This is an accepted version of this page
136-622: The McLaren MP4-31 is a Formula One racing car designed by McLaren to compete in the 2016 Formula One season . The car was driven by 2005 and 2006 World Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso and 2009 World Champion Jenson Button , and reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne , who replaced Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix following the Spaniard's accident at the Australian Grand Prix which deemed him unfit for
272-486: A rev limiter . The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) believed that allowing some teams to have such technical freedom would have created a 'two-tier' championship, and thus requested urgent talks with the FIA. But talks broke down and FOTA teams announced, with the exception of Williams and Force India , that 'they had no choice' but to form a breakaway championship series . On 24 June, Formula One's governing body and
408-680: A Formula One race in Azerbaijan were first announced by Bernie Ecclestone – the sport's commercial rights holder – in May 2014, when he declared that the race in Baku would replace the Korean Grand Prix for the 2015 season . The government of Azerbaijan confirmed the plans in July of the same year, declaring that the race would be held under the title Grand Prix of Europe . At the same time,
544-627: A ban on ground-effect aerodynamics during 1983 . But by then, turbocharged engines, which Renault had pioneered in 1977 , were producing over 520 kW (700 bhp) and were essential to be competitive. By 1986 , a BMW turbocharged engine achieved a flash reading of 5.5 bar (80 psi) pressure, estimated to be over 970 kW (1,300 bhp) in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix . The next year, power in race trim reached around 820 kW (1,100 bhp), with boost pressure limited to only 4.0 bar. These cars were
680-590: A clean race, with both cars finishing well inside the points, just the second time since the renewed partnership between McLaren and Honda. Alonso finished in sixth place and Button in ninth. The Spanish Grand Prix saw McLaren eventually making it into the top ten in qualifying for the first time since the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix , with Alonso in tenth. However, it was Button who claimed the points after Alonso retired. The team once again had Alonso into Q3 at Monaco , albeit in another tenth place, but he rose to ninth after Kimi Räikkönen 's five-place grid penalty for
816-469: A driver's fastest lap in that period (barring infractions) counts. Any timed lap started before the end of that period may be completed and will count toward that driver's placement. The number of cars eliminated in each period is dependent on the total number of cars entered into the championship. Currently, with 20 cars, Q1 runs for 18 minutes, and eliminates the slowest five drivers. During this period, any driver whose best lap takes longer than 107% of
952-480: A gearbox change. Eventually, with good timings to pit for different sets of tyres in changeable conditions, Alonso managed to fend off Nico Rosberg in the much faster Mercedes to finish fifth, his joint best result since rejoining McLaren, and outscoring his points tally of last year. Button finished ninth, but felt that he could have finished higher had he not gotten stuck behind traffic. In Canada , Alonso once again qualified 10th and Button 12th. The race however,
1088-489: A generally much better pre-season in terms of reliability than the year before, the team headed to the Australian Grand Prix with progress made to the Honda power unit. McLaren showed progress with the car by qualifying 12th and 13th. However, the race was a disappointment as Alonso was involved in an accident with Haas 's Esteban Gutiérrez which caused Alonso's car to barrel roll a few times before landing upside down. His car
1224-512: A great 1st lap which saw him rise from 19th to 11th. The weekend was pretty encouraging for McLaren as they had endured difficult times at their engine supplier's home race in Japan, only for them to slip outside the points again in Mexico with 12th and 13th place for Button and Alonso respectively. At São Paulo , Alonso made it to Q3 in 10th while Button struggled with balance issues of his car and
1360-482: A guerrilla war with a very long-term aim in view". FOCA threatened to establish a rival series and boycotted a Grand Prix, and FISA withdrew its sanction from races. The result was the 1981 Concorde Agreement , which guaranteed technical stability, as teams were to be given reasonable notice of new regulations. Although FISA asserted its right to the TV revenues, it gave FOCA the administration of those rights. FISA imposed
1496-404: A management buyout to become Brawn GP , with Ross Brawn and Nick Fry running and owning the majority of the organisation. Brawn GP laid off hundreds of employees, but won the year's world championships. BMW F1 was bought out by the original founder of the team, Peter Sauber . The Lotus F1 Team was another, formerly manufacturer-owned team that reverted to "privateer" ownership, together with
SECTION 10
#17327931074901632-468: A new Concorde Agreement committing them to the sport until 2025, including a $ 145 million budget cap for car development to support equal competition and sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the sport to adapt to budgetary and logistical limitations. A significant overhaul of the technical regulations intended to be introduced in the 2021 season was pushed back to 2022, with constructors instead using their 2020 chassis for two seasons and
1768-530: A number of Grand Prix racing organisations made suggestions for a new championship to replace the European Championship, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the new International Formula for cars did not become formalised until 1946, to become effective in 1947. The new World Championship was instituted to commence in 1950 . The first world championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix , took place at Silverstone Circuit in
1904-404: A partnership with Lego , with the first new sets releasing in 2025. The regulations governing Formula One are set to be revised for the 2026 season, with big changes planned to help encourage closer and more competitive racing. Changes include: In November 2024, General Motors reached an agreement to enter Formula 1 in 2026 with its Cadillac brand. A Formula One Grand Prix event spans
2040-470: A press release stating it had been informed it was not entered for the 2010 season, and an FIA press release said the FOTA representatives had walked out of the meeting. On 1 August, it was announced FIA and FOTA had signed a new Concorde Agreement, bringing an end to the crisis and securing the sport's future until 2012. To compensate for the loss of manufacturer teams, four new teams were accepted entry into
2176-516: A reason to impose rule changes that otherwise, under the Concorde Agreement, would have had to be agreed upon by all the teams—most notably the changes introduced for 1998 . This so-called 'narrow track' era resulted in cars with smaller rear tyres, a narrower track overall, and the introduction of grooved tyres to reduce mechanical grip. The objective was to reduce cornering speeds and produce racing similar to rainy conditions by enforcing
2312-434: A season (13, since beaten by Max Verstappen ), and most Drivers' Championships (seven, tied with Lewis Hamilton as of 2021). Schumacher's championship streak ended on 25 September 2005, when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest champion at that time (until Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and followed by Sebastian Vettel in 2010 ). During 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at
