Max Verstappen never gets promoted and Wherlien joins Mercedes

AUS:

Pole: P. Wherlien - 1:24.111

Fastest Lap: K. Raikkonen - 1:28.579

Rookie Pascal Wherlien stunned the paddock by getting pole position on debut for Mercedes, beating his experienced teammate Nico Rosberg. However, both Ferrari's on the second row made a lightning start and jumped both Mercedes to be 1st and 2nd. The Mercedes then got trumped by the McLaren team at the first pitstop, with Fernando Alonso jumping both of the German cars to get into the podium positions. A chase ensued between the rookie and the two time champion, but Pascal pushed too hard, spinning off at the first corner but thankfully not hitting any barriers. This allowed Rosberg to move up into fourth, but out in front, the Ferrari's were well off into the distance, Vettel almost half a minute ahead of Alonso in third by the close of the race. So Ferrari were back after an underwhelming finish to 2015, and Mercedes looked to be on the back foot, especially on race pace.

BHR:

Pole: N. Rosberg - 1:29.473

Fastest Lap: N. Rosberg - 1:34.676

Sebastian Vettel qualified on the front row but suffered an engine failure before the race even begun, handing Rosberg an easy run down into turn 1. Alonso made a great start and jumped Wherlien for second, whilst Ricciardo and Kvyat were moving up the field after a poor qualifying. Rosberg absolutely dominated the race, leading every single lap, as well as getting the fastest lap to win and take the early lead in the championship. The sister Mercedes fared less well, being passed by Raikkonen on lap 4 to slip out of a podium position and being yet another victim of Ricciardo's signature divebomb into turn 1 in the closing stages of the race. So it still remained ambiguous whether Mercedes were still the team to beat once again. Meanwhile further down, Romain Grosjean scored Haas' first ever points with a splendid drive to 8th, beating established drivers Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

CHN:

Pole: D. Ricciardo - 1:35.897

Fastest Lap: D. Ricciardo - 1:39.216

Red Bull got their first pole of the season with Daniel Ricciardo beating out Sebastian Vettel by 2 hundreths of a second. However, it was third place Daniil Kvyat who made the headlines, taking a bold move into the first corner. This did not impress Sebastian, who complianed on the team radio, but the stewards deemed it on the limit, but fair. This would turn out to be a desicive move for the Russian, a on the next lap, Ricciardo suffered a dramatic tyre blowout after creating a commanding lead. This forced the Red Bull team to comprimise his strategy, moving him onto the hards. However, Riccirado would go on another rampage, making a staggering 30 overtakes during the race to finely recover to a podium position, even beating out the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. However, the win would ultimately go to his Russian teammate, fending off a chasing Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages to take Red Bull's first win of 2016.

RUS:

Pole: N. Rosberg - 1:36.093

Fastest Lap: L. Hamilton - 1:40.116

Nico Rosberg took his second pole of the season with his teammate alongside him. The safety car was almost immediatley required as Daniil Kvyat piledrived into Sebastian Vettel, causing the Ferrari driver to retire. Once the safety car peeled in, the Mercedes team bizzarely imploded. Both of the Silver Arrows eneded up behind Kimi Raikkonen after just 1 lap of racing resumed, with Alonso quickly following suit. Rosberg and Wherlien settled in 3rd and 4th, but Williams' Lewis Hamilton was quickly hunting them down. Hamilton was gifted 4th after Wherlien had his second consequetive retirement, and then on lap 37 had a podium handed to him on a silver platter after Rosberg had an engine failure. So it was Alonso who took his 8th win for McLaren, after passing Raikkonen during the second round of stops, taking the lead of the championship by a solitary point from Kimi Raikkonen. Was this truly the end of Mercedes dominance?

ESP:

Pole: N. Rosberg - 1:22.008

Fastest Lap: D. Ricciardo - 1:25.784

Nico Rosberg took his third pole position of the year, but it was set to be an epic battle as Daniel Ricciardo was alongside him. Ricciardo was almost half a second behind Rosberg in qualfying, but the Red Bull had proven it was faster in the race. Unexcpectedly though, Nico maintained the advantage throughout the first stint, keeping the gap to Ricciardo at around one and half to three seconds. In the second stint, Rosberg maintained the gap just as he had through the first, but life was made easier when Riccardo had a slight excursion into the gravel trap. However, Mercedes made a mistake in the third stint, stopping Rosberg earlier and going onto the soft compound, whilst Ricciardo took a risk and gambled on a short 10 lap stint on the supersofts. He returned 8 seconds behind Rosberg, but within 6 laps he was on Rosberg's tail. He then made a divebomb into turn 1, but Rosberg ran off the track maintaining the position. But it was clear that he would stand no chance, and when Ricciardo tried another lunge into La Caixa, Rosberg was powerless, and Ricciardo went on to win his first race of the year, emphactically announcing himself as a championship contender.

