2016 Formula One World Championship podiums, Rosberg beat teammate and defending World Champion Lewis Hamilton by five points. In doing so, Rosberg followed the success of his father in and became the second son of a champion to become champion himself, a feat previously achieved by Damon Hill. Rosberg announced his retirement from the sport shortly after winning the title. As of 2018, this was the only season in the 2010s decade won by a driver other than Sebastian Vettel or Lewis Hamilton. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes successfully defended their title for the second consecutive year, beating Red Bull Racing by 297 points.
Sebastian Vettel third, Vettel went into the final race of the season with a 15-point deficit to Alonso, and a 7-point gap to Webber. With the 1–2 finish in Brazil, Vettel and Webber secured Red Bull Racing's first Formula One World Constructors' Championship. He won the from pole again, to take the Drivers' Championship lead for the first time in his career and became the youngest world champion in the sport's history. Following John Surtees in the season and James Hunt in , this was also only the third time in Formula One history when the World Champion had not been championship