2016 Russian Grand Prix
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The 2016 Russian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2016 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix; russian: links=no, translit=Gran-pri Rossii 2016 goda, Гран-при России 2016 года) was a
Formula One Formula One (also 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 World Drivers' Championship, ...
motor race Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
that took place on 1 May 2016. The race, contested over fifty-three laps, was held at the
Sochi Autodrom The Sochi Autodrom (russian: Сочи Автодром, Sochi Avtodrom), previously known as the Sochi International Street Circuit and the Sochi Olympic Park Circuit, is a permanent race track in the settlement of Sirius (urban-type settlement) ...
. It was the fourth round of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship and marked the fifth running of the
Russian Grand Prix The Russian Grand Prix (russian: Гран-при России, Gran-pri Rossii) was an annual motor racing event held at Sochi Autodrom – a permanent circuit built around the Olympic Park in Sochi – as part of the Formula One World Champio ...
, the third time as a round of the Formula One World Championship since the series inception in .
Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German-Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Fi ...
of Mercedes came into the race leading the championship ahead of his teammate
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...
, who was the defending race winner.
Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German-Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Fi ...
won the race from
pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
, ahead of his teammate
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...
, with
Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...
completing the podium for
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
. While Rosberg extended his winning streak to seven consecutive Grands Prix,
Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and Aston Martin in Formula One ...
retired from the race on the first lap, after contact with
Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...
's
Daniil Kvyat Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat ( rus, Дании́л Вячесла́вович Квят, p=dənʲɪˈil vʲɪtɕɪˈslavəvʲɪtɕ ˈkvʲat; born 26 April 1994) is a Russian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2014– ...
. With the maximum number of 100 points from the first four races of the season, Rosberg left Russia with a 43-point lead to Hamilton. By securing pole position, winning the race, setting the fastest lap and leading every lap, Nico Rosberg achieved the first
grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
of his career.


Report


Background

Going into the fourth Grand Prix weekend of the season,
Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German-Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Fi ...
and his team Mercedes were leading the Drivers' and Constructors' championships respectively. Rosberg was 36 points ahead of his teammate
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...
, having taken 75 out of 75 available points from the first three races of the season.
Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( "Ricardo", ; born 1 July 1989) is an Italian-Australian racing driver who last raced in Formula One driving for McLaren, under the Australian flag. He made his debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with the HRT ...
followed in third place, three points behind Hamilton. In the Constructors' standings, Mercedes headed the field with 114 points, 53 points ahead of
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
and 57 points clear of
Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...
. This was the third time since the Russian Grand Prix debuted in Formula One in
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
that the race was held as part of the World Championship. Two early editions of the race were held in 1913 and 1914.
Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...
used the first practice session to test the "aeroscreen", a form of cockpit protection developed in response to fatal accidents of the drivers such as
Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...
,
Jules Bianchi Jules Lucien André Bianchi (; 3 August 1989 – 17 July 2015) was a French motor racing driver who drove for the Marussia F1 Team in the FIA Formula One World Championship. Bianchi had previously raced in Formula Renault 3.5, GP2 and Form ...
, Justin Wilson and
Henry Surtees Henry John Surtees (18 February 1991 – 19 July 2009) was a British racing driver and the son of John Surtees. He died during a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch when he was struck by a wheel which came off another car which had spun into a wal ...
, who were struck on the head by flying debris. The aeroscreen was developed as an alternative to the "halo" device trialled by
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
during pre-season testing. The device was fitted to
Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( "Ricardo", ; born 1 July 1989) is an Italian-Australian racing driver who last raced in Formula One driving for McLaren, under the Australian flag. He made his debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with the HRT ...
's car and he completed a single installation lap to assess it before it was removed for the remainder of the session. Ricciardo was satisfied with the device, saying: "Where we have the structure in place is pretty much where the mirrors are so I wouldn't say it hindered any more than we are now in terms of visibility. Peripheral vision was fine as well." Sole tyre supplier
Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational tyre manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, is the 6th-largest tyre manufacturer and is focused on the consumer production of tyre ...
brought the medium, soft and supersoft tyres to the event, continuing the trend established in the
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...
,
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
and Chinese Grands Prix. Per the regulations of the season, every driver needs to set aside one set each of the two hardest compounds for the race and one set of the supersoft tyres for Q3 (should they advance). The drivers have freedom of what other compounds they choose for the remaining ten out of thirteen sets. It was the 100th race for Pirelli tyres since their return to the sport in .