MNC:

Pole: D. Ricciardo - 1:13.622

Fastest Lap: D. Ricciardo - 1:17.707

Daniel Ricciardo set a stunning lap around the principality to claim his second pole of 2016. However, wet conditions loomed over the circuit, meaning it was going to be a treacherous couple of hours for the Grand Prix drivers. Ricciardo got off the line well, maintaing a good advantage over second place Nico Rosberg. Drivers were suffering accidents all over the circuit as they struggled with the wetness. However, the rain just after the halfway mark. Rosberg had a little moment and went down the escape road at Ste. Devote, handing second place to Perez. When it was time to switch to slicks, Ricciardo came in, but no tyres were ready, and despite his 12 second advantage, it was all lost and Perez took the lead of the race. Ricciardo had the faster machinery though, and was setting purple lap times consitently. However, this was Monaco, and unlike 4 years earlier in Malaysia, this time Perez kept his composure, and won his and Force India's first ever Grand Prix at perhaps the most famous one of them all. Meanwhile behind, Rosberg lost a podium after he struggled to get temperature into his tyres, clumsily running wide through Rascasse and handing a podium to Alonso. Ricciardo could take some solace in that he now lead the championship for the first time in his career.

CAN:

Pole: N. Rosberg - 1:12.814

Fastest Lap: D. Ricciardo - 1:15.999

Rosberg got his 4th pole of the year, but just like in Australia the Ferrari's passed Nico off the line to run 1st and second. However, the Mercedes team had improved the W07's race pace, and it was able to keep in touch of Raikkonen and Vettel. Raikkonen did look slightly stronger than Vettel in race pace, but Ferrari did not enforce team orders, something that would perhaps come back to bite them later in the season. So it was not to be 7 race winners in 7 races like 2012, and it was Sebastian Vettel who broke the cycle. Ricciardo had strong race pace yet again, and looked like he could challenge Rosberg for the podium, but he just couldn't get close enough. However, the Red Bull driver remained the leader of the championship.

EUR:

Pole: N. Rosberg - 1:42.578

Fastest Lap: K. Raikkonen - 1:46.972

Nico Rosberg took another pole, but Sebastian Vettel kept him honest in the first stint. After Vettel came in, he put the hammer down, and put in some great laps and snatched the lead from Rosberg to take his 3rd win of the season and come within one point of new championship leader Nico Rosberg. A poor showing from Red Bull meant that Ricciardo slipped to 3rd in the championship. Rosberg's teammate Pasal Wherlien struggled with technical issues during the race, and slipped down to tenth, but once he fixed them he regained some pace and passed Kvyat for 9th. Meanwhile, Perez gained another podium in a strong drive to 3rd, the Force India suiting the long straights of the Baku City Circuit.

AUT:

Pole: J. Button - 1:11.614

Fastest Lap: N. Rosberg - 1:07.963

Jenson Button got his first pole of the season after changable conditions in qualifying shaked the grid up. Pascal Wherlien qualified second and passed the British driver on lap 3, and subsequently lead his first laps. Jenson slipped down the order, as Raikkonen passed him for 2nd and Alonso for 3rd. Nico Rosberg was climbing up the order after a shabby qualifying left him in 8th, but had moved up to 5th by the first stops. Dramatic chases ensued, between Raikkonen and Alonso for 2nd and Rosberg and Button for 4th. Rosberg had a significant pace advantage over the McLaren's, and was closing by a second a lap, and easily passed him on lap 25 for 4th. However, it would be Button who had the advantage for the final stint, as he had opted for a harder compund in the second stint. Raikkonen and Alonso matched each other tit for tat all throughout the middle stint, the gap hovering between 1.5 and 3 seconds. Into the final stint, and Button just simply did not have the pace to close the gap, but Alonso was charging on Raikkonen, and when the oppourtunity came on lap 67, he took and went down the inside of Sclossgold for 2nd. But no one was going to deny Pascal Wherlien his first Grand Prix victory, with a drive fully worthy of a winner.

