2016 Hungarian Grand Prix

In the week before the race, the FIA revised the rules governing pit-to-car communications following criticism from the teams in light of a penalty given to Nico Rosberg at the British Grand Prix for receiving assistance outside those allowed under the regulations; and in the aftermath of Sergio Pérez's brake failure and subsequent retirement from the Austrian Grand Prix, which Force India was particularly critical of in light of the safety implications arising from Pérez's accident.[5] The rules, first introduced during the 2015 season, were intended to crack down on driver coaching—stating that a competitor must drive the car "alone and unaided"—but allowing teams the scope to alert drivers to the imminent failure of components.[5] Under the revisions introduced for the Hungarian Grand Prix, a car must pit or be retired immediately if an issue arises that is deemed serious enough to warrant intervention from the team.[5] The revised regulations were poorly received, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel being particularly critical during interviews.

After introducing "baguette" kerbs at the Austrian Grand Prix as a means of policing track limits and prevent drivers from deliberately running wide to gain an advantage, the Hungarian Grand Prix saw the introduction of electronic monitoring at selected corners, with pressure-sensitive plates placed under kerbs to detect cars running wide, with the system tied to the car transponders to detect when a driver had run too wide.[6]

Mixed conditions in the first qualifying session meant that a record eleven drivers failed to make the 107% time: Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo; Williams' Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas; Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Pérez; Renault's Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer; Manor's Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto; and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson. Due to the exceptional circumstances, all eleven were permitted to start the race, and the fastest five - Ricciardo, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Bottas, and Pérez - were allowed to proceed to Q2 as normal.

Lewis Hamilton took a comfortable win ahead of his teammate Rosberg, their only challenge came from Daniel Ricciardo who did threaten but ultimately faded away before finishing in 3rd place holding off a charge from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Jenson Button was the only retirement from the race when he was instructed to stop after an oil leak in his McLaren in what he described as "A race from hell".[7]

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 1 Lewis Hamilton 192 1 2 Nico Rosberg 186 1 3 Daniel Ricciardo 115 1 4 Kimi Räikkönen 114 5 Sebastian Vettel 110 Source:[12]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Mercedes 378 2 Ferrari 224 3 Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 223 4 Williams-Mercedes 94 5 Force India-Mercedes 74 Source:[12]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

• 2016 Hungaroring GP2 Series round
• 2016 Hungaroring GP3 Series round