Free practice

Per the regulations for the season, two ninety-minute practice sessions were held on Friday and another one-hour session was held before qualifying on Saturday. In the first session on Friday morning,
Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German-Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Fi ...
was fastest for Mercedes with a time of 1:38.127, more than seven-tenths of a second ahead of his teammate
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...
. Both set their fastest times on the super-soft tyre compound, while
Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and Aston Martin in Formula One ...
and
Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...
at
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
opted for the harder soft compound, slotting in third and fourth fastest respectively. Several drivers had problems with spinning or running wide, either in turn two or between turns 15 and 16. Among the drivers caught out were Hamilton, Vettel, Jolyon Palmer and
Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super GT ...
. Two reserve drivers made an appearance during the first free practice session. Sergey Sirotkin drove for
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
, taking the place of
Kevin Magnussen Kevin Jan Magnussen (born 5 October 1992) is a Danish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Haas F1 Team. He is the son of four-time Le Mans winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Kevin Magnussen came up through McLa ...
, making his second appearance in a Formula One car, after driving for
Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...
during free practice at the
2014 Russian Grand Prix The 2014 Russian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2014 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix; russian: links=no, translit=Gran-pri Rossii 2014 goda, Гран-при России 2014 года, t=''Bol'shoi Priz Rossii'') was a Formula One motor race hel ...
.
Alfonso Celis Jr. Alfonso Celis Enecoiz, known as Alfonso Celis Jr., (born 18 September 1996) is a Mexican former racing driver. Career Karting Born in Mexico City, Celis entered karting in 2009 and raced until 2012 in the local Mexican karting championships. E ...
replaced
Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the yea ...
at
Force India Force India Formula One Team Limited, commonly known as Force India and later Sahara Force India, was a Formula One racing team and constructor based in Silverstone, United Kingdom, with an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 20 ...
during the first practice session. Sirotkin ended the session ahead of his teammate Palmer, while Celis finished last, more than three seconds behind teammate
Sergio Pérez Sergio Michel "Checo" Pérez Mendoza (; born 26 January 1990), is a Mexican Auto racing, racing driver who races in Formula One for Red Bull Racing, having previously driven for Sauber, McLaren, Force India, and Racing Point. He won his first ...
. Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets in second practice on Friday afternoon with a time of 1:37.583, using the super-soft compound. Earlier in the session, he had suffered a spin in turn four that flat-spotted his tyres and sent him back to the pitlane. Rosberg managed only third fastest as the Mercedes drivers were split by Sebastian Vettel, even though the latter suffered from electrical problems that lost him track time. Rosberg in turn was unable to improve on his time set on the soft-compound tyre due to his super-soft run being compromised by yellow flags shown after a spin by
Romain Grosjean Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a Swiss-French professional racing driver, competing under the French flag in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. Grosjean had previously spent nine ...
. Behind the top three, Kimi Räikkönen was again fourth, ahead of
Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( "Ricardo", ; born 1 July 1989) is an Italian-Australian racing driver who last raced in Formula One driving for McLaren, under the Australian flag. He made his debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with the HRT ...
and
Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Viktor Bottas (; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Alfa Romeo, having previously driven for Mercedes from to and Williams from to . Bottas has scored race wins and podiums. H ...
. Slowest of the session was
Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...
's
Marcus Ericsson Marcus Thorbjörn Ericsson (; born 2 September 1990) is a Swedish professional racing driver. He competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 8 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing and is the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner. Ericsson previously ...
, with the two Manor drivers
Rio Haryanto Rio Haryanto (born 22 January 1993) is an Indonesian racing driver and a former Formula One driver for Manor during 2016 season. He last competed in the 2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series and in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia for T2 Motorsp ...
and
Pascal Wehrlein Pascal Wehrlein (born 18 October 1994) is a German-Mauritian racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team. He previously raced in Formula One for the Sauber and Manor teams. Holding dual nationality of Germany and Mauritius, he raced under the ...
slotting in ahead of him. Wehrlein reported a loss of power after crossing the chequered flag at the end of the session. In third practice on Saturday morning, Hamilton narrowly beat Rosberg to the fastest time, lapping just 0.068 seconds faster than his teammate. All drivers used the super-soft tyre compound to set their fastest lap times, with the two Ferrari cars of Vettel and Räikkönen third and fourth ahead of the Williams pair of
Felipe Massa Felipe Massa (, born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver. He competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between 2002 and 2017, where he scored 11 Grand Prix victories, 41 podiums and finished as championship runner-up in 2008 by one poin ...
and Valtteri Bottas. Vettel had spent most of the session testing his car with a heavier fuel load in preparation for the race that would see him start with a five-place grid penalty for a change of the gearbox. He completed the highest number of laps with 28, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who was 11th fastest. At the back end, the Sauber drivers of Ericsson and Nasr were slowest, behind both Manor cars.