GBR:

Pole: J. Button - 1:33.661

Fastest Lap: F. Alonso - 1:35.669

Another qualifying session with changable conditions heralded another pole for Jenson Button at his home race. The race start was damp, but the skies were sunny meaning there would be an ensuing rush for intermediates. Button carefully got off the line but still led the first few laps, with Daniel Ricciardo on his tail. However, Alonso perfectly timed the switch to inters, and once everyone had stopped, it was Alonso leading from Button and Raikkonen in 3rd. Raikkonen would catch Button and pass him a few laps later, but it was uncertain whether there would be more rain. Vettel, in a poor position, gambled on a switch to slicks, but this was to be a blunder, as ominous grey clouds loomed in the distance. Just a few laps later, the rain came, and there was another rush for full wets. Some decided to stay out, and hope that the rain would quickly pass, whilst others made the switch. The only one of the front runners to do so was Daniil Kvyat. He was lapping several seconds faster than anyone for a while, but the rain passed too soon, and he had to switch back to inters, dropping him to 7th behind the Mercedes and his Red Bull teammate. However, several bold moves, including one around the outside of beckkets on fresher inters, saw him get back to fourth, as Alonso won his second race of the season, whilst second placed Raikkonen retook the championship lead and Button finally broke his Silverstone podium curse.

HNG:

Pole: F. Alonso - 1:19.977

Fastest Lap: K. Raikkonen - 1:23.086

The McLaren's dominated in Hungary, the only blip being an engine failure for Jenson Button. Alonso took his first pole in 4 years, and crushed the opposition, beating second place Daniil Kvyat by alomost 40 seconds. Kimi Raikkonen finished 3rd, keeping him in touch with Fernando in the standings, who had a 7 point lead, whilst fellow championship contender Ricciardo got tipped out of the race on just the 3rd corner.

DEU:

Pole: K. Raikkonen - 1:14.096

Fastest Lap: D. Ricciardo - 1:17.916

Kimi was on top form in qualifying, putting in a blistering lap to beat his teammate and the Red Bull boys to pole. However, in the race, it was a different story. Alonso performed one of his signature starts, shooting past Vettel and Kvyat to get up to 3rd in the short rundown to turn 1. Coming out of the parabolica, he went down the inisde of Ricciardo to move up to second, and set after Kimi. The McLaren was kinder on its tyres than the Ferrari, but Kimi was on top form, managing to keep Fernando behind for the first stint. He did the same for the second stint, but on the final stint, the McLaren came alive on fresh rubber, and Alonso went past him into turn 2 just 1 lap after the stop. Raikkonen on the contary, was struggling to keep his ultrasofts alive, and succumbed to Ricciardo just two laps from the end, but a podium ensured he was still Alonso's closest challenger. However, with 3 wins from 3, Alonso had a big lead in the championship, and was on course to win his first championship in a decade.

BLG:

Pole: N. Rosberg - 1:46.512

Fastest Lap: D. Ricciardo - 1:52.028

Nico Rosberg was on pole for the first time in 4 races, but would he be able to convert it into his first win in 10? Things were looking good, as he was the first car into La Source, with second place Raikkonen following him. The Mercedes was the better machinery for this circuit, as Wherlien had qualified a strong 3rd and Raikkonen was struggling to keep Rosberg in his sights. Meanwhile behind, Kvyat clumsily went into La Source, and required a front wing change on just the first lap. Rosberg would end up commanding the race however, just like he did in Bahrain, to finally end his win drought and get back into the championship fight. Ricciardo managed to overtake Wherlien at La Source on the closing stages to get yet another podium, whilst second place Raikkonen had his 5th podium in a row. McLaren struggled, and Alonso could only drag his car to 6th, but he was still leading the championship.

