2016 Australian Grand Prix

2016 Australian Grand Prix
Race 1 of 21 in the 2016 Formula One World Championship Next race →
Race details
Date	20 March 2016 (2016-03-20)
Official name	2016 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix[1][2][3]
Location	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia
Course	Temporary street circuit
Course length	5.303 km (3.295 miles)
Distance	57 laps, 302.271 km (187.822 miles)
Scheduled distance	58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 miles)
Weather	Partly cloudy 22–23 °C (72–73 °F) air temperature 26–36 °C (79–97 °F) track temperature 4 m/s (8.9 mph; 14 km/h) wind from the south[4]
Attendance	271,800 (Weekend)[5]
Pole position
Driver	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time	1:23.837
Fastest lap
Driver	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Time	1:28.997 on lap 49
Podium
First	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Second	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Third	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2016 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2016 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 20 March 2016 in Melbourne. The race was contested over fifty-seven laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit and was the first round of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race marked the 81st race in the combined history of the Australian Grand Prix – which dates back to the 100 Miles Road Race of 1928 – and the 21st time the event was held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was the race winner.

Lewis Hamilton took the first pole position of the season and the fiftieth of his career in a qualifying session that saw the introduction of a new one-by-one elimination format that was widely criticised. His teammate Nico Rosberg took victory ahead of Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. The race was stopped on lap 18 following an accident involving Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutiérrez. Mercedes used the break for a change of tyres that allowed their drivers to take a 1–2 finish after Vettel had initially led the race from the start. Romain Grosjean finished sixth, scoring points for the Haas F1 team on their début, the first completely new team to do so since 2002. Mercedes equalled the record for most consecutive 1–2 finishes, by achieving their fifth in a row.