2016 European Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Formula 1’s first visit to Baku produced a commanding victory for Nico Rosberg. The European Grand Prix combined an exceptionally long straight with a narrow old-town section, but Rosberg kept the new challenge firmly under control.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Pole time	1:42.758
Fastest lap	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Fastest-lap time	1:46.485 on lap 48
First	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Second	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Third	Sergio Pérez	Force India

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
17 June 2016	Practice 1	13:00 – 15:30
17 June 2016	Practice 2	17:00 – 19:30
18 June 2016	Practice 3	14:00 – 16:00
18 June 2016	Qualifying	17:00
19 June 2016	Race	17:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Nico Rosberg arrived at round 8 leading the 2016 F1 World Championship on 116 points, with Lewis Hamilton on 107. Mercedes headed the constructors’ standings with 223 points.

Race entries

The 11 teams kept the same race line-ups for the European Grand Prix.

Free Practice

Baku’s first FP1 gave drivers plenty to learn, and several explored the escape roads while finding their braking points. Lewis Hamilton led despite brushing a barrier and flat-spotting his tyres. Daniel Ricciardo suffered the costliest mistake, crashing at Turn 15 and losing a rear wheel, causing an eleven-minute interruption.

Lewis Hamilton remained quickest in FP2, while Nico Rosberg stopped after losing drive. Ferrari’s energy-recovery problems helped leave the top five places to Mercedes-powered cars. Drivers were warned away from loose kerbs at Turn 6, and further excursions illustrated the difficulty of combining Baku’s high speeds with its tight street-circuit corners.

Lewis Hamilton completed a practice clean sweep, but FP3 brought several expensive setbacks. Valtteri Bottas damaged his floor on a drain cover and missed the rest of the session, while Kimi Räikkönen lost running to a power problem. Sergio Perez crashed at Turn 15 just after the chequered flag, leaving Force India facing urgent repairs.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2016 European Grand Prix FP1, 17 June 2016

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:46.435	23
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.377s	32
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+0.661s	34
4	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+1.554s	21
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+2.192s	26
6	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+2.487s	17
7	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	+2.584s	21
8	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+2.690s	22
9	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	+2.832s	16
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+2.866s	27
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+3.176s	20
12	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+3.200s	16
13	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+3.343s	17
14	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	+3.732s	25
15	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+4.038s	18
16	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+4.050s	7
17	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+4.116s	19
18	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	+4.475s	25
19	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	+4.504s	27
20	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor Racing	+4.784s	24
21	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	+5.336s	11
22	88	Rio Haryanto	Manor Racing	+5.490s	28

Free Practice 2 Classification

2016 European Grand Prix FP2, 17 June 2016

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:44.223	33
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.690s	26
3	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+1.113s	37
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+1.541s	35
5	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+1.697s	37
6	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	+1.804s	35
7	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+1.845s	35
8	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+1.996s	36
9	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	+2.011s	32
10	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+2.070s	32
11	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+2.275s	27
12	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+2.458s	29
13	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+2.471s	32
14	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+2.521s	35
15	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	+2.607s	26
16	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+2.837s	28
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	+3.106s	38
18	88	Rio Haryanto	Manor Racing	+3.264s	33
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+3.549s	22
20	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	+3.571s	35
21	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor Racing	+3.795s	36
22	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	+3.858s	38

Free Practice 3 Classification

2016 European Grand Prix FP3, 18 June 2016

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:44.352	17
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.258s	22
3	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+1.188s	18
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+1.268s	13
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+1.278s	20
6	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+1.383s	17
7	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+1.549s	14
8	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	+1.602s	17
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+1.629s	19
10	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+1.672s	16
11	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+1.779s	16
12	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	+1.838s	17
13	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+2.009s	21
14	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+2.158s	20
15	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	+2.318s	21
16	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	+2.672s	16
17	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor Racing	+2.748s	19
18	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	+2.806s	18
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+2.976s	14
20	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	+3.027s	18
21	88	Rio Haryanto	Manor Racing	+3.204s	18
22	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	No time	1

Qualifying

Nico Rosberg headed qualifying for Mercedes, with Sergio Pérez second and Daniel Ricciardo third.