ITA:

Pole: F. Alonso - 1:21.603

Fastest Lap: K. Raikkonen - 1:25.919

McLaren locked out the front row after they brought their new low drag update to the MP4-31, with the Mercedes drivers behind them on the second row. However, Alonso made an extremely rare error and fluffed the start, slumping to 7th as teammate Button took the lead. However, Rosberg was faster, and hungry for his second win in a row, passed him into the Rettefilio chicane, and romped to his second win in a row, fully reigniting his championship challenge. Alonso did claim back a place from Ricciardo to go into 6th, but after the only pitstop of the race Daniel got his revenge, and pulled off yet another signature divebomb into the Rettefilio, meaning Alonso finished a lowly 7th. Vettel got his first podium since his win in Baku, just ahead of teammate Raikkonen, with Ferrari once again refusing to enforce team orders. Alonso led the championship, but just 1 point seperated the top three drivers, with Rosberg level on points but behind Alonso on countback, and Raikkonen just 1 point behind them.

SNG:

Pole: D. Ricciardo - 1:43.112

Fastest Lap: D. Ricciardo - 1:46.827

Ricciardo just about managed to pip Rosberg in an exciting battle for pole position, and maintained the lead into turn one. However, a multi car shunt behind brought out the safety car, and racing resumed on lap 6. Mercedes seemed to have fixed their tyre warming issues, as Rosberg was breathing down Ricciardo's neck for the entire first stint, not leaving any room for the honey badger to make an error. Red Bull's pit crew gave Ricciardo 1 second of breathing room to Rosberg, as Vettel setteled into a comfortable third. Rosberg quickly made up the second he lost in the pit stop battle, but just couldn't find the extra bit of pace needed to get close enough to Daniel to make a move. On lap 37, a huge moment for the championship occoured, as championship leader Alonso, running in 5th, had an engine failure, giving huge oppourtunities to Rosberg, Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Vettel. The second pitstops went by, and this time it was dead level, setting up a thrilling fight to the finish. Ricciardo immediately sprinted away, driving the wheels of the RB12, trying to get Rosberg to destroy his tyres. However, Rosberg hung back, and waited for a later oppourtuinity. At 7 laps to go, the gap was 5 seconds, at 5 laps, it was 3 1/2 seconds, at 3 laps to go, Rosberg was within DRS range but once again, couldn't find the pace he needed despite his tyres being in better condition. So after another thrilling duel between Ricciardo and Rosberg in 2016, it was Ricciardo who once again emerged victorious, but Rosberg could still be satistfied as he now led the championship for the first time since Austria.

MAL:

Pole: N. Rosberg - 1:33.414

Fastest Lap: K. Raikkonen - 1:37.316

Rosberg got his 7th pole of the season, but a poor start dropped him into 3rd behind the Red Bulls, and the he punted off Sebastian Vettel who was in fourth, forcing the Ferrari driver to retire, and pretty much ending his championship hopes. The gave Nico a drive through penalty, as the Red Bull's held first and second, with Alonso in third. However, Alonso quickly hunted down the Red Bull's, with him overtaking Kvyat with and undercut on the first stint. He attempted to do the same thing with Ricciardo on the second stint. It almost worked, as the two rejoined side by side coming into the first corner. Alonso used his inside advantage into the switchback of the second corner to comprimise Ricciardo's exit. It worked, and gave him a second, but with the Australian on better tyres, he could not make a single mistake. He kept Ricciardo out of DRS range for 18 laps. But on the final lap, the Honey Badger smelled prey, and tried an audacious lunge into the final corner on the final lap. However, it almost caused the two to collide, with Ricciardo having a big lock up, but he kept it on the road to finish second, whilst Alonso bounced back after 3 difficult races without a top 5 finish. Rosberg managed to recover to 7th, which put him one point of championship leader Alonso.

JPN:

Pole: N. Rosberg - 1:30.787

Fastest Lap: D. Ricciardo - 1:34.969

Rosberg clinched his 8th pole of the year after a tense fight with Raikkonen on Saturday. On Sunday, he consolidated his lead with a good start and a good first stint, and then managed to fend off the charging Raikkonen with consistent but quick driving. Behind, a battle ensued between Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo. Vettel opted to go for supersofts in the second stint, meaning they had a good lead over Daniel by the time they came in for their second stop, but Daniel put in a great final stint again to close up the gap. On the final lap, he got up close to Sebastian, and tried another divebomb at the hairpin. Unlike in Malaysia, the move was clean and beautiful, and clinched him a crucial podium for his championship chances. Alonso drove to 5th, the best McLaren could realistically hope for on a track which didn't suit them, but lost the championship lead and dropped to third, 14 points behind Rosberg.

