2016 Formula One World Championship

In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes successfully defended their title for the second consecutive year, beating Red Bull Racing by 297 points.

Ecclestone would be removed from his role on 23 January 2017 after nearly 40 years in the job following Liberty Media's purchase of the sport from CVC Capital Partners.

Lotus's participation in the 2016 season was in question pending the resolution of a High Court case brought against the team by HM Revenue and Customs over unpaid PAYE tax.

Team principal Christian Horner named Renault's partnership with Mario Illien and his company Ilmor as a reason for staying with the manufacturer.

[32] 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.

[46] Despite originally having signed a contract with Lotus for 2016,[47] Pastor Maldonado announced he would not be driving for Renault after his sponsors were unable to fulfil their contractual obligations to the team.

[59] 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.

[60] Rio Haryanto lost his race seat after the German Grand Prix, when his sponsors were unable to meet their financial obligations to the team.

[62] His race seat was filled by 2015 GP3 Series champion and Renault test driver Esteban Ocon, who made his Formula One debut with MRT at the Belgian Grand Prix.

[1] 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.

[83] The rules governing the use of the drag reduction system, which is deactivated when under Virtual Safety Car periods and full-course yellow flags, were also amended.

Drivers were now allowed to make use of the device as soon as a Virtual Safety Car period has ended;[83] while they previously had to wait two laps before the system was reactivated.

[94] The changes were introduced following the controversy which surrounded Max Verstappen qualifying for a superlicence at the age of sixteen after a single season competing in European Formula 3.

[110] Gutiérrez ended up in the gravel trap with terminal rear tyre damage, and quickly went over to Alonso who managed to exit his cockpit unaided.

[110] Due to the huge amount of debris caused by the accident the race was red flagged, with the cars subsequently lining up in the pitlane.

[120] This yielded Nico Rosberg's first pole position of the year after Hamilton suffered a number of setbacks both in qualifying and during the race itself, eventually finishing in seventh place, with his teammate taking his third consecutive victory of the 2016 season.

[128] Helped by the race starting behind the safety car he held the lead for 33 laps, but was unable to convert it to a win after his team made a costly error during his pit-stop.

[133] Hamilton reduced the deficit to Rosberg to a single point at the next round in Great Britain, where difficult conditions saw the drivers contend with a drying circuit and varying grip levels.

[136] Mercedes instructed him to reset the gearbox and to avoid using seventh gear or else risk a catastrophic failure, which prompted an investigation by the stewards for providing him with assistance.

[138] The Grand Prix was marked by controversy: Rosberg secured pole position on a drying circuit in qualifying after McLaren's Fernando Alonso spun in front of him necessitating a double waved yellow flag.

[140] The race saw Jenson Button fall afoul of new restrictions on pit-to-car communications that demanded that any car with an issue serious enough to require the intervention of the team be pitted or retired.

[143] However, Hamilton remained pessimistic about his position as championship leader, as with nine races left in the season, he was anticipating grid penalties for exceeding his engine allocation.

[145] He took advantage of first-lap contact between Vettel, Räikkönen and Verstappen to work his way through the field before a heavy accident involving Kevin Magnussen at Eau Rouge forced the race to be temporarily stopped.

[147] Further down the order, Verstappen was subject to increasing criticism over his driving tactics after being caught in several incidents with Räikkönen and Sergio Pérez, while Esteban Ocon finished sixteenth on debut for MRT.

[149] Hamilton dropped as low as fifth at the start, recovering to fourth in the opening laps and got ahead of the Ferraris of Vettel and Räikkönen by making one pit-stop less.

[150] Rosberg reclaimed the championship lead in Singapore, qualifying on pole while Hamilton was forced to settle for third after struggling with mechanical issues and driving errors.

[155] Ricciardo raced Max Verstappen for the lead when Hamilton's retirement triggered a Virtual Safety Car, prompting Red Bull to pit both drivers at the same time.

[155] Nico Rosberg finished third despite having ten seconds added to his race time for contact with Kimi Räikkönen, extending his championship lead to twenty-three points.

[158] Hamilton led another Mercedes 1–2 in Mexico, with the race overshadowed by a late incident that saw Verstappen run wide and cut part of the circuit, triggering an angry radio message from Sebastian Vettel.

[167] Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers in every race, using the following structure:[170] 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.