1996 French Grand Prix

1996 French Grand Prix
Race 9 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	30 June 1996
Official name	LXXXII French Grand Prix
Location	Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours, France
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.250 km (2.641 mi)
Distance	72 laps, 306.000 km (190.140 mi)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:15.989
Fastest lap
Driver	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Time	1:18.610 on lap 48
Podium
First	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Second	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Third	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault
show Lap leaders

The 1996 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 June 1996 at Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours, France. It was the ninth race of the 1996 Formula One season. Michael Schumacher qualified in pole position but his engine blew on the warm-up lap and he did not start the race. The 72-lap race was won by Damon Hill for the Williams team, from a second position start. Jacques Villeneuve finished second in the other Williams, with Jean Alesi third for the Benetton team.

This was the last Grand Prix where a Forti car started the race as they would fail to qualify for the remaining Grand Prix they would enter, however both cars were forced to retire.^[1]

Classification[]

Qualifying[]

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:15.989
2	5	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:16.058	+0.069
3	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1:16.310	+0.321
4	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	1:16.592	+0.603
5	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:16.634	+0.645
6	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1:16.905	+0.916
7	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:17.007	+1.018
8	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	1:17.187	+1.198
9	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:17.390	+1.401
10	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	1:17.665	+1.676
11	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:17.676	+1.687
12	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	1:17.739	+1.750
13	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:18.021	+2.032
14	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:18.242	+2.253
15	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	1:18.324	+2.335
16	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	1:18.556	+2.567
17	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Minardi-Ford	1:18.604	+2.615
18	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	1:19.210	+3.221
19	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	1:19.242	+3.253
20	22	Luca Badoer	Forti-Ford	1:20.562	+4.573
21	23	Andrea Montermini	Forti-Ford	1:20.647	+4.658
107% time: 1:21.308
22	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari
Source:[2][3]

Race[]

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	72	1:36:28.795	2	10
2	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	72	+ 8.127	6	6
3	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	72	+ 46.442	3	4
4	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	72	+ 46.859	4	3
5	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	72	+ 1:02.774	5	2
6	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	71	+ 1 Lap	7	1
7	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	71	+ 1 Lap	9
8	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	71	+ 1 Lap	8
9	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	71	+ 1 Lap	10
10	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	70	+ 2 Laps	13
11	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	69	+ 3 Laps	19
12	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	69	+ 3 Laps	18
DSQ	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	70	Bodywork Irregularities	16
Ret	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	56	Throttle	12
Ret	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	33	Engine	14
Ret	22	Luca Badoer	Forti-Ford	29	Fuel System	20
Ret	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	28	Engine	11
Ret	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	10	Suspension	15
Ret	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	5	Gearbox	22
Ret	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Minardi-Ford	2	Fuel Pump	17
Ret	23	Andrea Montermini	Forti-Ford	2	Electrical	21
DNS	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	0	Engine	–
Source:[4]

Notes[]

This section contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (March 2021)

• Jacques Villeneuve crashed heavily at Estoril corner in qualifying, when the front end of his Williams went wide and smashed the left side of his car in the barriers. The car was repaired in time for race day.
• Eddie Irvine had qualified 10th, but had all his qualifying times deleted and was demoted to the back of the grid after one of the air deflectors on his Ferrari was found to be too tall.^[5]
• Pole-sitter Michael Schumacher had an engine failure during the formation lap and was unable to start the race.
• Ferrari's misfortunes weren't any better as Schumacher's teammate, Eddie Irvine, retired from the race after 5 laps when his gearbox failed.
• Herbert originally finished 11th, but was disqualified because of bodywork irregularities.
• As of July 2021, this was the last time no current or former World Champion started a Grand Prix race.
• This was the first race in which the cars fitted with Renault engines finished in the top four.
• This was the last Grand Prix start for Andrea Montermini.

Championship standings after the race[]

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Damon Hill 63 2 Jacques Villeneuve 38 3 Michael Schumacher 26 4 Jean Alesi 25 5 David Coulthard 14 Source:[6]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 101 2 Ferrari 35 3 Benetton-Renault 35 4 McLaren-Mercedes 26 5 Ligier-Mugen-Honda 12 Source:[6]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[]