2448-442: A smaller contact patch between tyre and track. According to the FIA, this was to reduce cornering speeds in the interest of safety. Results were mixed, as the lack of mechanical grip resulted in the more ingenious designers clawing back the deficit with aerodynamic grip. This resulted in pushing more force onto the tyres through wings and aerodynamic devices, which in turn resulted in less overtaking, as these devices tended to make
2584-417: A time of 1:44.352, a quarter of a second clear of teammate Rosberg. Hülkenberg was third for Force India ahead of Ricciardo and Vettel. The session saw several incidents: Bottas damaged the floor of his car when he ran over a drain cover on his installation lap and was forced to miss the rest of the session; Felipe Massa made contact with the wall, but was later able to rejoin practice; Räikkönen's track time
2720-438: A time which relegated him to the back of the field alongside his former teammate Lewis Hamilton who was penalised with a 55 place grid penalty. At the start of the race, Button fell down the order due to the first turn mayhem caused by the spinning of Vettel's Ferrari. Button was hit at the back of his car by Pascal Wehrlein at Les Combes causing damage to the back of his car forcing him to retire. But Alonso who had started from
2856-427: A token system limiting which parts could be modified introduced. The start of the 2020 season was delayed by several months, and both it and 2021 seasons were subject to several postponements, cancellations, and rescheduling of races due to shifting restrictions on international travel. Many races took place behind closed doors and with only essential personnel present to maintain social distancing . In 2022,
SECTION 20
#17327931074902992-743: A valid Super Licence , the highest class of racing licence the FIA issues, and the races must be held on grade one tracks , the highest grade rating the FIA issues for tracks. Formula One cars are the world's fastest regulated road-course racing cars , owing to very high cornering speeds achieved by generating large amounts of aerodynamic downforce , much of which is generated by front and rear wings. The cars depend on electronics, aerodynamics , suspension , and tyres . Traction control , launch control , and automatic shifting , and other electronic driving aids were first banned in 1994 . They were briefly reintroduced in 2001 , and have more recently been banned since 2004 and 2008 , respectively. With
3128-403: A weekend. It typically begins with two free practice sessions on Friday, and one free practice session on Saturday. Additional drivers (commonly known as third drivers ) are allowed to run on Fridays, but only two cars may be used per team, requiring a race driver to give up their seat. A qualifying session is held after the last free practice session. This session determines the starting order for
3264-399: A world championship race. It entered the 1961 British Grand Prix , the only front-engined car to compete that year. During 1962 , Lotus introduced a car with an aluminium-sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional space-frame design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars. In 1968 , sponsorship was introduced to
3400-408: A wrong engine mode. Due to the regulations stating that drivers had to drive the vehicles "unaided", the team was not allowed to help him. Another lap later, the race ended for Sainz due to a suspension problem. On lap 42, Pascal Wehrlein retired as well with brake failure. By lap 44, Hamilton had sorted out his issues and set the fastest lap of the race while in fifth place. In front of him the order
3536-559: Is allocated one set of the softest tyres for use in Q3. The cars that qualify for Q3 must return them after Q3; the cars that do not qualify for Q3 can use them during the race. As of 2022, all drivers are given a free choice of tyre to use at the start of the Grand Prix, whereas in previous years only the drivers that did not participate in Q3 had free tyre choice for the start of the race. Any penalties that affect grid position are applied at
3672-405: Is corruption in the country. Can you tell me where we are going to be racing?" With the race scheduled for 19 June, the event conflicted with the conclusion of the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans . Force India driver Nico Hülkenberg , who won the 2015 race with Porsche would not be able to return and defend his title, leading to accusations that Formula One Management had deliberately scheduled
3808-434: The 1955 Le Mans disaster . The first major technological development in the sport was Bugatti 's introduction of mid-engined cars. Jack Brabham , the world champion in 1959 , 1960 , and 1966 , soon proved the mid-engine's superiority over all other engine positions. By 1961 all teams had switched to mid-engined cars. The Ferguson P99 , a four-wheel drive design, was the last front-engined Formula One car to enter
3944-457: The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix . Other changes included the qualifying format, the point-scoring system, the technical regulations, and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although, at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use, leading to Bridgestone becoming
4080-403: The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix , where Jules Bianchi collided with a recovery vehicle after aquaplaning off the circuit, dying nine months later from his injuries. Since 1994, three track marshals have died, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix , one at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix and one at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix . Since Senna's and Ratzenberger's deaths, the FIA has used safety as
4216-425: The 2017 and 2018 seasons featured a title battle between Mercedes and Ferrari. Mercedes ultimately won the titles with multiple races to spare and continued to dominate in the next two years, eventually winning seven consecutive Drivers' Championships from 2014 to 2020 and eight consecutive Constructors' titles from 2014 to 2021. During this eight-year period between 2014 and 2021, a Mercedes driver won 111 of
McLaren MP4-31 - Misplaced Pages Continue
4352-603: The Alfa Romeo name, Sauber introduced a title partnership with the online casino Stake.com , resulting in the team's new identity as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber . Sauber will hold Stake's sponsorship name until the end of 2025, after which it will become the Audi works team for the 2026 season onwards. Scuderia AlphaTauri , Red Bull's junior team, dropped its name and took on sponsors from Hugo Boss and Cash App, becoming Visa Cash App RB, or VCARB for 2024. Formula One announced
4488-497: The Chinese Grand Prix . Both the cars once again comfortably made it into Q2, albeit not Q3 but then had an uninspiring race to get two cars to the finish line for the first time outside the points, despite Alonso at one time running third. The Russian race saw both cars failing to make it into Q3, extending that barren run to 23 races. However, in a race of attrition, both cars benefited from turn one incidents to have
4624-500: The Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA), the manufacturers negotiated a larger share of Formula One's commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport. In 2008 and 2009, Honda , BMW , and Toyota all withdrew from Formula One racing within a year, blaming the economic recession . This resulted in the end of manufacturer dominance of the sport. The Honda F1 team went through
