1996 Formula One season

Damon Hill won the Formula One World Championship with Williams.

Hill's team-mate, Jacques Villeneuve (pictured in 2002), finished as runner-up in only his first year of F1 participation.

Defending double world champion Michael Schumacher finished third with Scuderia Ferrari.

The 1996 Formula One season was the 47th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on 10 March 1996, and ended on 13 October after sixteen races. Two World Championship titles were awarded, one for Drivers and one for Constructors.

Damon Hill won the Drivers' Championship two years after being beaten by a point by Michael Schumacher, making him the first son of a World Champion (his father Graham having won the title in 1962 and 1968) to have won the title himself. Hill, who had finished runner-up for the past two seasons, was seriously threatened only by his teammate, newcomer Jacques Villeneuve, the 1995 IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 champion. Williams Renault easily won the Constructors' title, as there was no other competitor strong enough to post a consistent challenge throughout the championship. This was also the beginning of the end of Williams' 1990s dominance, as it was announced that Hill and designer Adrian Newey would depart at the conclusion of the season, with engine manufacturer Renault also leaving after 1997.

Two-time defending Drivers' title holder Michael Schumacher had moved to Ferrari and despite numerous reliability problems, they had gradually developed into a front-running team by the end of the season. Defending Constructors' champions Benetton Renault began their decline towards the middle of the grid, having lost key personnel due to Schumacher's departure, and failed to win a race. Olivier Panis took the only victory of his career at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Teams and drivers

The numbering system used since 1974 was dropped. Ferrari was given the numbers 1 and 2 after hiring the defending champion Michael Schumacher, despite finishing the previous year's Constructors' Championship in third. Benetton received numbers 3 and 4 for winning the Constructors' Championship. Williams got numbers 5 and 6 for finishing second, McLaren got 7 and 8 for finishing fourth, Ligier and 9 and 10 for finishing fifth, and so on. The defending Constructors' champion Benetton officially became an Italian constructor, though continued to be based in Britain.

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship.^[1]

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No.	Driver	Rounds
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	F310	Ferrari 046 3.0 V10	G	1	Michael Schumacher	All
					2	Eddie Irvine	All
Mild Seven Benetton Renault	Benetton-Renault	B196	Renault RS8 3.0 V10	G	3	Jean Alesi	All
					4	Gerhard Berger	All
Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams-Renault	FW18	Renault RS8 3.0 V10	G	5	Damon Hill	All
					6	Jacques Villeneuve	All
Marlboro McLaren Mercedes	McLaren-Mercedes	MP4/11 MP4/11B	Mercedes FO 110/3 3.0 V10	G	7	Mika Häkkinen	All
					8	David Coulthard	All
Ligier Gauloises Blondes	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	JS43	Mugen-Honda MF-301 HA 3.0 V10	G	9	Olivier Panis	All
					10	Pedro Diniz	All
Benson & Hedges Total Jordan Peugeot	Jordan-Peugeot	196	Peugeot A12 EV5 3.0 V10	G	11	Rubens Barrichello	All
					12	Martin Brundle	All
Red Bull Sauber Ford	Sauber-Ford	C15	Ford JD Zetec-R 3.0 V10	G	14	Johnny Herbert	All
					15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	All
Footwork Hart	Footwork-Hart	FA17	Hart 830 3.0 V8	G	16	Ricardo Rosset	All
					17	Jos Verstappen	All
Tyrrell Yamaha	Tyrrell-Yamaha	024	Yamaha OX11A 3.0 V10	G	18	Ukyo Katayama	All
					19	Mika Salo	All
Minardi Team	Minardi-Ford	M195B	Ford ED2 3.0 V8 Ford ED3 3.0 V8	G	20	Pedro Lamy	All
					21	Giancarlo Fisichella	1, 4–10
						Tarso Marques	2–3
						Giovanni Lavaggi	11–16
Forti Grand Prix	Forti-Ford	FG01B FG03	Ford ECA Zetec-R 3.0 V8	G	22	Luca Badoer	1–10
					23	Andrea Montermini	1–10

Forti Grand Prix were declared bankrupt after the British Grand Prix and took no further part in the championship.

