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	+/- 	
1 	Nico Rosberg 	141 	 	
2 	Lewis Hamilton 	117 	 	
3 	Sebastian Vettel 	96 	 	
4 	Kimi Räikkönen 	81 	1 	
5 	Daniel Ricciardo 	78 	1 	
6 	Max Verstappen 	54 	 	
7 	Valtteri Bottas 	52 	 	
8 	Sergio Pérez 	39 	1 	
9 	Felipe Massa 	38 	1 	
10 	Daniil Kvyat 	22 	 	
11 	Romain Grosjean 	22 	 	
12 	Nico Hülkenberg 	20 	1 	
13 	Fernando Alonso 	18 	1 	
14 	Carlos Sainz, Jr. 	18 	 	
15 	Kevin Magnussen 	6 	 	
16 	Jenson Button 	5 	 	
17 	Stoffel Vandoorne 	1 	 	
18 	Esteban Gutiérrez 	0 	 	
19 	Jolyon Palmer 	0 	 	
20 	Marcus Ericsson 	0 	 	
21 	Felipe Nasr 	0 	1 	
22 	Pascal Wehrlein 	0 	1 	
23 	Rio Haryanto 	0 	 	
Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source:
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	+/- 	
1 	 	258 	 	
2 	 	177 	 	
3 	 	140 	 	
4 	 	90 	 	
5 	 	59 	 	
6 	 	32 	 	
7 	 	24 	 	
8 	 	22 	 	
9 	 	6 	 	
10 	 	0 	 	
11 	 	0 	 	
Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source:
==Notes==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:European Grand Prix
Category:2016 Grands Prix
Category:Formula One races in Azerbaijan