4760-710: The Imperial Tobacco 's Gold Leaf livery at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix . Aerodynamic downforce slowly gained importance in car design with the appearance of aerofoils during the 1968 season. The wings were introduced by Lotus's owner Colin Chapman who installed modest front wings and a rear spoiler on his Lotus 49 B at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix . In the late 1970s, Lotus introduced ground-effect aerodynamics, previously used on Jim Hall 's Chaparral 2J in 1970, that provided enormous downforce and greatly increased cornering speeds. The aerodynamic forces pressing
4896-531: The Jaguar Racing team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since Alfa Romeo's and Renault's departures in 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams—Renault, BMW , Toyota , Honda, and Ferrari—dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the Constructors' Championship. The exception was McLaren, which at the time was part-owned by Mercedes-Benz. Through
5032-602: The World Constructors' Championship . Rosberg went on to win the race—his first race win since the Russian Grand Prix —and extended his championship lead to twenty-four points. The result also marked Rosberg's second career grand slam . Sebastian Vettel finished second, with Force India driver Sergio Pérez completing the podium. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes extended their lead over Ferrari to eighty-one points. Valtteri Bottas recorded
5168-505: The World Manufacturers' Championship ( 1925 – 1930 ) and European Drivers' Championship ( 1931 – 1939 ). The formula is a set of rules that all participants' cars must follow. Formula One was a formula agreed upon in 1946 to officially become effective in 1947 . The first Grand Prix in accordance with the new regulations was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix , anticipating the formula's official start. Before World War II ,
5304-488: The third round of the 2016 GP2 Series championship as a supporting event. Following the initial announcement of its revival, the race was subject to criticism in light of Azerbaijan's human rights record as the race was established with the financial support of the Azerbaijani government. On 7 June 2016, the organisation Sport for Rights called for Bernie Ecclestone to speak out about the human rights situation in
5440-409: The 'sprint shootout'; such a system made its debut at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and is set to be used throughout all sprint sessions in place of the traditional second free practice session. Sprint qualifying sessions are run much shorter than traditional qualifying, and each session required teams to fit new tyres - mediums for SQ1 and SQ2, and softs for SQ3 - otherwise they cannot participate in
5576-585: The 160 races, with Hamilton winning 81 of these and taking six Drivers' Championships during this period to equal Schumacher's record of seven titles. In 2021 , the Honda-powered Red Bull team began to seriously challenge Mercedes, with Verstappen beating Hamilton to the Drivers' Championship after a season-long battle that saw the pair exchange the championship lead multiple times. This era has seen an increase in car manufacturer presence in
McLaren MP4-31 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5712-538: The 2010 season ahead of a much anticipated 'cost-cap'. Entrants included a reborn Team Lotus —led by a Malaysian consortium including Tony Fernandes , the boss of Air Asia ; Hispania Racing —the first Spanish Formula One team; and Virgin Racing — Richard Branson 's entry into the series following a successful partnership with Brawn the year before. They were also joined by the US F1 Team , which planned to run out of
5848-561: The 2010 season, Mercedes-Benz reentered the sport as a manufacturer after it purchased Brawn GP and split with McLaren after 15 seasons with the team. During the 2009 season, Formula One was gripped by the FIA–FOTA dispute . FIA President Max Mosley proposed numerous cost-cutting measures for the next season, including an optional budget cap for the teams; teams electing to take the budget cap would be granted greater technical freedom, adjustable front and rear wings, and an engine not subject to
5984-513: The 2nd consecutive year, both Alonso and Button could only manage 16th and 18th place, their worst finishing positions (excluding retirements) of 2016 so far. In Austin , Button was surprisingly knocked out in Q1 since he could not find clear track and was delayed by Jolyon Palmer 's Renault on the final corner which caught him off-guard, while Alonso was knocked out in Q2 and managed to qualify 12th, despite
6120-417: The Drivers' Championship with 116 points, nine ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton . Sebastian Vettel followed in third with 78 points, six clear of Daniel Ricciardo , followed by Kimi Räikkönen with 69. In the Constructors' standings, Mercedes led the field with 223 points, ahead of Ferrari with 147. Third was Red Bull Racing with 130 points, with Williams a further 49 points behind. Plans to hold
6256-494: The F1 governing body announced a major rule and car design change intended to promote closer racing through the use of ground effects , new aerodynamics, larger wheels with low-profile tyres, and redesigned nose and wing regulations. Red Bull emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup. The 2022 and 2023 Constructors' and Drivers' Championships were won by Red Bull and Verstappen, with multiple races to spare. In 2023
6392-481: The FIA opened applications for new teams to enter Formula 1 in the then near future. Of the teams that applied, only Andretti were approved by the FIA, with them then being rejected by Formula One Management , though they have launched an appeal. In early 2024, the Formula One landscape underwent a significant change in the sphere of team sponsorships and collaborations. Having competed for five seasons under
6528-650: The UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Promoters held non-championship Formula One events for many years. Due to the increasing cost of competition, the last of these was held in 1983. This era featured teams managed by road-car manufacturers, such as Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati . The first seasons featured prewar cars like Alfa Romeo's 158 , which were front-engined , with narrow tyres and 1.5-litre supercharged or 4.5-litre naturally aspirated engines. The 1952 and 1953 seasons were run to Formula Two regulations, for smaller, less powerful cars, due to concerns over
6664-524: The United Kingdom on 13 May 1950. Giuseppe Farina , competing for Alfa Romeo , won the first Drivers' World Championship, narrowly defeating his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio . Fangio won the championship in 1951 , 1954 , 1955 , 1956 , and 1957 . This set the record for the most World Championships won by a single driver, a record that stood for 46 years until Michael Schumacher won his sixth championship in 2003. A Constructors' Championship
6800-557: The United States as the only non-European-based team in the sport. Financial issues befell the squad before they even made the grid. Despite the entry of these new teams, the proposed cost-cap was repealed and these teams—which did not have the budgets of the midfield and top-order teams—ran around at the back of the field until they collapsed; HRT in 2012, Caterham (formerly Lotus) in 2014 and Manor (formerly Virgin, then Marussia), having survived falling into administration in 2014, at
6936-406: The average annual cost of running a team—designing, building, and maintaining cars, pay, transport—at approximately £220,000,000 (or $ 265,000,000), Formula One's financial and political battles are widely reported. The Formula One Group is owned by Liberty Media , which acquired it in 2017 from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners for £6.4 billion ($ 8 billion). Formula One originated from
SECTION 50