Formula One 1996 race schedule

Rnd	Race	Date	Location
1	Australian Grand Prix	10 March	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne
2	Brazilian Grand Prix	31 March	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo
3	Argentine Grand Prix	7 April	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires
4	European Grand Prix	28 April	Nürburgring, Nürburg
5	San Marino Grand Prix	5 May	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola
6	Monaco Grand Prix	19 May	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo
7	Spanish Grand Prix	2 June	Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona
8	Canadian Grand Prix	16 June	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal
9	French Grand Prix	30 June	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours
10	British Grand Prix	14 July	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
11	German Grand Prix	28 July	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim
12	Hungarian Grand Prix	11 August	Hungaroring, Budapest
13	Belgian Grand Prix	25 August	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot
14	Italian Grand Prix	8 September	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza
15	Portuguese Grand Prix	22 September	Autodromo do Estoril, Cascais
16	Japanese Grand Prix	13 October	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka

Rule changes

The race weekend schedule was changed for the 1996 season compared to 1995. The number of free practice sessions was increased from the two to three with the number of laps allocated for each day increased from 23 to 30. Also, to increase the spectacle, the Friday qualifying session was dropped, with the FIA World Motor Sport Council opting to have only one qualifying session, held on Saturday afternoon.^[2]

The previous system of having a red and green light to start the race was replaced by the current system of five red lights turning on sequentially, then all going out simultaneously after an indeterminate period of time to start the race.^[3]

This year saw the introduction of the "107% rule", which meant all cars had to be within 107% of the pole position time in order to qualify for the race.^[3]

A new numbering system for cars was adopted for 1996 and remained in place until the end of 2013, when a new system was introduced. Previously, the reigning Drivers' Champion's team had simply swapped car numbers with the previous Drivers' Champion's team to carry numbers 1 and 2, with all other teams retaining their existing numbers. For 1996 the reigning Drivers' Champion was given number 1 and his team-mate number 2 with the rest of the teams numbered in the order of their finishing position in the previous year's Constructors' Championship. Any new teams were allocated the following numbers.

In 1995, the cars' cockpit opening was made larger and the sides were raised in order to provide better head protection for the driver; these sides were raised even higher (to mid-helmet height) for 1996, along with a wraparound head restraint made of foam to prevent head injuries such as those suffered by Mika Häkkinen during qualifying for the 1995 Australian Grand Prix. Needle-like nosecone designs with a sharp point, such as the 1995 McLaren MP4/10, were also banned in favour of more blunt nose sections.^[3]

Grands Prix

Round	Grand Prix	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Constructor	Report
1	Australian Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Jacques Villeneuve	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
2	Brazilian Grand Prix	Damon Hill	Damon Hill	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
3	Argentine Grand Prix	Damon Hill	Jean Alesi	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
4	European Grand Prix	Damon Hill	Damon Hill	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
5	San Marino Grand Prix	Michael Schumacher	Damon Hill	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
6	Monaco Grand Prix	Michael Schumacher	Jean Alesi	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	Report
7	Spanish Grand Prix	Damon Hill	Michael Schumacher	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
8	Canadian Grand Prix	Damon Hill	Jacques Villeneuve	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
9	French Grand Prix	Michael Schumacher	Jacques Villeneuve	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
10	British Grand Prix	Damon Hill	Jacques Villeneuve	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
11	German Grand Prix	Damon Hill	Damon Hill	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
12	Hungarian Grand Prix	Michael Schumacher	Damon Hill	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
13	Belgian Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Gerhard Berger	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
14	Italian Grand Prix	Damon Hill	Michael Schumacher	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
15	Portuguese Grand Prix	Damon Hill	Jacques Villeneuve	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
16	Japanese Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Jacques Villeneuve	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report

