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 FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 10, 1996, and ended on October 13 after sixteen races.

Damon Hill took his World Championship two years after being pipped by a point by Michael Schumacher, making him the only son of a World Champion to win the title himself. Hill who had finished runner-up for the past couple of seasons was not seriously threatened this year, though near the end, teammate and newcomer Jacques Villeneuve mounted a title challenge going into the final race of the season. Williams easily locked up the constructors title as well, as there was no other team strong enough to post a consistent challenge throughout the schedule. 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 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 champion Benetton 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.

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 Grands Prix.

The season also saw the car numbering system change. Previously teams had kept the same two numbers from season to season, only exchanging with the previous champion's team. Now the numbers were based on the teams' performance in the previous Constructor's Championship.

Forti went bankrupt after the British Grand Prix.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No	Driver	Rounds	Test driver(s)
Scuderia Ferrari SpA	Ferrari	F310	Ferrari 046 3.0 V10	G	1	Michael Schumacher	All	Nicola Larini
					2	Eddie Irvine	All
Mild Seven Benetton Renault	Benetton	B196	Renault RS8 3.0 V10	G	3	Jean Alesi	All	Vincenzo Sospiri Allan McNish
					4	Gerhard Berger	All
Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams	FW18	Renault RS8 3.0 V10	G	5	Damon Hill	All	Jean-Christophe Boullion
					6	Jacques Villeneuve	All
Marlboro McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4/11 MP4/11B	Mercedes FO 110/3 3.0 V10	G	7	Mika Häkkinen	All	Jan Magnussen Ralf Schumacher
					8	David Coulthard	All
Equipe Ligier Gauloises Blondes	Ligier	JS43	Mugen-Honda MF-301 HA 3.0 V10	G	9	Olivier Panis	All	Kelvin Burt
					10	Pedro Diniz	All
B&H Total Jordan Peugeot	Jordan	196	Peugeot A12 EV5 3.0 V10	G	11	Rubens Barrichello	All	Gianni Morbidelli
					12	Martin Brundle	All
Red Bull Sauber Ford	Sauber	C15	Ford JD Zetec-R 3.0 V10	G	14	Johnny Herbert	All	Norberto Fontana
					15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	All
Footwork Hart	Footwork	FA17	Hart 830 3.0 V8	G	16	Ricardo Rosset	All	Kenny Bräck
					17	Jos Verstappen	All
Tyrrell Yamaha	Tyrrell	024	Yamaha OX11A 3.0 V10	G	18	Ukyo Katayama	All	Emmanuel Collard
					19	Mika Salo	All
Minardi Team SpA	Minardi	M195B	Ford EDM2 3.0 V8	G	20	Pedro Lamy	All	Tarso Marques Giovanni Lavaggi
					21	Giancarlo Fisichella	1, 4-10
						Tarso Marques	2-3
						Giovanni Lavaggi	11-16
Forti Grand Prix	Forti	FG01B FG03	Ford ECA Zetec-R 3.0 V10	G	22	Luca Badoer	1-10	Franck Lagorce
					23	Andrea Montermini	1-10

Formula One 1996 race schedule

Rnd	Race	Date	Location
1	Australian Grand Prix	10 March	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
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
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
11	German Grand Prix	28 July	Hockenheimring
12	Hungarian Grand Prix	11 August	Hungaroring, Budapest
13	Belgian Grand Prix	25 August	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa
14	Italian Grand Prix	8 September	Autodromo Nazionale Monza
15	Portuguese Grand Prix	22 September	Autodromo do Estoril
16	Japanese Grand Prix	13 October	Suzuka Circuit

Rule changes

The race weekend schedule was changed for the 1996 season compared to the 1995 season. The number of free practice sessions was increased from the two in 1995 to three in 1996 with the number of laps allocated for each day increased from 23 to thirty. 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.¹

The old system of having a red and green light to start the race was replaced by the current system of five red lights coming on individually and then all going out to start the race.

Instead of the reigning world champion's team simply swapping car numbers with the previous team to carry numbers 1 and 2, a new numbering system was adopted and remains in place as of 2010. The reigning champion is given number 1 and his team-mate number 2. The rest of the teams are numbered in the order of their finishing position in the previous year's Constructors' championship, with any new teams taking the next numbers.

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

1996 Drivers Championship final standings

Pos Driver AUS BRA ARG EUR SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN Points 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 17 Ukyo Katayama 11 9 Ret DSQ Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 8 10 12 Ret 0 18 Ricardo Rosset 9 Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret Ret Ret 11 Ret 11 8 9 Ret 14 13 0 19 Giancarlo Fisichella Ret 13 Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret 11 0 20 Pedro Lamy Ret 10 Ret 12 9 Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 12 Ret 10 Ret 16 12 0 21 Luca Badoer DNQ 11 Ret DNQ 10 Ret DNQ Ret Ret DNQ 0 22 Giovanni Lavaggi DNQ 10 DNQ Ret 15 DNQ 0 23 Andrea Montermini DNQ Ret 10 DNQ DNQ DNS DNQ Ret Ret DNQ 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) Light blue Practiced only (PO) Friday test driver (TD) (from 2003 onwards) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

1996 Constructors Championship final standings

Pos	Constructor	Car no.	AUS	BRA	ARG	EUR	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN	Pts
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	16	6	5	Ret	DSQ	Ret	5	DSQ	Ret	10	7	9	Ret	7	Ret	11	Ret	5
		17	11	9	Ret	DSQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	8	10	12	Ret
9	Footwork-Hart	18	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	11	1
		19	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							0
		23	DNQ	Ret	10	DNQ	DNQ	DNS	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNQ
Pos	Constructor	Car no.	AUS	BRA	ARG	EUR	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN	Pts

References