#17327931074907072-620: The back made the most out of it as many drivers had to pit after lap 1 to repair the damage or to retire. On lap 6 Kevin Magnussen crashed heavily at Eau Rouge which caused the Safety Car to be deployed. Most of the drivers ahead of Alonso came in to pit for fresh tyres which elevated him to 4th. He managed to finish in 7th and get 6 points for the team which saw them overtake Toro Rosso in the Constructors' Championship. However, in Monza ,
7208-503: The back of Nico Hülkenberg 's car. Hamilton remained tenth until he overtook Kvyat for ninth place on lap four. One lap later, both Bottas and Hamilton seized an opportunity to overtake Max Verstappen , as he ran wide into turn two. As a reaction, Red Bull decided to change tyres on Verstappen's car on the following lap. Another lap later, Ricciardo followed suit. At Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso , Daniil Kvyat retired on lap eight. On lap ten, Hamilton overtook Bottas for fourth place, but
7344-867: The ban on driver aids was in name only, as they "proved difficult to police effectively". The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement in 1992 and a third in 1997. On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams dominated the 1980s and 1990s. Brabham was also competitive during the early 1980s, winning two Drivers' Championships with Nelson Piquet . Powered by Porsche , Honda , and Mercedes-Benz , McLaren won 16 championships (seven constructors' and nine drivers') in that period, while Williams used engines from Ford , Honda, and Renault to also win 16 titles (nine constructors' and seven drivers'). The rivalry between racers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost became F1's central focus during 1988 and continued until Prost retired at
7480-468: The build of the tyre, compromising its rigidity and increasing the likelihood of tyre failures. Further concerns were raised about the impact of the temporary surface used to protect the cobblestones through the Old City section on the tyres, amid fears that predicted high temperatures throughout the weekend would cause this surface to break up. Following the first free practice session, it was found that
7616-636: The buy-out of the Renault team by Genii Capital investors. But a link with its previous owners still survived, with its car continuing to be powered by a Renault engine until 2014. McLaren also announced that it was to reacquire the shares in its team from Mercedes-Benz (McLaren's partnership with Mercedes was reported to have started to sour with the McLaren Mercedes SLR road car project and tough F1 championships, which included McLaren being found guilty of spying on Ferrari ). Hence, during
7752-434: The car seemingly returning to competitiveness. McLaren nonetheless still delivered a 4th double points finish of the season, with Alonso benefiting from a Virtual Safety Car to make a free pit-stop and therefore matched his best finish of 5th since rejoining McLaren and for 2016, after late overtakes on both Massa and Sainz , despite colliding with Massa which caused Massa to suffer a puncture. Button again finished 9th, after
7888-504: The cars failed to score points with Button recovering to finish 11th and Alonso retiring due to a gearbox problem. At the Red Bull Ring, Austria , the team was expected to struggle for performance due to the high speed nature of the track. But surprisingly, the car performed above everybody's expectations as Button qualified 5th and started in 3rd, equalling his best qualifying position since 2014 British Grand Prix where qualifying
8024-403: The cars to the track were up to five times the car's weight. As a result, extremely stiff springs were needed to maintain a constant ride height , leaving the suspension virtually solid. This meant that the drivers depended entirely on the tyres for any small amount of cushioning of the car and driver from irregularities of the road surface. Beginning in the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone rearranged
8160-482: The charge behind Mercedes in third, ahead of Bottas and Nico Hülkenberg . Fernando Alonso managed eleventh place, but had to spend considerable time in the garage while his team worked on his car. Marcus Ericsson also had limited track time as a problem with his exhaust pipe forced him to miss the early part of the session. With loose kerbs detected during the GP2 qualifying session, drivers were instructed to stay clear of
8296-417: The circuit, while most teams opted for a full complement of soft and supersoft tyres and taking only the minimum number of medium compound tyres dictated by the rules. In preparing for the race, Pirelli acknowledged concerns about the circuit's high speed straights and direction changes causing "standing waves" over longer runs, a phenomenon whereby the energy passing through the wheel is strong enough to shift
SECTION 60
#17327931074908432-453: The country, having written an open letter to him to which Ecclestone had not replied. Sport for Rights made it clear that they did not call for a cancellation of the race, but instead urged the sport to use the race to promote these issues in public. Ecclestone replied a week later, saying that Formula One had "a clear conscience" on human rights and added: "I tell you what we ought to do. As far as we are concerned, not have any races where there
8568-456: The dearth of Formula One cars. When a new Formula One formula for engines limited to 2.5 litres was reinstated for the 1954 world championship, Mercedes-Benz introduced its W196 , which featured things never seen on Formula One cars before, such as desmodromic valves , fuel injection , and enclosed streamlined bodywork. Mercedes drivers won the championship for the next two years, before the team withdrew from all motorsport competitions due to
8704-409: The end of 1993 . Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of the notorious curve Tamburello . The FIA worked to improve the sport's safety standards since that weekend, during which Roland Ratzenberger also died in an accident during Saturday qualifying. No driver died of injuries sustained on the track at the wheel of a Formula One car for 20 years until
8840-541: The end of 2006 after 16 years in Formula One, but came out of retirement for the 2010 season, racing for the newly formed Mercedes works team, following the rebrand of Brawn GP . During this period, FIA frequently changed the championship rules with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs. Team orders , legal since the championship started during 1950, were banned during 2002, after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at
8976-439: The end of 2016. A major rule shakeup in 2014 saw the 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8 engines replaced by 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid power units. This prompted Honda to return to the sport in 2015 as the championship's fourth power unit manufacturer. Mercedes emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup, with Lewis Hamilton winning the championship closely followed by his main rival and teammate, Nico Rosberg , with
9112-490: The end of qualifying. Grid penalties can be applied for driving infractions in the previous or current Grand Prix, or for changing a gearbox or engine component. If a car fails scrutineering, the driver will be excluded from qualifying but will be allowed to start the race from the back of the grid at the race stewards' discretion. 2021 saw the trialling of a 'sprint qualifying' race on the Saturday of three race weekends, with
9248-496: The end of the race (as a result of a two-stop strategy) to move into 8th on the final lap. At Spa-Francorchamps , Honda introduced new engine upgrades claiming its true potential will not be seen until the Singapore Grand Prix. But they were surprised to see that it was showing good pace at a track where engine power matters the most. Button managed to qualify in 9th and Alonso had an engine failure and failed to set
