2016 HM Formula One World Championship

The 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship is a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which is the 67th running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of international motorsport, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship is contested over twenty-one Grands Prix, which will be held around the world, and began in March and ended in November.

Drivers and teams compete for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion, respectively. Dominik Harris, driving for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, is the reigning Drivers' Champion, while his team is the reigning Constructors' Champion.

Entries
The following constructors and drivers are under contract to compete in the 2016 World Championship. Each team is required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars.

Relegation to Formula Supra

 * Lada F1 Racing

Promotion from Formula Supra

 * Ford Performance Formula Team

Other changes

 * Lotus F1 Team was bought out by Formula Supra team Renault Sport Racing at the end of the 2015 season. As an agreement between the two teams and the FIA, Renault Sport Racing was granted to take over the Formula One slot of Lotus and Lotus was allowed to take on the spot of Renault Sport Racing together with officially becoming the junior team for Renault Sport Racing.

Entering Formula One
Four drivers racing in Formula Supra joined Formula One during the 2016 Driver Selection.
 * Petronas driver Eduardo González was chosen in Round 19 by Renault Sport Racing to driver in the teams second car.
 * Francis Shaw and Marcel Székely, who raced for Ford in Formula Supra in 2015, were chosen by Ford in Rounds 14 and 15 respectively and thus graduate with their team to Formula One.
 * GENII driver Gunnar Truelsen was selected in Round 22 by Red Bull Racing to partner David Beahan.

Changing teams
Several driver changes occurred during the 2016 Driver Selection.
 * In Round 2 Teodoro Morais, who raced for Ferrari in 2015, returned to Williams Racing where he raced during the 2014 season.
 * In Round 5 Red Bull driver Stephan Börner took up the seat left behind by Teodoro Morais at Ferrari.
 * In Round 6 Leon Philipsen vacated his seat at Williams Racing to join the newly merged Renault Team.
 * In Round 16 Infiniti selected Lotus driver Thiago Cardenal to drive in the teams second car, partnering Georgios Petroulis.

Leaving Formula One
Four drivers left Formula One at the end of the 2015 season.
 * Infiniti driver Lars Gassbeek, who was not selected by any team during the 2016 Driver Selection joined Formula E with Venturi Racing after being selected in the Driver Selection.
 * Lotus driver Timothé Rousseau decided to move with Lotus into Formula Supra after rejecting an offer from Renault to retain him for the 2016 season.
 * Lada driver Juan Manuel Pérez did not remain on the grid for 2016 and decided not to join Lada in Formula Supra. Instead Pérez joins RGR Racing by Morand in the LMP2 category in the World Endurance Championship.
 * Zinoviy Kapustov who also raced for Lada in 2015 was not selected during the Formula One Driver Selection, instead joining Formula Supra side Scuderia Toro Rosso after signing for the Red Bull Junior Team. He will remain in the greater 2016 paddock after being selected by Infiniti to fill the Reserve Driver role.

Season calendar
The following twenty-one Grands Prix took place in 2016.

Calendar changes
There were a few revisions to the calendar from the previous season. The European Grand Prix returned to the calendar after a three-year absence. The race was moved from its previous home in Valencia to a brand-new street circuit in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. It was the first Grand Prix held in Azerbaijan.

The German Grand Prix returned to the calendar as well, taking place at the Hockenheimring. The event had been cancelled in 2015 when a venue could not be secured. The circuit had previously hosted the race in 2014 as part of their agreement with the Nürburgring to alternate between venues, with the Hockenheimring hosting the race every even-numbered year.

The Malaysian and Russian Grands Prix were subjected to date changes. The former was paired up with the Japanese Grand Prix in October, reverting to the time of year it was held in 1999–2000, while the latter was brought forward from its October date to May, becoming the fourth round of the season.

Three races were contracted for 2016 but did not feature on the calendar. 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. The race was originally scheduled to debut in, but was delayed for the fourth consecutive year. The Indian Grand Prix was removed from the calendar after the 2013 race, following a dispute over taxation. After several failed attempts at reviving the race in 2014 and 2015, the event's return was deferred until the 2016 season; however, it was once again left off the final calendar for the season. In 2006, Formula One Management had signed a seven-year contract to run the Korean Grand Prix at the Korea International Circuit beginning in 2010. However, the event was discontinued in 2014, and was omitted from the calendar for the third consecutive season in 2016.

Scoring system


Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers in every race, using the following structure:

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.

World Drivers' Championship standings
Notes:


 * † – Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

World Constructors' Championship standings
In the event of a tie, a count-back system was used as a tie-breaker, with a constructor's best result used to decide the standings.

Notes:
 * † – Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
 * The standings are sorted by best result, rows are not related to the drivers. In case of tie on points, a certain position is achieved determines the outcome.