Championship results

Drivers' Championship

Pos.[4] Driver[4] AUS BRA ARG EUR SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN Points [4] 1 Damon Hill 1 1 1 4 1 Ret Ret 1 1 Ret 1 2 5 Ret 2 1 97 2 Jacques Villeneuve 2 Ret 2 1 11† Ret 3 2 2 1 3 1 2 7 1 Ret 78 3 Michael Schumacher Ret 3 Ret 2 2 Ret 1 Ret DNS Ret 4 9† 1 1 3 2 59 4 Jean Alesi Ret 2 3 Ret 6 Ret 2 3 3 Ret 2 3 4 2 4 Ret 47 5 Mika Häkkinen 5 4 Ret 8 8† 6† 5 5 5 3 Ret 4 3 3 Ret 3 31 6 Gerhard Berger 4 Ret Ret 9 3 Ret Ret Ret 4 2 13† Ret 6 Ret 6 4 21 7 David Coulthard Ret Ret 7 3 Ret 2 Ret 4 6 5 5 Ret Ret Ret 13 8 18 8 Rubens Barrichello Ret Ret 4 5 5 Ret Ret Ret 9 4 6 6 Ret 5 Ret 9 14 9 Olivier Panis 7 6 8 Ret Ret 1 Ret Ret 7 Ret 7 5 Ret Ret 10 7 13 10 Eddie Irvine 3 7 5 Ret 4 7† Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 Ret 11 11 Martin Brundle Ret 12† Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret 6 8 6 10 Ret Ret 4 9 5 8 12 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 4† 4 Ret Ret 8 8 Ret Ret Ret 7 6 7 13 Mika Salo 6 5 Ret DSQ Ret 5† DSQ Ret 10 7 9 Ret 7 Ret 11 Ret 5 14 Johnny Herbert Ret Ret 9 7 Ret 3 Ret 7 DSQ 9 Ret Ret Ret 9† 8 10 4 15 Pedro Diniz 10 8 Ret 10 7 Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret 2 16 Jos Verstappen Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret 11 1 — Ukyo Katayama 11 9 Ret DSQ Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 8 10 12 Ret 0 — Ricardo Rosset 9 Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret Ret Ret 11 Ret 11 8 9 Ret 14 13 0 — Giancarlo Fisichella Ret 13 Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret 11 0 — Pedro Lamy Ret 10 Ret 12 9 Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 12 Ret 10 Ret 16 12 0 — Luca Badoer DNQ 11 Ret DNQ 10 Ret DNQ Ret Ret DNQ DNP 0 — Giovanni Lavaggi DNQ 10† DNQ Ret 15 DNQ 0 — Andrea Montermini DNQ Ret 10 DNQ DNQ DNS DNQ Ret Ret DNQ DNP 0 — Tarso Marques Ret Ret 0 Pos Driver AUS BRA ARG EUR SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest lap

^† Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Drivers' Championship points were awarded on a 10–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top six finishers in each race.

Constructors' Championship

Williams Renault won the Constructors' Championship with the FW18.

Ferrari placed second in the Constructors' title with the F310.

Pos.[5]	Constructor[5]	Car no.	AUS	BRA	ARG	EUR	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN	Points [5]
1	Williams-Renault	5	1	1	1	4	1	Ret	Ret	1	1	Ret	1	2	5	Ret	2	1	175
		6	2	Ret	2	1	11	Ret	3	2	2	1	3	1	2	7	1	Ret
2	Ferrari	1	Ret	3	Ret	2	2	Ret	1	Ret	DNS	Ret	4	9	1	1	3	2	70
		2	3	7	5	Ret	4	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	5	Ret
3	Benetton-Renault	3	Ret	2	3	Ret	6	Ret	2	3	3	Ret	2	3	4	2	4	Ret	68
		4	4	Ret	Ret	9	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	2	13	Ret	6	Ret	6	4
4	McLaren-Mercedes	7	5	4	Ret	8	8	6	5	5	5	3	Ret	4	3	3	Ret	3	49
		8	Ret	Ret	7	3	Ret	2	Ret	4	6	5	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	13	8
5	Jordan-Peugeot	11	Ret	Ret	4	5	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	9	4	6	6	Ret	5	Ret	9	22
		12	Ret	12	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	8	6	10	Ret	Ret	4	9	5
6	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	9	7	6	8	Ret	Ret	1	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	7	5	Ret	Ret	10	7	15
		10	10	8	Ret	10	7	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	Ret
7	Sauber-Ford	14	Ret	Ret	9	7	Ret	3	Ret	7	DSQ	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	9	8	10	11
		15	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	4	Ret	Ret	8	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	6
8	Tyrrell-Yamaha	19	6	5	Ret	DSQ	Ret	5	DSQ	Ret	10	7	9	Ret	7	Ret	11	Ret	5
		18	11	9	Ret	DSQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	8	10	12	Ret
9	Footwork-Hart	17	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	11	1
		16	9	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	11	8	9	Ret	14	13
—	Minardi-Ford	20	Ret	10	Ret	12	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	12	Ret	10	Ret	16	12	0
		21	Ret	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	11	DNQ	10	DNQ	Ret	15	DNQ
—	Forti-Ford	22	DNQ	11	Ret	DNQ	10	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNQ	DNP						0
		23	DNQ	Ret	10	DNQ	DNQ	DNS	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNQ	DNP
Pos	Constructor	Car no.	AUS	BRA	ARG	EUR	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN	Points

Constructors' Championship points were awarded on a 10–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top six finishers in each race.

References

External links

• formula1.com – 1996 official driver standings (archived)
• formula1.com – 1996 official team standings (archived)