1996 European Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Germany
Grand Prix:European
Official Name:XL Grand Prix of Europe
Date:28 April
Year:1996
Race No:4
Season No:16
Location:Nürburgring
Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:2.842
Course Km:4.556
Distance Laps:67
Distance Mi:190.425
Distance Km:305.252
Weather:Cloudy, but dry
Pole Driver:Damon Hill
Pole Team:Williams-Renault
Pole Time:1:18.941
Pole Country:United Kingdom
Fast Driver:Damon Hill
Fast Team:Williams-Renault
Fast Time:1:21.363
Fast Lap:55
Fast Country:United Kingdom
First Driver:Jacques Villeneuve
First Team:Williams-Renault
First Country:Canada
Second Driver:Michael Schumacher
Second Team:Ferrari
Second Country:Germany
Third Driver:David Coulthard
Third Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Third Country:United Kingdom
Previous Round:1996 Argentine Grand Prix
Next Round:1996 San Marino Grand Prix

The 1996 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring in Germany on 28 April 1996. It was the fourth race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship.

The 67-lap race was won by Jacques Villeneuve, driving a Williams-Renault. Villeneuve beat teammate and pole-sitter Damon Hill off the line and led all 67 laps, taking his first F1 victory in only his fourth race. Local driver Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari, with David Coulthard third in a McLaren-Mercedes, just ahead of Hill.

Both Benetton cars made extremely slow starts, due to the brakes locking on. Berger was forced to pit for fresh tyres after a flat-spot was caused, while Alesi finished lap 1 in 13th place and spun while trying to recover.

The Tyrrells were disqualified for separate infringements - Salo finished 10th but his car was found post-race to be underweight, while Katayama finished 12th but was disqualified for receiving an illegal push-start on the parade lap.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
15data-sort-value="hil" Damon HillWilliams-Renault1:18.941
26data-sort-value="vil" Jacques VilleneuveWilliams-Renault1:19.721+0.780
31data-sort-value="sc, m" Michael SchumacherFerrari1:20.149+1.208
43data-sort-value="ale" Jean AlesiBenetton-Renault1:20.711+1.770
511data-sort-value="bar" Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Peugeot1:20.818+1.877
68data-sort-value="cou" David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes1:20.888+1.947
72data-sort-value="irv" Eddie IrvineFerrari1:20.931+1.990
84data-sort-value="ber" Gerhard BergerBenetton-Renault1:21.054+2.113
97data-sort-value="hak" Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Mercedes1:21.078+2.137
1015data-sort-value="fre" Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Ford1:21.113+2.172
1112data-sort-value="bru" Martin BrundleJordan-Peugeot1:21.177+2.236
1214data-sort-value="her" Johnny HerbertSauber-Ford1:21.210+2.269
1317data-sort-value="ver" Jos VerstappenFootwork-Hart1:21.367+2.426
1419data-sort-value="sal" Mika SaloTyrrell-Yamaha1:21.458+2.517
159data-sort-value="pan" Olivier PanisLigier-Mugen-Honda1:21.509+2.568
1618data-sort-value="kat" Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha1:21.812+2.871
1710data-sort-value="din" Pedro DinizLigier-Mugen-Honda1:22.733+3.792
1821data-sort-value="fis" Giancarlo FisichellaMinardi-Ford1:22.921+3.980
1920data-sort-value="lamy" Pedro LamyMinardi-Ford1:23.139+4.198
2016data-sort-value="ros" Ricardo RossetFootwork-Hart1:23.620+4.679
107% time

1:24.467

data-sort-value="21"DNQ23data-sort-value="mon" Andrea MonterminiForti-Ford1:25.053+6.112
data-sort-value="22"DNQ22data-sort-value="bad" Luca BadoerForti-Ford1:25.840+6.899
Sources:[1] [2]

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
16 Jacques VilleneuveWilliams-Renault671:33:26.473210
21 Michael SchumacherFerrari67+ 0.76236
38 David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes67+ 32.83464
45 Damon HillWilliams-Renault67+ 33.51113
511 Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Peugeot67+ 33.71352
612 Martin BrundleJordan-Peugeot67+ 55.567111
714 Johnny HerbertSauber-Ford67+ 1:18.02712 
87 Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Mercedes67+ 1:18.4389 
94 Gerhard BergerBenetton-Renault67+ 1:21.0618 
1010 Pedro DinizLigier-Mugen-Honda66+ 1 Lap17 
1116 Ricardo RossetFootwork-Hart65+ 2 Laps20 
1220 Pedro LamyMinardi-Ford65+ 2 Laps19 
1321 Giancarlo FisichellaMinardi-Ford65+ 2 Laps18 
Ret15 Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Ford59Brakes10 
Ret17 Jos VerstappenFootwork-Hart38Engine13 
Ret9 Olivier PanisLigier-Mugen-Honda6Collision15 
Ret2 Eddie IrvineFerrari6Collision7 
Ret3 Jean AlesiBenetton-Renault1Collision4 
DSQ19 Mika SaloTyrrell-Yamaha66Underweight14 
DSQ18 Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha65Push Start16 
Source:[3]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Damon Hill33
2 Jacques Villeneuve22
3 Jean Alesi10
4 Michael Schumacher10
5 Eddie Irvine6
Source: [4]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Williams-Renault55
2 Ferrari16
3 Benetton-Renault13
4 McLaren-Mercedes9
5 Jordan-Peugeot6
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Europe 1996 – Qualifications. StatsF1. 29 December 2023.
  2. Web site: 1996 European Grand Prix Classification Qualifying. Motorsport Stats. 29 December 2023.
  3. Web site: 1996 European Grand Prix . formula1.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20141101203227/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1996/134/ . 1 November 2014 . 24 December 2015.
  4. Web site: Europe 1996 - Championship. Statsf1.com. 15 March 2019.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "1996 European Grand Prix".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.