Team Record: 16 Pole Positions in a Season

Lore & Background

Mercedes dominated the 2016 season, with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg securing 16 pole positions across 21 races. The team's relentless pace and engineering excellence set a new benchmark for qualifying performance, a record that still stands today.

In Their Own Story

That summer at Silverstone, the engine note didn't just roar; it hummed with the weight of inevitability. In the garage, mechanics treated the W10's rear wing with the reverence reserved for religious artifacts, wiping it down as if polishing a holy relic. Telemetry screens across the pit wall glowed an unbroken sea of green, confirming what every rival in the lane already feared: Saturday afternoons belonged to Mercedes. When the final checkered flag fell on that season's last qualifying session, the 16th pole wasn't secured with a scream of triumph, but with the quiet, terrifying confidence of a dynasty that had rewritten the rules of the game.

Reader's Guide

F1 Academy is a spec series; all teams compete with an identical Tatuus F4-T421 chassis and tyre compounds developed by Pirelli. Each car is powered by a 123-kilowatt (165 hp) turbocharged 4-cylinder engine developed by Autotecnica.

Did You Know?

• Prema Racing saw reigning champion Doriane Pin move to European Le Mans Series' LMP2 class with Duqueine Team.
• Montreal wildcard driver Mathilda Paatz replaced Tina Hausmann as the new Aston Martin-backed driver.
• Las Vegas wildcard driver Payton Westcott succeeded Doriane Pin in the Mercedes seat.
• The calendar was announced on 10 December 2025 and amended on 14 March 2026.
• Round two at Jeddah was cancelled due to the 2026 Iran war.