2016 Malaysian Grand Prix

The race was moved from its March date to October to allow organisers the opportunity to upgrade the circuit. The circuit was resurfaced, while drainage was improved to decrease the possibility of standing water from forming on the circuit. Nine corners were re-profiled, introducing negative camber to emphasise mechanical, rather than aerodynamic grip, and the drop at the apex of turn two removed.[4]

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg entered the race leading the World Drivers' Championship by eight points, having reclaimed the championship lead from teammate Lewis Hamilton at the previous race in Singapore. Mercedes lead Red Bull-TAG Heuer in the World Constructors' Championship by 220 points.

The incident between Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap

Lewis Hamilton's engine failure while in the lead later proved to be a decisive moment in the championship.

At the start, Sebastian Vettel collided with Nico Rosberg going into turn one, causing Rosberg to go into a spin to the back of the grid while Vettel damaged his front-left suspension in the process, retiring after getting to an escape road a few corners later. On lap 8, Romain Grosjean spun into the gravel trap due to brake failure once again, prematurely ending his race. Later on lap 41, Lewis Hamilton's engine failed while he was in the lead of the race, forcing him to retire. Esteban Gutiérrez also retired when his front-left wheel came off the car in the latter stages of the race. Daniel Ricciardo who inherited the lead of the race when Hamilton's engine failed went on to win the race. It was the fourth win of his F1 career. Max Verstappen finished second, giving Red Bull Racing their first one-two since Brazil in 2013, with Nico Rosberg recovering to finish third from the spin on lap 1. For the next race in Japan, Vettel was handed a three-place grid penalty for causing the collision with Rosberg.

Nine Australian men, subsequently dubbed the 'Budgie Nine' by Australian media, were arrested for intentional insult and public indecency after celebrating Ricciardo's win by stripping to their 'budgie smuggler' swimming trunks, decorated with the Malaysian flag, and drinking beer from their shoes.[5] Ricciardo said that the nine had not realized the effect their actions would have,[6] and called for them to be released.[7] After three days in custody the nine were charged with the lesser offence of public nuisance and released. The briefs had been made in Australia, not Malaysia.[8]

Pos.	Car no.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:34.444	1:33.046	1:32.850	1
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:34.460	1:33.609	1:33.264	2
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:35.443	1:33.775	1:33.420	3
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:35.079	1:33.888	1:33.467	4
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:34.557	1:33.972	1:33.584	5
6	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:34.556	1:33.903	1:33.632	6
7	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	1:35.068	1:34.538	1:34.319	7
8	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:34.827	1:34.441	1:34.489	8
9	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	1:35.267	1:34.431	1:34.518	9
10	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:35.267	1:34.422	1:34.671	10
11	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:35.166	1:34.577		11
12	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:35.400	1:35.001		12
13	21	Esteban Gutiérrez	Haas-Ferrari	1:35.658	1:35.097		13
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	1:35.593	1:35.277		14
15	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:35.695	1:35.369		15
16	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:35.605	1:35.374		16
17	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:35.816			17
18	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	1:35.949			18
19	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:35.999			19
20	31	Esteban Ocon	MRT-Mercedes	1:36.451			20
21	94	Pascal Wehrlein	MRT-Mercedes	1:36.587			21
22	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	1:37.155			221
107% time: 1:41.055
Source:[9]

Notes:

• ^1 – Fernando Alonso penalised 45 grid places for unscheduled power unit element changes.[9]

Daniel Ricciardo won the race for Red Bull.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	56	1:37:12.776	4	25
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	56	+2.443	3	18
3	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	+25.5161	2	15
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	56	+28.785	6	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	56	+1:01.582	11	10
6	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	56	+1:03.794	7	8
7	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	56	+1:05.205	22	6
8	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	56	+1:14.062	8	4
9	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	56	+1:21.816	9	2
10	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	56	+1:35.466	19	1
11	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	56	+1:38.878	16
12	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	17
13	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	55	+1 Lap	10
14	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	15
15	94	Pascal Wehrlein	MRT-Mercedes	55	+1 Lap	21
16	31	Esteban Ocon	MRT-Mercedes	55	+1 Lap2	20
Ret	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	46	Brakes/Power loss	18
Ret	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	40	Engine	1
Ret	21	Esteban Gutiérrez	Haas-Ferrari	39	Wheel	13
Ret	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	17	Power loss	14
Ret	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	7	Brakes	12
Ret	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	0	Collision	5
Source:[10]

Notes

• ^1 – Nico Rosberg had ten seconds added to his race time for causing an avoidable collision.[10]
• ^2 – Esteban Ocon received two five-second penalties for speeding in the pit lane.[10]