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5 things that happened in F1 in 2016

2016 was an eventful year in F1 . There were number of controversies. Handful of driver changes and retirements. Here are the top 5 things that happened in 2016 - 

1.Elimination-style qualifying 

In the beginning of the 2016 the elimination-style qualifying was set to be introduced. Australian GP qualifying was one of the most boring qualifying session in the history of the sport.  Cars were not on track during the end of sessions including the last few minutes of Q3 where drivers would fight for pole position. The elimination-style qualifying was dropped due to protest from Team principals and drivers and  was reverted to the old system of qualifying with immediate effect.




2. Daniil Kvyat's move from Redbull to Toro Rosso 

This move came just days after Kvyat crashed into the back of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari in Russia. Kvyat was immediately switched with Max Verstappen in Toro Rosso. This was reasoned by Redbull as a move to allow Vertsappen to showcase his "Outstanding" talent and Kvyat to "regain his form". At first Redbull were heavily criticised for this , saying that they were overreacting to the situation. This move proved to be one of the best decisions made by Redbull , Verstappen not just secured a number of podiums this season but also won a race making him the youngest race winner in the history of F1 , a record previously held by former Redbull driver Sebastian Vettel.  



3. Sebastian Vettel's team radio 

Most controversial team radio this season would surely be Sebastian Vettel.
In case you missed this here's a recap of what happened. All this went down in Mexico ,Vettel and Verstappen were fighting for 3rd place when Vertstappen ran wide and refused to give the place up to Vettel. A very furious Vettel went onto the radio to complain about this . Ferrari then proceeded to tell him that they are talking to Charlie Whiting to which Vettel replied "F*** Off charlie".
Vettel was heavily criticised for this , he mentioned that he did go to Whiting to apologise. Apart from this Vettel has been on the radio talking about other drivers and seagulls and so on.  My personal favourites would be - 
" Honestly what are we doing ? Racing or ping pong!"
" He came like a torpedo!"


4. Nico Rosberg's retirement 

A few days after winning the 2016 championship Nico Rosberg broke the internet when he announced that he was retiring from F1 with immediate effect. Rosberg shocked the entire world with this announcement. F1 came to standstill. Rosberg's retirement meant that the currently dominant team in F1 has one empty seat. Since Rosberg's retirement decision came so late, Mercedes have barely any time to find a replacement. 
Rosberg said that if he hadn't have won the championship he would have continued to race.
Fernando Alonso , Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas were rumoured to be the replacement.  Alonso and Vettel soon ruled themselves out. Recently Bottas was confirmed at Mercedes and Felipe Massa come out of retirement to replace Bottas at Williams. 




5. Liberty Media's F1 takeover 

It was announced in september that Liberty Media corporation were to buy control of F1 from private equity firm CVC. Liberty Media is an American based mass media company. Liberty Media have raised $1.55 Billion from investors and recently have gotten approval from antitrust authorities .   The deal is still subjected to share holders and also approval from F1's governing body the FIA.  



Wishing everyone a Happy new year !! 
See you in 2017 


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