USA:

Pole: N. Rosberg - 1:35.008

Fastest Lap: K. Raikkonen - 1:42.446

Rosberg was on pole yet again, but lost out on the start to Kimi Raikkonen, got forced wide on the first corner and subsequently lost out to Sebastian Vettel and teammate Wherlien. Wherlien offered little resistance, and Vettel was not quick enough to keep him behind. However, Ricciardo, who started 5th, had a great first few laps and passed Wherlien and Vettel just like Rosberg. Ricciardo would later get Rosberg on lap 9, and set out after Raikkonen. The front two found another gear, and raced away from the chasing pack. Raikkonen was leading the way, but Ricciardo opted for a one stop. Kimi would pass him on track, if he wanted to win this race. Kimi was 6 second ahead when he made his first stop, and doubled his advantage for his second stop. Now the chase begun with 14 laps left to run. The gap was 8 seconds, and Raikkonen was pulling purple sectors, but Ricciardo was also not putting a foot wrong. It was Kimi with the pace advantage though, and he sliced the gap down to 2 seconds by the final lap but it was not enough, Ricciardo denying Raikkonen his first win of the year by 1.2 seconds. Rosberg's podium meant he limited the damage done to Raikkonen, whilst Alonso's fourth place result after passing Vettel and Wherlien kept him in the hunt.

MEX:

Pole: D. Kvyat - 1:18.668

Fastest Lap: D. Ricciardo - 1:20.994

Red Bull were the dominant force in Mexico City. They locked out the front row, with Kvyat taking his first ever pole position. However, there was a championship to win, and once the Red Bull's had a satisfactory gap to the cars behind, the did 'the swap', with Ricciardo taking the lead from Kvyat. The race was pretty processional for the top four drivers, but it was chaos in the battle for 5th between compatriots Vettel and Rosberg. Rosberg initiated the fight, and made a move into turn one, but had a massive lockup and ran across the grass. He gave the position up almost immediately, and then made a move into turn four the following lap. However, Vettel moved under braking, causing Rosberg to lightly tap Vettel's diffuser. The stewards were not happy, and gave Vettel a 10 second time penalty. Perhaps seeing a potential threat from Button behind, Rosberg made yet another attempt on Vettel at turn one, and made it stick. However, he forced Vettel onto the grass, losing a position to Wherlien. This gave Rosberg a 5 second penalty after the race, dropping him to 6th behind Wherlien, and Vettel had another penalty added for an unsafe rejoin, dropping him all the way down to tenth. With Ricciardo's back to back wins, Interlagos suiting Red Bull and Rosberg making errors, Ricciardo was looking like the favourite to win his first title.

BRZ:

Pole: K. Raikkonen - 1:09.839

Fastest Lap: L. Hamilton - 1:25.555

Raikkonen qualified almost half a second faster than anyone else on Saturday, taking a dominant and crucial pole position. However, a biblical rainstorm descended on Interlagos, and the race was started behind the safety car. Raikkonen dropped behind Alonso and Ricciardo to third, but he was still in a great position to be fighting for the championship. But then, in one of the most dramatic twists of the season, Raikkonen, who had been near faultless all year, had a big accident on the start finish straight, causing another safety car. Once it peeled in, Alonso controlled the field, but Ricciardo was struggling, and he lost second to Vettel, and then lost out to Button soon after. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton on the other hand were schooling the rest of the field in wet weather driving, the Dutchman putting an iconic move around the outside of the championship leader at the Curva Do Sol. Unfortunately for the home crowd, Felipe Massa sadly had a similar accident to Raikkonen, retiring from his final Brazilian Grand Prix, brining out another safety car. Hamilton and Kvyat made the risky  desicion to pit for fresh inters, one which would pay off handsomely for both of them. Hamilton passed 11 cars to take 2nd place, his best result of the year, whilst Kvyat just about denied Max Verstappen his maiden podium in the final laps, as the Russian overtook 13 cars. However, the main headline was that Fernando Alonso, seemingly out of nowhere, had leaped from 4th place in the championship to head to table going into Abu Dhabi, a dominant drive in excessively tricky conditions. Rosberg had a poor race, only managing 9th, meaning that all Alonso now had to do was to finish on the podium to win his third title.

CHAMPIONSHIP PERMUTATIONS:

ALONSO

If Alonso gets on the podium, he is champion, regardless of what happens to Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Rosberg. If he is level on points with any driver, he will finish ahead on countback as he has two more wins than anyone else.