9384-406: The end of the season, despite the changes in technical regulations for 2017 . In Singapore , the team said that they could have been the fourth best team for that weekend. But the car struggled and Button qualified 13th after damaging his left-rear wheel from a tap with the wall but started 12th due to Pérez being issued a five place grid penalty. Alonso started the race in 9th. Button retired from
9520-461: The exception of the crashed Hamilton and Rosberg, who elected not to go out – to fight for positions on the grid. Daniel Ricciardo led the column of cars out and set a lap time good enough for third place; Sebastian Vettel matched his lap time to the thousandth of a second, and was classified fourth, as Ricciardo had set his lap time first. Kimi Räikkönen finished fifth, ahead of Felipe Massa . Daniil Kvyat out-qualified teammate Sainz in seventh,
9656-592: The exit of turn 15, losing one of his rear wheels and causing an eleven-minute red flag period. Hamilton was again fastest in the second session on Friday afternoon, edging out Rosberg by almost seven-tenths of a second. Rosberg's running was limited as he coasted to a halt on track with twenty minutes of the session left to go due to losing drive. Ferrari was not competitive in eighth and thirteenth place for Vettel and Räikkönen respectively, with both cars suffering from problems with their energy recovery unit. The top five cars were powered by Mercedes, as Sergio Pérez led
9792-590: The faster Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari cars, Alonso was able to keep the Toro Rosso of Sainz a comfortable distance behind him and finished in 7th. Hockenheimring featured the McLaren cars battling in the midfield for the lower point places. After some good midfield battles, both cars struggled towards the end with fuel saving. This led to Alonso dropping out of the points in the last few laps and finishing 12th. Button capitalised on Bottas slowing drastically at
9928-466: The fastest getting first place on the grid, referred to as pole position . From 1996 to 2002, the format was a one-hour shootout. This approach lasted until the end of 2002 before the rules were changed again because the teams were not running in the early part of the session to take advantage of better track conditions later on. Grids were generally limited to 26 cars – if the race had more entries, qualification would also decide which drivers would start
10064-415: The fastest time in Q1 will not be allowed to start the race without permission from the stewards. Otherwise, all drivers proceed to the race albeit in the worst starting positions. This rule does not affect drivers in Q2 or Q3. In Q2, the 15 remaining drivers have 15 minutes to set one of the ten fastest times and proceed to the next period. Finally, Q3 lasts 12 minutes and sees the remaining ten drivers decide
10200-409: The first few laps of the race, Button experienced a problem with the brake pedal sensor which lead to a drop in pace, a pit stop, and then a penalty for illegal radio communications when discussing the problem. Button eventually retired with an oil leak on lap 60 after making some progress moving from the back of the field. Alonso had a stronger race, heading the front of the midfield. While not troubling
10336-489: The first ten grid positions. At the beginning of the 2016 Formula 1 season, the FIA introduced a new qualifying format, whereby drivers were knocked out every 90 seconds after a certain amount of time had passed in each session. The aim was to mix up grid positions for the race, but due to unpopularity, the FIA reverted to the above qualifying format for the Chinese GP, after running the format for only two races. Each car
10472-450: The first time that he had out-qualified a teammate in 2016. Valtteri Bottas overcame the damage to his car and lack of running during free practice to finish eighth alongside Verstappen, the two having been involved in a series of on-track altercations throughout qualifying. Hamilton finished tenth, with his time of over two minutes having been recorded when he took to the escape road on his first flying lap. During qualifying, Bottas reached
10608-426: The grid in the process. Sainz and Magnussen were also demoted, with Magnussen having to start from the pit lane. Lewis Hamilton was given permission to change his front left tyre ahead of the race. Under the regulations, a driver who qualifies in the top ten must start the race on the set of tyres they used to record their best time in the second part of qualifying. However, Hamilton's front left tyre, which belonged to
10744-406: The highest ever clocked speed in an official Formula One session, at 378 kilometres per hour (235 mph) during qualifying, breaking the previous record of 369.6 kilometres per hour (229.7 mph), set by Antônio Pizzonia at Monza during the 2004 Italian Grand Prix . As of 2024 , this is the last 1-2 finish between German Formula One drivers . Going into the weekend, Nico Rosberg led
10880-477: The highest ever recorded speed in an official Formula One session, at 378 km/h (235 mph), exceeding the previous record of 369.6 km/h (229.7 mph) set by Antônio Pizzonia at the 2004 Italian Grand Prix . Sergio Pérez was demoted to seventh with the application of a gearbox penalty, following a change made necessary after he hit the barrier in turn 15 during the last practice session. This promoted Ricciardo, Vettel, Räikkönen, Massa, and Kvyat up
11016-492: The injured Alonso. Both cars once again made it to Q2 easily. During the race, Button was on course for a good result, however unreliability struck him once again, retiring after just eight laps with an engine problem. However, Vandoorne did have the honours of picking up McLaren's first point by finishing tenth, including a notable overtake on the Force India of former McLaren driver Sergio Pérez . Alonso then returned for
11152-475: The intention of testing the new approach to qualifying. The traditional qualifying would determine the starting order for the sprint, and the result of the sprint would then determine the start order for the Grand Prix. The system returned for the 2022 season, now titled the 'sprint'. From 2023, sprint races no longer impacted the start order for the main race, which would be determined by traditional qualifying. Sprints would have their own qualifying session, titled
11288-416: The kerbs at turn 6. Once more, many drivers had minor incidents on track, with some having to take to the run-off area at turn 3, while Gutiérrez touched the barrier at turn 8. Carlos Sainz Jr. spun at the first corner, but nevertheless finished the session in sixth, the fastest runner without a Mercedes power unit. In the third session on Saturday morning, Hamilton topped the timesheets once again, setting
11424-565: The management of Formula One's commercial rights; he is widely credited with transforming the sport into the multibillion-dollar business it now is. When Ecclestone bought the Brabham team during 1971, he gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors' Association , and in 1978, he became its president. Previously, the circuit owners controlled the income of the teams and negotiated with each individually; Ecclestone persuaded
11560-443: The metal bolts used to anchor segments of kerbing to the roadway had started working loose and had been cutting into the rubber of the tyres, necessitating minor modifications to the circuit in order to correct the issue. The race saw the use of two drag reduction system (DRS) zones, with the first positioned along the main straight and the second located on the parallel back straight between turns 2 and 3. The circuit also hosted
