2016 Formula One season

The  was the fifth Formula One championship contested over 20 circuits in 19 countries. It saw Kimi Raikkonen claim his first championship, in the Lotus–Ford. His constructor and its new engine, Ford, won their respective championships, too.

Team changes

 * Lotus: Renault → Ford; Lotus F1 Team → Team Lotus Ford. Following the German Grand Prix, when driver contract negotiations started, Lotus and Renault announced their departure as partners. Lotus claimed they did so as Ford offered them an exclusive engine supply deal, whereas Renault claimed it was for strategic reasons. Both engine suppliers, therefore, became exclusive de facto as of the deal's signing. The deal was to last five years, until the season.
 * Toro Rosso: Ferrari → Honda. Toro Rosso also announced their termination of Ferrari partnership for their engines. Their engine change has been a long time coming, since they were being pressured until 2014 by Red Bull to have Renault engine suppliers. Nevertheless, they were experiencing a lull in terms of the constructor's standings, and hoped Honda would revitalize them like they did McLaren. Honda was happy to expand its customer base, though McLaren offered a neutral stance on the subject. Their deal was to last five years.
 * Vodafone McLaren Team → Team McLaren Honda. Vodafone withdrew its title sponsorship of McLaren, stating its contract had ended and it did not wish to renew it. McLaren announced it was looking for a new title sponsor.

Driver changes

 * Michael Schumacher retires. After a 22-season career in Formula One, yielding seven world driver's championships, the great Schumacher retires. His return to Formula One has undoubtedly not been as successful as he had hoped. He seemed sad to announce it, but said he had begun thinking of it until Vettel joined Mercedes in 2013.
 * Jean-Eric Vergne: Toro Rosso → Mercedes. Vergne finally gets a good seat in Formula One, after 4 years of competing in back-marker teams. However, some doubt his abilities to perform much better in what is seen to be a declining team.
 * Philbert Rome joins Toro Rosso. Frenchman Philbert Rome replaces his compatriot and entourage at Red Bull's old sister team.
 * Sebastian Vettel retires. Schumacher's entourage followed his lead and retired also from Mercedes. After a disappointing four years with Red Bull and Mercedes, he decided to end his fight for a third world championship.
 * Ferdinand Wells joins Mercedes. The first Canadian driver since Jacques Villeneuve, Ferdinand hopes to progress quickly. Starting with a midfield team, he has a great potential to be spotted by the front-runners.

Mid season

 * Caterham: Nino Magro → Narain Karthikeyan. Karthikeyan had recovered fully from his injuries by the Bahrain Grand Prix, and retook his seat from novice Italian Nino Magro. The Indian scored a retirement on his first return race, but soon caught up with his old replacement.
 * Sauber: Paul di Resta → Bernard Babineaux. A very serious crash during the German Grand Prix hospitalized Paul di Resta. He was unconscious when being recovered from his car, and was later put in to a coma for medical reasons. Sauber announced they did not expect him to participate in any races for the rest of the season, but that he would definitely be back on his feet. They signed Canadian Ferrari Driver's Academy candidate Bernard Babineaux as his replacement. Di Resta later announced he was signed as reserve driver for the 2017 season, since his injuries did not allow him to participate in around half of the season.
 * Renault: Ma Quinghua → Pastor Maldonado. Ma Quinghua had a nasty accident in the chaotic Hungary race. He was driving in wet conditions on dry tires, and violently slammed his car in to the barrier. The safety car was brought outwhile medical staff treated him on-track, and he was later hospitalized. He remained conscious during the whole ordeal, and was expected to be back racing before the end of the season.

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Contract negotiatons

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Results and standings

 * See also: Results table