ROSBERG

If Rosberg wins, he is champion regardless of what happens to Ricciardo and Raikkonen. HOWEVER, Alonso must finish off the podium.

If Rosberg finishes second, he must finish ahead of Raikkonen and Ricciardo and Alonso must finish outside the top 6.

If Rosberg finishes third, Raikkonen must not win, he must finish ahead of Ricciardo, and Alonso must finish outside the top 7.

If Rosberg finishes fourth, Raikkonen must not finish inside the top 2, he must finish ahead of Ricciardo, and Alonso must finish outside the top 9.

Rosberg cannot be champion if he finishes outside the top 4.

RICCIARDO

If Ricciardo wins, he is champion regardless of what happens to Rosberg and Raikkonen. HOWEVER, Alonso must finish off the podium.

If Ricciardo finishes second, he must finish ahead of Rosberg and Raikkonen and Alonso must finish outside the top 6

If Ricciardo finishes third, he must finish ahead of Rosberg, Raikkonen must not win and Alonso must finish outside the top 7.

If Ricciardo finishes fourth, he must finish ahead of Rosberg, Raikkonen must not finish inside the top 2 and Alonso must finish outside the points.

Ricciardo cannot be champion if he finishes outside the top 4.

RAIKKONEN

If Raikkonen finishes level on points with any other title contender, he finishes behind them, as he has 0 wins to Rosberg and Ricciardo's 4 and Alonso's 6

If Raikkonen wins, he is champion regardless of what happens to Ricciardo and Rosberg. HOWEVER, Alonso must finish outside the top 4.

If Raikkonen finishes second, Ricciardo and Rosberg must finish off the podium and Alonso must finish outside the top 9.

If Raikkonen finishes third, Ricciardo and Rosberg must finish outside the top 4 and Alonso must finish outside the points.

Raikkonen cannot be champion if he finishes off the podium.

UAE:

Pole: N. Rosberg - 1:39.601

Fastest Lap: S. Vettel - 1:43.729

Rosberg had the best qualifying session he could hope for, crucially beating championship rival Raikkonen and his teammate Vettel for pole. However, he got a poor getaway, and Vettel pounced into the lead. Vettel knew what his job was, and attempted to back Rosberg into Raikkonen. However, this gave him a poor run out of turn 7, and Rosberg passed with DRS on lap 3. However, the Ferrari's could keep up, and they both kept within five seconds of him at all times. The best Fernando could do now is to keep Wherlien behind for 5th, and get the all important top 4 finish in case Raikkonen wins instead of Rosberg. A podium currently looked impossible. However, down in 7th and in a much more desperate situation was Daniel Ricciardo. The Red Bull just simply didn;t have the pace when it needed it most. 7th became 6th when Button retired in his last ever race, but he needed to be in the top 4 to even have a shot. After the first stops, the order remained the same, except that Red Bull, as a last resort to get Ricciardo in the top 4, put him on a one stop, just like they did in Austin. Rosberg lead Vettel by 1.2 seconds, but a costly mistake at turn 11 cost him the lead, and left him in the jaws of the Ferrari's. Vettel held him up on the tight and twisty final sector, but the problem wasn't holding Rosberg up, but getting Raikkonen to pass. The Ferraris had to contend with a straight line speed discrepancy to the Mercedes, which made it near impoosible for Raikkonen to overtake on the long straights, the only place you could pass on this circuit. Rosberg used his advantage, and breezed by Vettel to retake the lead four laps after losing it. From the, he built a solid gap of three seconds. The Mercedes crew, perhaps being more cautious than usual, lost about a second in the pitstops but retained the lead. Now all Rosberg had to do was not make any silly mistakes and hope that the car would get home. Alonso was 25 seconds down the road, and only a safety car would bring him back into the picture. The safety car never came, nor a mistake from Rosberg or a car failure, and after ten years of trying, Rosberg was finally champion. Raikkonen would be left wondering what could have been if he hadn't had stacked the SF-16 in a wall at Interlagos, and Alonso was left devasted after consitently punching above his McLaren's weight, yet losing out at the last hurdle, just like 2010 and 2012. Ricciardo still had many years left, but you never know when you will get a championship winning capable car again. After the race, Rosberg retired, which would mean Mercedes would have an all new driver lineup for 2017, as Wherlien would be dropped after an underwhelming first season.