2016 Formula One World Championship (Alt)

This is a fictional account of an alternative version of the 2016 F1 season. For the real 2016 season, see the 2016 Formula One World Championship

The **2016 FIA Formula One World Championship** was the 70th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)'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-four cars with the addition of the Haas F1 Team entry. 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.

## Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers took part in the 2016 season. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.

### Team changes

**Haas debuts.** Several team changes took place before the season began. Haas F1 Team, a team formed by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Gene Haas, joined the Formula One grid, becoming the first American team to compete since the unrelated Haas Lola team competed in 1986. The team used power units supplied by Ferrari and a chassis developed by Dallara. Dallara had last participated in Formula One as the chassis manufacturer for HRT in 2010.

Both Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso underwent changes regarding their power unit supply. The former formally ended their nine-year partnership with engine supplier Renault at the end of the 2015 season, with the team citing the lack of performance from the Renault Energy-F1 2015 engine as a leading factor in the change. The team continued using Renault engines, but they were rebadged as TAG Heuer. Team principal Christian Horner named Renault's partnership with Mario Illien and his company Ilmor as a reason for staying with the manufacturer. Meanwhile, Scuderia Toro Rosso returned to using Ferrari power units, as they had done prior to the start of 2014, after Renault announced that they would no longer supply customer engines. The team used the type 060 power unit used by Ferrari teams in 2015 after Ferrari received approval from the World Motor Sport Council to supply year-old engines.

**Marussia -> Manor.** Marussia applied for their team name to be changed to Manor Racing, a request granted in January 2016. The team adopted the formal name of "Manor Racing MRT" and switched from Ferrari to Mercedes power, with the team upgrading to a 2016-specification engine after having used a year-old Ferrari engine in 2015. The team underwent a management reshuffle following the resignation of team principal John Booth and sporting director Graeme Lowdon.

Sauber underwent a change in ownership in the week prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, with the team being purchased by Longbow Finance. Despite the acquisition and the retirement of team founder Peter Sauber, the team continued to use the Sauber identity.

### Driver changes

**Romain Grosjean: Renault -> Haas, Esteban Ocon -> Haas.** The driver line-ups saw a couple of changes prior to the 2016 season and three more while the season was underway. Romain Grosjean left Renault at the end of the 2015 season. He signed with the newly formed Haas F1 Team for 2016, where he was joined by Esteban Ocon.

**Kevin Magnussen: McLaren -> Renault.**

**Stoffel Vandoorne: -> Mclaren.**

Mercedes chose to replace Alexander Rossi with Marcus Ericsson

### Mid-season changes

Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen traded places ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, with Verstappen promoted to Red Bull Racing and Kvyat returning to Scuderia Toro Rosso. Red Bull explained the decision to swap their drivers as being made to relieve pressure on Kvyat following criticism for his role in a first-lap accident in the Russian Grand Prix, and to ease ongoing tension between Verstappen and teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. at Toro Rosso.

## Season calendar

The following twenty-one Grands Prix took place in 2016.

### Calendar changes

Formula One visited Azerbaijan for the first time in 2016 for the revival of the European Grand Prix. The race was run on a street circuit in the capital, Baku.
There were a few revisions to the calendar from the previous season. The European Grand Prix returned to the calendar after a four-year absence. The race was moved from its previous home in Valencia to a brand-new street circuit in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. It was the first Grand Prix held in Azerbaijan. The German Grand Prix returned to the calendar as well, taking place at the Hockenheimring. The event had been cancelled in 2015 when a venue could not be secured. The circuit had previously hosted the race in 2014 as part of their agreement with the Nürburgring to alternate between venues, with the Hockenheimring hosting the race every even-numbered year.

The Malaysian and Russian Grands Prix were subjected to date changes. The former was paired up with the Japanese Grand Prix in October, reverting to the time of year it was held in 1999–2000, while the latter was brought forward from its October date to May, becoming the fourth round of the season.

Three races were contracted for 2016 but did not feature on the calendar. The Grand Prix of America was set to be held for the first time at the Port Imperial Street Circuit in New Jersey, in accordance with a fifteen-year contract. The race was originally scheduled to debut in 2013, but was delayed for the fourth consecutive year. The Indian Grand Prix was removed from the calendar after the 2013 race, following a dispute over taxation. After several failed attempts at reviving the race in 2014 and 2015, the event's return was deferred until the 2016 season; however, it was once again left off the final calendar for the season. In 2006, Formula One Management had signed a seven-year contract to run the Korean Grand Prix at the Korea International Circuit beginning in 2010. However, the event was discontinued in 2014, and was omitted from the calendar for the third consecutive season in 2016.

## Results and standings

### Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers in every race, using the following structure:

In the event of a tie, a count-back system was used as a tie-breaker, with a driver's best result used to decide the standings.

### World Constructors' Championship standings

In the event of a tie, a count-back system was used as a tie-breaker, with a constructor's best result used to decide the standings.