Qualifying

Qualifying consisted of three parts, 18, 15 and 12 minutes in length respectively, with six drivers eliminated from competing after each of the first two sessions. During the first part of qualifying (Q1), Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time, a new fastest lap of the track ever at 1:36.006. However, he also came under investigation of the stewards as he failed to obliged the rules set for turn 2, rejoining the track earlier than allowed after running wide. After being summoned to the stewards at the end of qualifying, he walked away with a reprimand, but was not penalised. Behind Rosberg in second place, the two Ferrari cars of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen were third and fourth respectively. At the tail end of the field, three pairs of cars were eliminated: both Sauber, Manor and Renault drivers missed Q2. In the second part, Nico Rosberg was fastest, half a second faster than teammate Hamilton, and 1.7 seconds clear of the
pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
lap time from the year before. Both
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
s had shown promising pace, but nevertheless dropped out of contention in 12th and 14th, while
Daniil Kvyat Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat ( rus, Дании́л Вячесла́вович Квят, p=dənʲɪˈil vʲɪtɕɪˈslavəvʲɪtɕ ˈkvʲat; born 26 April 1994) is a Russian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2014– ...
was the last driver to secure a place in Q3, demoting
Carlos Sainz Jr. Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro (; born 1 September 1994), otherwise known as Carlos Sainz Jr. or simply Carlos Sainz, is a Formula One drivers from Spain, Spanish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He is th ...
to 11th. Kvyat's
Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...
teammate
Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( "Ricardo", ; born 1 July 1989) is an Italian-Australian racing driver who last raced in Formula One driving for McLaren, under the Australian flag. He made his debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with the HRT ...
also progressed, albeit suffering a failure of his wing mirror, which hung off the side of his vehicle during his last timed lap. Eliminated at the back were both Haas drivers, along
Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the yea ...
, who was unable to follow his teammate Pérez into Q3 and qualified 13th. As Q3 started, it became apparent that Lewis Hamilton would be unable to take part, suffering from a hybrid system failure in the turbo charger, the same problem that had plagued him in China two weeks earlier. Nico Rosberg went on to secure pole position, even though his last timed lap was compromised by a tyre lockup into turn 13. Sebastian Vettel was closest to Rosberg, but a five-place grid penalty meant that he would start the race from seventh on the grid, moving Valtteri Bottas into the first row. Kimi Räikkönen was fourth fastest, ahead of Massa, Ricciardo, Pérez, Kvyat and Verstappen. After qualifying, Mercedes decided to switch Hamilton's car back to his spare power unit, which had been rebuilt following its failure at the Chinese Grand Prix, thereby avoiding a grid penalty, which they would have incurred if a new power unit would have been installed. Williams were satisfied with their pace in qualifying, praising the advances they made in slow-corner speed.


