1996 French Grand Prix

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1996 French Grand Prix
Race 9 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One World Championship
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Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (1992-2002).svg
Race details
Date30 June 1996
Official name LXXXII French Grand Prix
Location Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.250 [1] km (2.641 miles)
Distance 72 laps, 305.814 [2] km (190.024 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:15.989
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault
Time 1:18.610 on lap 48
Podium
First Williams-Renault
Second Williams-Renault
Third Benetton-Renault
Lap leaders
  • 1996 French Grand Prix

The 1996 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours, France on 30 June 1996. It was the ninth race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship.

Contents

The 72-lap race was won by Briton Damon Hill, driving a Williams-Renault, after he started from second position. German Michael Schumacher took pole position in his Ferrari but failed to start the race after his engine blew on the warm-up lap, [3] leaving Hill to lead from start to finish except for the pit stops. Hill's teammate, Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who had crashed heavily at Estoril corner in qualifying, finished second, with local driver Jean Alesi third in a Benetton-Renault.

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. [4]

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
11 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:15.989
25 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:16.058+0.069
33 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:16.310+0.321
44 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 1:16.592+0.603
57 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.634+0.645
66 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:16.905+0.916
78 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.007+1.018
812 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 1:17.187+1.198
99 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:17.390+1.401
1011 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 1:17.665+1.676
1110 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:17.676+1.687
1215 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 1:17.739+1.750
1319 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:18.021+2.032
1418 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:18.242+2.253
1517 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 1:18.324+2.335
1614 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 1:18.556+2.567
1721 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Minardi-Ford 1:18.604+2.615
1820 Flag of Portugal.svg Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 1:19.210+3.221
1916 Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 1:19.242+3.253
2022 Flag of Italy.svg Luca Badoer Forti-Ford 1:20.562+4.573
2123 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea Montermini Forti-Ford 1:20.647+4.658
107% time: 1:21.308
222 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine 1 Ferrari   
Source: [5] [6]

^1 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. [7]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
15 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Williams-Renault 721:36:28.795210
26 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 72+ 8.12766
33 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 72+ 46.44234
44 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 72+ 46.85943
57 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 72+ 1:02.77452
68 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 71+ 1 lap71
79 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 71+ 1 lap9 
812 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 71+ 1 lap8 
911 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 71+ 1 lap10 
1019 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 70+ 2 laps13 
1116 Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 69+ 3 laps19 
1220 Flag of Portugal.svg Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 69+ 3 laps18 
DSQ14 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 70Bodywork16 
Ret15 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 56Throttle12 
Ret18 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 33Engine14 
Ret22 Flag of Italy.svg Luca Badoer Forti-Ford 29Fuel system20 
Ret10 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 28Engine11 
Ret17 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 10Suspension15 
Ret2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine Ferrari 5Gearbox22 
Ret21 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Minardi-Ford 2Fuel pump17 
Ret23 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea Montermini Forti-Ford 2Electrical21 
DNS1 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 0Engine 
Source: [8]

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. Derived based on the identical race distance and number of laps in 1998 French Grand Prix
  2. Calculated based on the race classification shown during TV broadcast
  3. Waller, Toby (2 July 1996). "Round 9: Renault Take Top Four Places At Home Grand Prix". Atlas F1. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  4. "Forti - Grands Prix started 1996 • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  5. "France 1996 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  6. "France 1996 - Starting grid • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  7. "Grand Prix Results: French GP, 1996". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  8. "1996 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  9. 1 2 "France 1996 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
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1996 Canadian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1996 season
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1996 British Grand Prix
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1995 French Grand Prix
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1997 French Grand Prix