2016 Chinese Grand Prix

2016 Chinese Grand Prix
Race 3 of 21 in the 2016 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	17 April 2016 (2016-04-17)
Official name	2016 Formula 1 Pirelli Chinese Grand Prix
Location	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China
Course	Permanent Racing Facility
Course length	5.451 km (3.387 miles)
Distance	56 laps, 305.066 km (189.559 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Time	1:35.402
Fastest lap
Driver	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes
Time	1:39.824 on lap 48
Podium
First	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Second	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Third	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-TAG Heuer

The 2016 Chinese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2016 Formula 1 Pirelli Chinese Grand Prix) is a Formula One motor race that will be held on 17 April 2016 at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China. The race will be the third round of the 2016 season, and marks the thirteenth time that the Chinese Grand Prix has been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship. This was the first race in which all cars were classified as finishers since the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix.

Report

Background

Following widespread criticism of the controversial "elimination" qualifying format used in Australia and Bahrain, the system was abandoned for the Chinese Grand Prix and the three-period system used between 2006 and 2015 reintroduced.

Fernando Alonso returned to racing for the McLaren team after being ruled out of the Bahrain Grand Prix due to injuries sustained during an accident in the Australian Grand Prix.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	Grid
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:37.669	1:36.240	1:35.402	1
2	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-TAG Heuer	1:37.672	1:36.815	1:35.917	2
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:37.347	1:36.118	1:35.972	3
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:37.001	1:36.183	1:36.246	4
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:37.537	1:36.831	1:36.296	5
6	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-TAG Heuer	1:37.719	1:36.948	1:36.399	6
7	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	1:38.096	1:37.149	1:36.865	7
8	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:37.656	1:37.204	1:36.881	8
9	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:38.181	1:37.265	1:37.194	9
10	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:38.165	1:37.333	no time	131
11	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:38.016	1:37.347		10
12	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	1:38.451	1:38.826		11
13	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	1:37.593	1:39.093		12
14	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:38.425	1:39.830		14
15	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:38.321	1:40.742		15
16	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	1:38.654	1:42.430		16
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	1:38.673			17
18	21	Esteban Gutiérrez	Haas-Ferrari	1:38.770			18
19	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:39.528			19
20	88	Rio Haryanto	MRT-Mercedes	1:40.264			20
107% time: 1:42.080
21	94	Pascal Wehrlein	MRT-Mercedes	no time			212
22	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	no time			222
Source:

Notes

• ^1 — Nico Hülkenberg received a three-place grid penalty for having been released from the pit lane in an unsafe condition during Q2.
• ^2 — Pascal Wehrlein failed to set a time within 107% of the fastest lap during Q1. He was allowed to start at the stewards' discretion.
• ^3 — Lewis Hamilton had already incurred a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change when he failed to post a qualifying time. He was granted permission to race by the stewards, before the penalty was applied and he was moved to the back of the grid.