Nico Rosberg claimed pole after Lewis Hamilton hit the wall in Q3 and qualified tenth. Sergio Pérez set the second-fastest time but lost five grid places for a gearbox change, promoting Daniel Ricciardo to the front row.

Qualifying Classification

2016 European Grand Prix Qualifying, 18 June 2016

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:43.685	1:42.520	1:42.758	16
2	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:44.462	1:43.939	1:43.515	20
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	1:44.570	1:44.141	1:43.966	20
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:45.062	1:44.461	1:43.966	19
5	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:44.936	1:44.533	1:44.269	19
6	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:45.494	1:44.696	1:44.483	15
7	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:44.694	1:44.687	1:44.717	25
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:44.706	1:44.477	1:45.246	18
9	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:44.939	1:44.387	1:45.570	20
10	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:44.259	1:43.526	2:01.954	17
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:45.507	1:44.755	—	15
12	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	1:44.860	1:44.824	—	14
13	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:44.827	1:45.000	—	17
14	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:45.525	1:45.270	—	15
15	21	Esteban Gutiérrez	Haas	1:45.300	1:45.349	—	16
16	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	1:45.549	1:46.048	—	13
17	88	Rio Haryanto	Manor Racing	1:45.665	—	—	8
18	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor Racing	1:45.750	—	—	9
19	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:45.804	—	—	7
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:46.231	—	—	10
21	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	1:46.348	—	—	9
22	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:46.394	—	—	9

Sergio Pérez, Carlos Sainz, and Kevin Magnussen received five-place grid penalties for unscheduled gearbox changes.

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel set identical lap times in Q3. As Ricciardo was the first to set his time, he was considered to have qualified ahead of Vettel.

Kevin Magnussen was required to start from the pit lane as his car was modified under parc fermé conditions.

What happened in the 2016 European Grand Prix?

Nico Rosberg led from the start and quickly built a comfortable advantage. Behind him, Daniel Ricciardo struggled to sustain his early pace, while Sebastian Vettel emerged as Ferrari‘s strongest contender.

Tyre management shaped the pursuit. Red Bull needed additional stops, whereas Rosberg’s Mercedes remained fast and consistent. Vettel moved into second, but the leader never came under serious pressure.

Lewis Hamilton climbed to fifth while wrestling with an incorrect power-unit setting. The radio restrictions then in force limited the guidance Mercedes could provide, costing him time before he resolved the problem himself.

Rosberg completed a grand slam, adding fastest lap and every lap led to pole and victory. Sergio Pérez passed Kimi Räikkönen late on to finish third behind Vettel, with Räikkönen also carrying a penalty for crossing the pit-entry line.

Further down the points places, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Nico Hülkenberg and Felipe Massa completed the scoring positions. Nico Rosberg set the fastest lap, but no bonus point was awarded under the 2016 rules.

After the race, Nico Rosberg headed the drivers’ standings with 141 points, followed by Lewis Hamilton on 117. Mercedes led the constructors’ table on 258, with Ferrari on 177.

2016 European Grand Prix race results

The 2016 European Grand Prix was held on 19 June 2016, with a scheduled start of 17:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	51	1:32:52.366	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	51	+16.696	18
3	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	51	+25.241	15
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	51	+33.102	12
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	51	+56.335	10
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	51	+1:00.886	8
7	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	51	+1:09.229	6
8	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	51	+1:10.696	4
9	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	51	+1:17.708	2
10	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	51	+1:25.375	1
11	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	51	+1:44.817	0
12	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	50	+1 Lap	0
13	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	50	+1 Lap	0
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	50	+1 Lap	0
15	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	50	+1 Lap	0
16	21	Esteban Gutiérrez	Haas	50	+1 Lap	0
17	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	50	+1 Lap	0
18	88	Rio Haryanto	Manor Racing	49	+2 Laps	0
Ret	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	42	Gearbox	0
Ret	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor Racing	39	Brakes	0
Ret	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	31	Suspension	0
Ret	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	6	Suspension	0

Kimi Räikkönen had five seconds added to his race time for crossing the pit entry line.

