2016 United States Grand Prix
# 2016 United States Grand Prix

The 2016 United States Grand Prix (formally known as the 2016 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 23 October 2016 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, United States. The race marked the forty-sixth running of the United States Grand Prix, and the thirty-eighth time that the race has been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in 1950.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg entered the round with a thirty-three-point lead over teammate Lewis Hamilton in the World Drivers' Championship. Mercedes team held an unassailable 208-point lead over Red Bull Racing in the World Constructors' Championship, having secured the Constructors' title in the previous race in Japan. This was also the last time the 2009 World Champion Jenson Button scored points in a Formula One Grand Prix.

## Report

### Race

The race started off well for Hamilton, leading on the run up to Turn 1, with Jenson Button and a Toro Rosso running wide out of the first corner. Daniel Ricciardo slotted into second while Hamilton's teammate and closest championship rival Nico Rosberg fell back to third. Valtteri Bottas suffered a puncture and had to pit after the first lap. Nico Hülkenberg retired on lap 7 due to earlier collision damage. On the corner before the backstraight DRS zone, Esteban Gutiérrez of the Haas F1 Team locked up the front right tyre heavily and retired subsequently due to brake problems. On lap 31, Max Verstappen retired due to a gearbox problem and stopped out of the first DRS zone, triggering a Virtual Safety Car period. Kimi Räikkönen retired after coming out of the pit lane during a routine stop with a loose wheel. Hamilton went on to win his 5th race in the United States, with Nico Rosberg in second and Daniel Ricciardo rounding out the podium spots. Hamilton reduced Rosberg's lead in the Drivers' Championship to 26 points with 3 races left in the season.

## Classification

### Qualifying

| Pos. | Car no. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Final grid |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pos. | Car no. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final grid |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:36.296 | 1:36.450 | 1:34.999 | 1 |
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:36.397 | 1:36.351 | 1:35.215 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 1:36.759 | 1:36.255 | 1:35.509 | 3 |
| 4 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 1:36.613 | 1:36.857 | 1:35.747 | 4 |
| 5 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:36.985 | 1:36.584 | 1:36.131 | 5 |
| 6 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:37.151 | 1:36.462 | 1:36.358 | 6 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:36.950 | 1:36.626 | 1:36.628 | 7 |
| 8 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:37.456 | 1:37.202 | 1:37.116 | 8 |
| 9 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:37.402 | 1:37.214 | 1:37.269 | 9 |
| 10 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:37.744 | 1:37.175 | 1:37.326 | 10 |
| 11 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:37.345 | 1:37.353 | | 11 |
| 12 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1:37.913 | 1:37.417 | | 12 |
| 13 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:37.844 | 1:37.480 | | 13 |
| 14 | 21 | Esteban Gutiérrez | Haas-Ferrari | 1:38.053 | 1:37.773 | | 14 |
| 15 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:38.084 | 1:37.935 | | 15 |
| 16 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:38.040 | 1:39.356 | | 16 |
| 17 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1:38.308 | | | 17 |
| 18 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1:38.317 | | | 18 |
| 19 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1:38.327 | | | 19 |
| 20 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | MRT-Mercedes | 1:38.548 | | | 20 |
| 21 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:38.583 | | | 21 |
| 22 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | MRT-Mercedes | 1:38.806 | | | 22 |
| 107% time: 1:43.036 ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||

### Race

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 56 | 1:38:12.618 | 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 56 | +4.520 | 2 | 18 |
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 56 | +19.692 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 56 | +43.134 | 6 | 12 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 56 | +1:33.953 | 12 | 10 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 56 | +1:36.124 | 10 | 8 |
| 7 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 55 | +1 Lap | 9 | 6 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 55 | +1 Lap | 11 | 4 |
| 9 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 55 | +1 Lap | 19 | 2 |
| 10 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 55 | +1 Lap | 17 | 1 |
| 11 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 55 | +1 Lap | 13 | |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 55 | +1 Lap | 18 | |
| 13 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 55 | +1 Lap | 15 | |
| 14 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 55 | +1 Lap | 16 | |
| 15 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 55 | +1 Lap | 21 | |
| 16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 55 | +1 Lap | 8 | |
| 17 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | MRT-Mercedes | 55 | +1 Lap | 20 | |
| 18 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | MRT-Mercedes | 54 | +2 Laps | 22 | |
| Ret | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 38 | Loose wheel | 5 | |
| Ret | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 28 | Gearbox | 4 | |
| Ret | 21 | Esteban Gutiérrez | Haas-Ferrari | 16 | Brakes | 14 | |
| Ret | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1 | Collision damage | 7 | |
| Source: ||||||||

**Notes**

* ^1 – Kevin Magnussen received a five-second penalty after the race for an illegal overtake on Daniil Kvyat.

## Championship standings after the race

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - | - |
| | 1 | Nico Rosberg* | 331 |
| | 2 | Lewis Hamilton* | 305 |
| | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | 227 |
| 2 | 4 | Sebastian Vettel | 177 |
| 1 | 5 | Kimi Räikkönen | 170 |
| Source: ||||
| | Pos. | Constructor | Points |
| | 1 | Mercedes* | 636 |
| | 2 | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 400 |
| | 3 | Ferrari | 347 |
| | 4 | Force India-Mercedes | 138 |
| | 5 | Williams-Mercedes | 130 |
| Source: ||||

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for the sets of standings.
* Bold text and an asterisk indicates who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
