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.

Team changes

 * Cosworth elected not to build an engine to fit the 2014 generation of regulations. This decision prompted Marussia, the only team using Cosworth engines during the 2013 season, to seek out a new engine supplier. They joined Ferrari's customer programme with Ferrari providing the team with both engine and powertrain for 2014 and beyond.
 * Scuderia Toro Rosso was handed over from Red Bull Racing to Japanese car-manufacturer and long-time sponsor Infiniti, rebranding to the Infiniti F1 Team. They secured an agreement with Renault for engines in 2014, ending their seven-year arrangement with Ferrari.
 * Williams parted ways with Renault after two seasons, switching to Mercedes power in what the team described as a "long-term deal". The deal came after Renault publicised their intentions to reduce their engine supply to three teams in 2014, before the French manufacturer ultimately settled on supplying four.
 * In 2011, former British American Racing team principal Craig Pollock announced the formation of Propulsion Universelle et Récuperation d'Énergie—commonly known by its acronym, PURE—and signalled his intentions to enter the sport in 2014 as a customer engine supplier, with the full support of the FIA. However, the engine programme was eventually suspended in July 2012 due to problems regarding funding, and was ultimately unable to secure any clients for the 2014 season.

Driver changes

 * Teodoro Morais left Ferrari at the end of the 2013 season after eight years racing for the team. He moved to Williams, alongside Antto Paananen. Juan Manuel Pérez, having been replaced at Williams by Morais, moved to Lotus F1, taking the seat vacated by 2007 World Champion Herman Tammi. Tammi returned to Ferrari, the team he raced for from 2007 to 2009. The partnership of Tammi and Diego Padrón marked the first time since 1954 that Ferrari contested a season with two World Drivers' Champions in the team.
 * Tyler Adams retired from Formula One after twelve seasons, the last seven with Red Bull Racing. He moved to the FIA World Endurance Championship. David Beahan left Scuderia Toro Rosso to fill his seat, becoming the second driver to graduate from the team's young driver programme to their premier racing team. Newly-rebranded Infiniti chose 2013 GP3 Series champion Zinoviy Kapustov as Beahan's replacement.
 * Salvador Moreno left McLaren after a single season with the team. He was replaced by 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 champion and McLaren Young Driver Programme member Leon Philipsen. Moreno moved to Force India, where he was joined by Benjamin Sattler, who returned to the team after one year with Sauber. As a result of the Sattler and Moreno deals, Xavier Wilson and Flo Schnyder lost their seats with the team. Schnyder went on to secure Sattler's vacant seat at Sauber, while Wilson left Formula One entirely and returned to the DTM series, the series he competed in prior to joining Formula One.
 * Fujita Sanjuro returned to Formula One with Caterham, after spending the 2013 season competing in the World Endurance Championship. He was partnered with GP2 Series regular Maximilian Lindahl, who became the first Swedish driver in Formula One since Stefan Johansson retired from the sport in 1991. The decision left both Magnus Strokappe and Aymeric Besson without a drive, and both went on to take reserve driver roles with other teams; Strokappe joined Sauber, while Besson moved to Lotus.