2016 Bahrain Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 21 in the 2016 Formula One season | |||
 |
|||
| Date | 3 April 2016 | ||
| Official name | 2016 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix | ||
| Location |
Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, Bahrain |
||
| Course | Permanent Racing Facility | ||
| Course length | 5.412 km (3.363 mi) | ||
| Distance | 57 laps, 308.238 km (191.530 mi) | ||
| Weather | Dry 21–22 °C (70–72 °F) air temperature 26–29 °C (79–84 °F) track temperature 2 m/s (6.6 ft/s) wind from the southwest |
||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Mercedes | ||
| Time | 1:29.493 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Nico Rosberg
|
Mercedes | |
| Time | 1:34.482 on lap 41 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Mercedes | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | Mercedes | ||
|
|
|||
The 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally known as the 2016 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 3 April 2016 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The race was the second round of the 2016 season and marked the twelfth time that the Bahrain Grand Prix had been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship. Lewis Hamilton was the defending race winner, while his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg was the Drivers' Championship leader coming into the round.
During qualifying, which saw the second iteration of the heavily criticised "elimination format", Hamilton achieved pole position ahead of Rosberg and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Rosberg won the race from Kimi Räikkönen, with Hamilton completing the podium.
Following widespread criticism over the "elimination" qualifying format used in Australia, the teams voted to abandon the format and revert to the system used between 2006 and 2015. However, in the week after the race, the sport's Strategy Working Group met to formally vote on the matter, and chose to keep the "elimination" format in place for the Bahrain Grand Prix and subject to a more thorough review ahead of the next round in China. It was subsequently reported that the teams had only been given the option of retaining the elimination format or adopting a hybrid of the elimination and pre-2016 formats, and that an outright reversion to the 2006-2015 format was never discussed.Mercedes' motorsport director Toto Wolff remained adamant that the format needed to be reverted, saying that he did not expect qualifying to be more entertaining than it had been two weeks before. Drivers were equally critical of the retention of the changed format: Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel told the press that he was "as disappointed as probably anyone I know", while Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton called the decision "strange [...], particularly because the most important thing is the fans were unhappy". Another meeting was scheduled for race day to discuss the format, with both Jean Todt, president of the FIA, and Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One's commercial rights holder, in attendance.
...
Wikipedia