11696-509: The most powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984 , and boost pressures in 1988 , before banning turbocharged engines completely in 1989 . The development of electronic driver aids began in the 1980s. Lotus began to develop a system of active suspension , which first appeared during 1983 on the Lotus 92 . By 1987, this system had been perfected and
11832-439: The name refers to the set of rules all participants' cars must follow. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix . Grands Prix take place in multiple countries and continents on either purpose-built circuits or closed roads. A point-system is used at Grands Prix to determine two annual World Championships: one for the drivers , and one for the constructors (the teams). Each driver must hold
11968-465: The next event. The car used the Honda RA616H power unit, the second engine developed by Honda since their return to the sport with McLaren in 2015. This was the final McLaren to use the "MP4" prefix following CEO Ron Dennis 's departure from the team, and also final McLaren car to use ExxonMobil fuel and lubricant since the transfer of ExxonMobil sponsorship to Red Bull Racing in 2017. After
12104-509: The organisers announced that the debut in Baku would be delayed until 2016 . Hermann Tilke , the designer of the street circuit, released first pictures of the planned venue in October 2014. Even though the race faced criticism by human rights activists, citing the government's attitude towards civil liberties, Ecclestone gave the go-ahead for the race in April 2015. The Grand Prix in Baku was
12240-520: The pit crews time to clear themselves and their equipment from the grid for the race start. 2016 European Grand Prix The 2016 European Grand Prix (formally known as the 2016 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe ) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 19 June 2016 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku , Azerbaijan . The race was the eighth round of the 2016 season , and marked
12376-461: The pit. After providing teams with the ultrasoft compound for the Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix , tyre supplier Pirelli made the supersoft, soft and medium compounds available for the race despite the ultrasoft compound being specifically designed for street circuits . Pirelli explained the decision not to provide the ultrasoft tyres as being a result of a lack of available performance data on
12512-596: The podium interview, conducted by former team owner Eddie Jordan , Rosberg hailed an "amazing weekend" for himself, saying that he was "ecstatic" about the victory, but refused to answer questions concerning the outcome of the World Championship. Second-placed Vettel praised the track and his team's effort in preparing the car after difficulties in Friday's free practice. Sergio Pérez emphasised his recovery after his gearbox penalty, which put him back five places on
12648-415: The race during the final couple of laps due to an energy storage battery failure. The team had then scored more points with less than half of the season completed compared to the previous season's tally of 27 points. At Hungaroring , both cars made it into Q3 for the first time since Abu Dhabi in 2014, their last race with engines supplied by Mercedes, with Alonso qualifying 7th and Button qualifying 8th. In
12784-426: The race on Sunday. Each driver may use no more than thirteen sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of intermediate tyres, and three sets of wet-weather tyres during a race weekend. For much of the sport's history, qualifying sessions differed little from practice sessions; drivers would have one or more sessions in which to set their fastest time, with the grid order determined by each driver's best single lap, with
12920-560: The race on lap 43 due to brake issues caused by a start-line collision with Bottas whilst trying to avoid Hülkenberg, who crashed out. Alonso however had a steady race to finish in 7th place yet again. In Sepang , the team introduced an upgraded engine planned for Alonso to take the engine penalty which relegated him to last place in qualifying, while Button was expected to take the new engine and penalty in Austin . Button did made it to Q3, using an older spec engine all weekend with 9th. The car
13056-529: The race to conflict with Le Mans and prevent Formula One drivers from participating. In May 2016, the Azerbaijan government decided to abandon the use of daylight saving time , prompting event organisers to change the start time of the race. The revised start time negated the clash between the start of the Grand Prix and the race in Le Mans. Per the regulations for the 2016 season, two 90-minute practice sessions were held on Friday and another 60-minute session
13192-569: The race, but was classified as they had completed greater than 90% of the race distance. Formula One Formula One , commonly known as Formula 1 or F1 , is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the world's premier forms of racing since its inaugural running in 1950 . The word formula in
13328-461: The race. During the early 1990s, the number of entries was so high that the worst-performing teams had to enter a pre-qualifying session, with the fastest cars allowed through to the main qualifying session. The qualifying format began to change in the early 2000s, with the FIA experimenting with limiting the number of laps, determining the aggregate time over two sessions, and allowing each driver only one qualifying lap. The current qualifying system
13464-476: The revised radio rules, stating: "The rule needs to be looked at again because it is a technical issue." He stressed that the ban made the sport more dangerous. Several drivers, such as Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, joined him in his criticism. It transpired after the race that Rosberg had had the same problem, a couple of laps after it occurred on Hamilton's car, but was able to solve it faster than his teammate. Following his pit lane entry violation during
13600-473: The right-front suspension whilst bouncing the kerbs, while Alonso again finished 10th. The team rounded off the season 6th in the Constructor's Championship, a marked improvement compared to 2015 where it finished 9th. The team also finished with 76 points, compared to just 27 in 2015 . ( key ) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) † Driver failed to finish
13736-437: The same spot three laps later. With Räikkönen facing a five-second time penalty for crossing the pit entry line, Pérez behind him would not have to pass him to achieve third place as long as he stayed within five seconds of him. Pérez nevertheless made the move on the final lap to finish in the final podium position. Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg crossed the line to win the Grand Prix, more than 16 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel. At
13872-457: The season. Jenson Button qualified nineteenth, after running wide at turn 15 on his first flying lap and aborting his second after encountering traffic. Marcus Ericsson finished twentieth overall, ahead of the Renaults of Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer , who struggled with a lack of power on the circuit's long straights. The second qualifying period was fifteen minutes in length, and
14008-402: The second to be held in the former Soviet Union , following the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi , first held in 2014 . The circuit passed its final inspection in May 2016 with FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting declaring his satisfaction that the circuit would be ready in time for the race. The circuit attracted some criticism from drivers who highlighted a lack of run-off in some corners and