Race

At the start, several drivers made contact with one another into turn two. Sebastian Vettel was hit in the rear by Daniil Kvyat there and during turn three, the latter of which caused him to crash into the barrier and retire from the competition. Further back,
Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the yea ...
was hit by
Esteban Gutiérrez Esteban Manuel Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (; born 5 August 1991) is a Mexican racing driver currently representing Mercedes in Formula One, Formula E and esports and Inter Europol Competition in World Endurance Championship. Previously from 2013 ...
and collected
Rio Haryanto Rio Haryanto (born 22 January 1993) is an Indonesian racing driver and a former Formula One driver for Manor during 2016 season. He last competed in the 2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series and in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia for T2 Motorsp ...
, forcing both Hülkenberg and Haryanto into retirement as well. As the safety car came out to allow for the cars and debris to be cleared from the track, several cars headed to the pit lane to repair damage, among them Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat and Sergio Pérez. The order at the restart on lap four was: Rosberg, Räikkönen, Bottas, Massa and Hamilton, who had stayed clear of the incidents to move up to fifth. On the restart, Bottas moved ahead of Räikkönen, while Hamilton made a successful move on Massa into fourth. Kvyat's early pit stop left him in 15th at that point, and he soon served a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for his contacts with Vettel, dropping him to last. Meanwhile, Hamilton overtook Räikkönen to move into third on lap seven.
Felipe Nasr Luiz Felipe de Oliveira Nasr (born 21 August 1992) is a Brazilian racing driver. He is the 2018 IMSA Sportscar champion and won the 2019 12 Hours of Sebring. After a year as the official test driver for Williams in 2014, he joined Sauber a ...
came into the pit lane on lap 12 to replace a slow puncture on his tyres. The order at the front remained the same until Bottas became the first front runner to pit for fresh tyres on lap 17. Hamilton followed suit one lap later, but still emerged behind Bottas, overtaking him into turn two another lap later. On lap 20, Räikkönen made a pit stop as well, coming back out behind Hamilton, but ahead of Bottas. All the while, Rosberg led comfortably ahead of
Max Verstappen Max Emilian Verstappen (; born 30 September 1997) is a Belgian-Dutch Auto racing, racing driver and the 2021 Formula One World Championship, 2021 and 2022 Formula One World Championship, 2022 Formula One World Champion. He Formula One drivers ...
, who made his first stop on lap 23 and dropped back. While racing for position on lap 23, Sainz forced Jolyon Palmer off the track in turn two and was later handed a ten-second time penalty for the incident. Four laps later,
Pascal Wehrlein Pascal Wehrlein (born 18 October 1994) is a German-Mauritian racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team. He previously raced in Formula One for the Sauber and Manor teams. Holding dual nationality of Germany and Mauritius, he raced under the ...
tried to overtake Felipe Nasr for 16th, but was unsuccessful and in turn lost a position to Kvyat. His teammate Ricciardo overtook
Kevin Magnussen Kevin Jan Magnussen (born 5 October 1992) is a Danish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Haas F1 Team. He is the son of four-time Le Mans winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Kevin Magnussen came up through McLa ...
for eighth on lap 29, but lost the position again and was in turn passed by
Romain Grosjean Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a Swiss-French professional racing driver, competing under the French flag in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. Grosjean had previously spent nine ...
. As Nico Rosberg started to lap backmarkers on lap 31, the gap to second-placed Hamilton started to come down, with his advantage dropping from more than eleven seconds to a little more than seven seconds by lap 36. Meanwhile, Verstappen was forced to retire due to power unit failure on lap 34, while running in sixth place. As Hamilton was told by his pit crew that he suffered from a water pressure problem, his gap to Rosberg started to increase again, staying at 13 seconds by lap 41. Wehrlein made a pit stop for new tyres on the same lap, but problems with his stop forced him stationary for almost a minute, resulting in him moving into last place on the road. On lap 47, Massa made a pit stop for new tyres from fifth place, retaining his position ahead of
Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...
. All the while, Räikkönen was able to close the gap to Hamilton ahead of him to eight seconds on lap 49. On the next lap, Button passed Sainz for tenth and Ricciardo moved ahead of Palmer for 12th another lap later. Rosberg crossed the line to take his seventh consecutive victory, a feat to that point only achieved by
Alberto Ascari Alberto Ascari (; 13 July 1918 – 26 May 1955) was an Italian racing driver and a two time Formula One World Champion. He was a multitalented racer who competed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. Ascari won consecutive world titles ...
,
Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
and
Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and Aston Martin in Formula One ...
. Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen rounded up the podium ahead of the two Williams drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. Rosberg recorded the first
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
of his career, meaning he won the race, recorded the fastest lap, achieved pole position and led every lap. He was the 24th driver in history to achieve the feat.