2016 European Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time of Day	Time	Avg. Speed
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	48	18:31:12	1:46.485	202.946
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	42	18:21:09	1:46.822	202.306
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	50	18:36:01	1:46.973	202.021
4	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	45	18:26:17	1:46.990	201.988
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	49	18:33:18	1:47.028	201.917
6	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	41	18:19:05	1:47.181	201.629
7	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	50	18:37:14	1:47.563	200.912
8	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	48	18:33:30	1:47.583	200.875
9	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	50	18:35:49	1:47.604	200.836
10	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	50	18:36:33	1:47.622	200.802
11	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	48	18:33:04	1:47.708	200.642
12	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	51	18:37:46	1:47.736	200.590
13	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	35	18:08:58	1:47.761	200.543
14	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	48	18:33:08	1:47.943	200.205
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	37	18:12:29	1:48.012	200.077
16	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	31	18:02:08	1:48.804	198.621
17	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	48	18:33:49	1:48.898	198.449
18	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	27	17:54:46	1:49.101	198.080
19	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	41	18:20:17	1:49.282	197.752
20	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor Racing	33	18:06:23	1:50.571	195.447
21	88	Rio Haryanto	Manor Racing	27	17:55:12	1:51.365	194.053
22	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	2	17:07:37	1:53.167	190.963

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded. Time of Day is local.

2016 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2016 European Grand Prix.

2016 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	141
2	Lewis Hamilton	British	Mercedes	117
3	Sebastian Vettel	German	Ferrari	96
4	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	81
5	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Red Bull Racing	78
6	Max Verstappen	Dutch	Toro Rosso / Red Bull Racing	54
7	Valtteri Bottas	Finnish	Williams	52
8	Sergio Pérez	Mexican	Force India	39
9	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Williams	38
10	Daniil Kvyat	Russian	Red Bull Racing / Toro Rosso	22
11	Romain Grosjean	French	Haas	22
12	Nico Hülkenberg	German	Force India	20
13	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	McLaren	18
14	Carlos Sainz	Spanish	Toro Rosso	18
15	Kevin Magnussen	Danish	Renault	6
16	Jenson Button	British	McLaren	5
17	Stoffel Vandoorne	Belgian	McLaren	1
18	Esteban Gutiérrez	Mexican	Haas	0
19	Jolyon Palmer	British	Renault	0
20	Marcus Ericsson	Swedish	Sauber	0
21	Felipe Nasr	Brazilian	Sauber	0
22	Pascal Wehrlein	German	Manor Racing	0
23	Rio Haryanto	Indonesian	Manor Racing	0

2016 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Mercedes	258
2	Ferrari	177
3	Red Bull Racing	140
4	Williams	90
5	Force India	59
6	Toro Rosso	32
7	McLaren	24
8	Haas	22
9	Renault	6
10	Sauber	0
11	Manor Racing	0

2016 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2016 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	20 March
2	2016 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	3 April
3	2016 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	17 April
4	2016 Russian Grand Prix	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi	1 May
5	2016 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló	15 May
6	2016 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	29 May
7	2016 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	12 June
8	2016 European Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit, Baku	19 June
9	2016 Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	3 July
10	2016 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	10 July
11	2016 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	24 July
12	2016 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	31 July
13	2016 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	28 August
14	2016 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	4 September
15	2016 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	18 September
16	2016 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	2 October
17	2016 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	9 October
18	2016 United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	23 October
19	2016 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	30 October
20	2016 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	13 November
21	2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	27 November