14144-459: The session. The race begins with a warm-up lap, after which the cars assemble on the starting grid in the order they qualified. This lap is often referred to as the formation lap, as the cars lap in formation with no overtaking (although a driver who makes a mistake may regain lost ground). The warm-up lap allows drivers to check the condition of the track and their car, gives the tyres a chance to warm up to increase traction and grip, and also gives
14280-445: The set of tyres that he subsequently used to set his fastest time during his next flying lap, was deemed to be too damaged following his lock-up going into turn seven, necessitating its change on safety grounds. At the start of the race, Rosberg retained his lead ahead of Ricciardo, followed by Vettel and Räikkönen. Sergio Pérez gained two places and was fifth, while Esteban Gutiérrez damaged his front wing when he made contact with
14416-462: The soft rather than the supersoft tyre compound used by the Mercedes drivers. Several drivers got caught out on the new track, the first being Esteban Gutiérrez , who was forced into the run-off area at turn 15. Hamilton also had an incident, touching the barrier at turn 3 and flat-spotting his tyres later on the lap. The biggest incident occurred when Daniel Ricciardo crashed his Red Bull RB12 at
14552-406: The sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season by default. On 20 December 2007 Bridgestone signed a contract that officially made it the exclusive tyre supplier for the next three seasons. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a 'green' future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would be an important factor. Starting in 2000, with Ford's purchase of Stewart Grand Prix to form
14688-487: The sport . Team Gunston became the first team to run cigarette sponsorship on its Brabham cars, which privately entered in orange, brown and gold colours of Gunston cigarettes in the 1968 South African Grand Prix on 1 January 1968. Five months later, the first works team , Lotus, initially using the British racing green , followed this example when it entered its cars painted in the red, gold, and white colours of
14824-663: The sport. After Honda's return as an engine manufacturer in 2015, Renault came back as a team in 2016 after buying back the Lotus F1 team. In 2018, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo became Red Bull and Sauber's title sponsors, respectively. Sauber was rebranded as Alfa Romeo Racing for the 2019 season, while Racing Point part-owner Lawrence Stroll bought a stake in Aston Martin to rebrand the Racing Point team as Aston Martin for 2021. In August 2020, all ten F1 teams signed
14960-406: The starting grid and the satisfaction of overtaking Räikkönen on the last lap of the race. During the following press conference, Vettel expressed surprise at the fact that no safety car period had emerged over the course of the race. Fifth-placed Hamilton, who had been stuck in a wrong engine mode for twelve laps and was at first unable to resolve the issue without the help of his team, attacked
15096-552: The team were not expected to be competitive due to the long straights. Both drivers were eliminated in Q2 and as expected finished outside the points, despite Alonso setting the first fastest lap for a Honda-powered car since Ayrton Senna did so in Portugal in 1992 , and McLaren's first fastest lap since Sergio Pérez did in Malaysia in 2013 . The team also confirmed that more upgrades to both car and engine will be introduced until
15232-536: The team winning 16 out of the 19 races that season. The team continued this form in the next two seasons, again winning 16 races in 2015 before taking a record 19 wins in 2016 , with Hamilton claiming the title in the former year and Rosberg winning it in the latter by five points. The 2016 season also saw a new team, Haas , join the grid, while Max Verstappen became the youngest-ever race winner at age 18 in Spain . After revised aerodynamic regulations were introduced,
15368-452: The teams reached an agreement to prevent a breakaway series. It was agreed teams must cut spending to the level of the early 1990s within two years; exact figures were not specified, and Max Mosley agreed he would not stand for reelection to the FIA presidency in October. Following further disagreements, after Mosley suggested he would stand for reelection, FOTA made it clear that breakaway plans were still being pursued. On 8 July, FOTA issued
15504-600: The teams to "hunt as a pack" through FOCA. He offered Formula One to circuit owners as a package they could take or leave. In return for the package, almost all that was required was to surrender trackside advertising. The formation of the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) in 1979 set off the FISA–FOCA war , during which FISA and its president Jean-Marie Balestre argued repeatedly with FOCA over television revenues and technical regulations. The Guardian said that Ecclestone and Max Mosley "used [FOCA] to wage
15640-672: The technological advances of the 1990s, the cost of competing in Formula One increased dramatically, thus increasing financial burdens. This, combined with the dominance of four teams (largely funded by big car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz), caused the poorer independent teams to struggle not only to remain competitive but to stay in business. This effectively forced several teams to withdraw. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won five consecutive Drivers' Championships (2000–2004) and six consecutive Constructors' Championships (1999–2004). Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91, since beaten by Lewis Hamilton ), wins in
15776-403: The tight pit entry positioned at one of the fastest points on the circuit. Following problems with loose kerbs in free practice, changes were made in turns 6 and 12, where the kerbs were replaced by painted markings on the track. Further revisions were made to the pit entry ahead of qualifying, extending the white line denoting the entry lane to allow drivers more time to react to cars entering
15912-478: The track as well. Drivers from McLaren , Williams , Renault (formerly Benetton ), and Ferrari , dubbed the "Big Four", won every World Championship from 1984 to 2008 . The teams won every Constructors' Championship from 1979 to 2008 , as well as placing themselves as the top four teams in the Constructors' Championship in every season between 1989 and 1997 , and winning every race but one (the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix ) between 1988 and 1997 . Due to
16048-693: The track in ninth place. Second placed Sebastian Vettel came into the pit lane at the end of lap 21 and dropped to third behind Ricciardo. Race leader Rosberg made his stop one lap later, retaining the lead. On lap 23, both Pérez and Hamilton passed Ricciardo, who came in for his second tyre change at the end of the lap and dropped back to 13th place. Aided by pit stops in front of him and a timely overtake on Carlos Sainz Jr. on lap 27, he moved back into ninth shortly thereafter. Two laps later, Räikkönen let teammate Vettel pass him for second place, albeit 18 seconds down on race leader Rosberg. Starting by lap 32, Hamilton suffered from problems with his car, being stuck in
16184-758: The twenty-third running of the European Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship and, as of 2024 , the last time the title European Grand Prix was used for a Formula One race. It was the first and last time that the race was held at the circuit and the first time that a Grand Prix had been held in Azerbaijan. Nico Rosberg entered the round holding a nine-point lead in the World Drivers' Championship ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton . Their team, Mercedes , came in leading Ferrari by seventy-six points in