Post-race

The first lap collision between Kvyat and Vettel that put the latter out of the race was a major talking point afterwards. The two had already been embroiled in an argument after the previous Grand Prix in China, when Vettel felt that Kvyat had caused a collision between the two Ferrari drivers. This time around, Vettel reacted to his retirement with what ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' described as "one of the most explosive outbursts heard over team radio for years". He later demanded an apology from Kvyat, as did Red Bull teammate Ricciardo, who felt that Kvyat, who pushed Vettel into him, had ruined his race as well. Red Bull announced that they would summon Kvyat to talks about the incident, calling their race a "disaster", with
Helmut Marko Helmut Marko (born 27 April 1943) is an Austrian former professional racing driver and current advisor to the Red Bull GmbH Formula One teams, and head of Red Bull's driver development program. Biography Marko was born in Graz, Austria. He wa ...
, the team's young driver coordinator, calling him "over-motivated". Kvyat received three penalty points on his licence as a result of the incident. He himself said after the race: "I apologise to everyone who is involved and I will learn from it. I think we have to speak. It is easy now to attack me and I guess everyone will, but I am OK with that." On 5 May, Red Bull announced that they had relegated Kvyat back to their junior squad, Toro Rosso, the team for which he made his début in , for the remainder of the season, switching him with 18-year-old Max Verstappen. Red Bull's team principal
Christian Horner Christian Edward Johnston Horner (born 16 November 1973) is a British former racing driver and current Team Principal of the Red Bull Formula One team, a position he has held since 2005, winning eleven world titles (five World Constructors' C ...
explained the driver swap with Verstappen's talent, also stressing that the move to Red Bull would tie him to the team for the foreseeable future. Following multiple collisions shortly after the start, Jenson Button pressed for changes to be made to turn two of the
Sochi Autodrom The Sochi Autodrom (russian: Сочи Автодром, Sochi Avtodrom), previously known as the Sochi International Street Circuit and the Sochi Olympic Park Circuit, is a permanent race track in the settlement of Sirius (urban-type settlement) ...
, saying: "The bollard at turn two is the problem at the start because people are trying to fight through turns two and three. I think that needs some looking at." Apart from Kvyat, two more drivers received penalty points to their licences. Two points each were given to
Carlos Sainz Jr. Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro (; born 1 September 1994), otherwise known as Carlos Sainz Jr. or simply Carlos Sainz, is a Formula One drivers from Spain, Spanish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He is th ...
, who was deemed to have forced Jolyon Palmer off the track and
Esteban Gutiérrez Esteban Manuel Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (; born 5 August 1991) is a Mexican racing driver currently representing Mercedes in Formula One, Formula E and esports and Inter Europol Competition in World Endurance Championship. Previously from 2013 ...
, who collided with
Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the yea ...
at the start. As a result of the race, Nico Rosberg cemented his position at the top of the Drivers' Championship, having taken the maximum number of 100 points available from the first four rounds. Lewis Hamilton followed in second with 57 points, while Kimi Räikkönen moved up to third with 43 points. Vettel's retirement dropped him to fifth in the standings, behind Daniel Ricciardo. In the Constructors' standings, Mercedes increased their points tally to 157, now 81 points clear of second-placed Ferrari. Red Bull's poor performance saw their advantage over fourth placed Williams reduced to just six points.


Classification


Qualifying

;Notes * –
Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and Aston Martin in Formula One ...
received a five place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.


Race


Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016 Russian Grand Prix
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...