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 the podium in Malaysia, Canada, Singapore and Japan. On 4 October 2014, Red Bull Racing announced that Vettel would be leaving the team at the end of the 2014 season, one year before his contract was due to expire. After the , he had been outqualified by a teammate over a season for the first time in his Formula One career. In addition to suffering reliability problems, throughout 2014 Vettel struggled to get to grips with the Red Bull RB10, and Pirelli's 2014 tyres. Vettel signed off the 2014 season, by becoming the first defending champion to fail to win