16320-404: The updated engine for the race, resulting in McLaren being outpaced by the likes of Haas , Renault , and even Sauber . Button failed to even make it to Q2, while Alonso qualified just 15th, with Button electing to take the new engine and penalty intended for Austin, for strategic reasons due to the car's lack of competitiveness for that race, and started last. With no retirements from the race for
16456-425: The wake behind the car turbulent or 'dirty'. This prevented other cars from following closely due to their dependence on 'clean' air to make the car stick to the track. The grooved tyres also had the unfortunate side effect of initially being of a harder compound to be able to hold the grooved tread blocks, which resulted in spectacular accidents in times of aerodynamic grip failure, as the harder compound could not grip
16592-415: Was Rosberg, Vettel, Räikkönen and Pérez. One lap later, Fernando Alonso retired in the pit lane due to gearbox issues, after having been passed by multiple drivers in the preceding laps. As Rosberg was comfortably in the lead, still 18 seconds ahead of Vettel, Verstappen took ninth place from Massa going into turn one on lap 46. Red Bull teammate Ricciardo also gained a place, at Hülkenberg's expense, at
16728-403: Was a surprise elimination in twelfth, having run consistently at the front of the field throughout the weekend. His elimination was attributed to a miscommunication between himself and his engineer over the amount of fuel he had on board. Carlos Sainz Jr. and Fernando Alonso finished thirteenth and fourteenth to fill the seventh row of the grid, ahead of Gutiérrez. The third and final session
16864-532: Was added in the 1958 season . Stirling Moss , despite being regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers in the 1950s and 1960s, never won the Formula One championship. Between 1955 and 1961, Moss finished second in the championship four times and third the other three times. Fangio won 24 of the 52 races he entered—still the record for the highest Formula One winning percentage by an individual driver. National championships existed in South Africa and
17000-525: Was adopted in the 2006 season. Known as "knock-out" qualifying, it is split into three periods, known as Q1, Q2, and Q3. In each period, drivers run qualifying laps to attempt to advance to the next period, with the slowest drivers being "knocked out" of qualification (but not necessarily the race) at the end of the period and their grid positions set within the rearmost five based on their best lap times. Drivers are allowed as many laps as they wish within each period. After each period, all times are reset, and only
17136-515: Was also held in mixed conditions, due to Rosberg and Vettel receiving 5 place grid penalties. Alonso meanwhile struggled with the car and managed to qualify down in 14th, due to the team's error in sending him out in old tyres instead of the newer ones. During the race, Button managed to get into 2nd before the first corner, overtaking the slow starting Force India of Nico Hülkenberg . Button managed to finish in 6th place after faster cars such as Red Bulls and Ferraris overtook him and Alonso retiring from
17272-466: Was competitive enough to deliver a double points finish for the 2nd time with Alonso using back the old engine to claw his way back to yet another 7th-place finish, while Button stayed in 9th. However a week later in Suzuka , Honda's home race, the team experienced their most difficult race of the season as the circuit characteristics were not suited to either the car or the engine, despite both drivers using
17408-438: Was disappointing and branded as forgetful, as Button once again succumbed to early reliability woes by having an engine failure, and Alonso finished just outside the points in 11th, having lost time on pit-stops and also lack of pace with the car. At the newly introduced Baku City Circuit , the cars showed good pace in the first free practice sessions but Alonso and Button qualified a disappointing 14th and 19th respectively. Both
17544-545: Was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna in the Monaco Grand Prix that year. In the early 1990s, other teams followed suit and semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control were a natural progression. The FIA, due to complaints that technology was determining races' outcomes more than driver skill, banned many such aids for the 1994 season. This resulted in cars that previously depended on electronic aids becoming very "twitchy" and difficult to drive. Observers felt
17680-478: Was eliminated in Q1 in 17th. During the rain-soaked race, Alonso finished 10th after recovering from a spin to overtake 7 cars from 17th while Button again struggled with the balance and wound up in 16th place and last. Finally, in Abu Dhabi , Alonso once again made it to Q3 in 9th, while Button qualified 12th in what was possibly Button's last race in F1. During the race, Button unfortunately retired due to breaking
17816-427: Was held before qualifying on Saturday. In the first ever session on the new track on Friday morning, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time at 1:46.435. He was followed by his Mercedes teammate Rosberg almost four-tenths of a second back, with Valtteri Bottas third for Williams , also within one second of Hamilton. Fernando Alonso was an encouraging fourth for McLaren . Both Bottas and Alonso set their fastest times on
17952-463: Was limited as well due to a loss of power; and a red flag period occurred right after the chequered flag fell as Pérez crashed at turn 15. The first period of qualifying (Q1) ran for eighteen minutes and set positions seventeen to twenty-two on the grid. Nico Rosberg was the fastest at the end of the session, which saw MRT drivers Rio Haryanto and Pascal Wehrlein eliminated in seventeenth and eighteenth place, their best qualifying performance of
18088-541: Was more than twenty seconds behind teammate Rosberg. He went into the pit lane for a tyre change on lap 15. Force India reacted two laps later and brought Pérez in and he emerged back from the pit lane just ahead of Hamilton. Meanwhile, the order at the front was Rosberg, Vettel, Bottas, Ricciardo and Räikkönen. On lap 18, Räikkönen took fourth place by overtaking Ricciardo on the start/finish straight. Pérez moved ahead of Massa into seventh on lap 20, and Hamilton followed through one lap later, while Bottas pitted and returned to
18224-493: Was totally wrecked and Alonso suffered from broken ribs and a collapsed lung, ruling him out of the next race in Bahrain . Button's race was badly affected because of this, as the red flag was shown after he had made a pit stop. With a few cars in front of him making a free change of tyres as a result of the red flag, Button struggled through to finish 14th. In Bahrain, the team fielded reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne to replace
18360-461: Was twelve minutes long. Sergio Pérez set the early pace before Hamilton made a mistake, also impeding Rosberg's first flying lap. Rosberg surpassed Pérez's lap time to claim provisional pole while Hamilton crashed out, clipping the barrier on the inside of turn 10 and breaking his front suspension. The session was immediately red-flagged while Hamilton's car was cleared away, and resumed with just two minutes remaining. This left eight drivers – with
18496-522: Was used to set positions eleven through to sixteen. It was once again topped by Nico Rosberg, who was the first person to set a time under 1:43.000 all weekend. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton locked his brakes on the approach to turn 7, damaging his race tyres. Hamilton narrowly avoided elimination, setting a time good enough to proceed on his last attempt. Romain Grosjean was eliminated in eleventh, having overcome issues with his brake balance. Nico Hülkenberg
#489510