1996 Spanish Grand Prix

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1996 Spanish Grand Prix
Race 7 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One World Championship
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Circuit Catalunya 1995-2003.svg
Race details
Date2 June 1996
Official name Gran Premio Marlboro de España
Location Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain [1]
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.727 km (2.937 miles)
Distance 65 laps, 307.114 km (190.832 miles)
Weather Rain
Attendance 55,000
Pole position
Driver Williams-Renault
Time 1:20.650
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Time 1:45.517 on lap 14
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Benetton-Renault
Third Williams-Renault
Lap leaders
  • 1996 Spanish Grand Prix

The 1996 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Catalunya on 2 June 1996. It was the seventh race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship.

Contents

This race, Michael Schumacher's first Ferrari victory, is generally regarded as one of his finest. [2] [3] In the torrential rain, he produced a stunning drive, and is a prime example of why he earned the nickname "Regenmeister" ("Rainmaster"), despite his early and unforced crash at a wet Monaco Grand Prix two weeks earlier. The race was also Schumacher's 20th career win.

Race report

At the start, Schumacher lost several positions due to a clutch problem, which indirectly resulted in several clashes in the main straight involving 5 cars. Giancarlo Fisichella emerged from the carnage with a blown left front and a missing rear wing, while Olivier Panis escaped with suspension damage. Both pulled into the pits and retired a lap later.

Mika Salo was disqualified for the second time this season, for changing cars after the field was under starter's orders.

Damon Hill had started the race from pole position, but dropped to 8th after spinning twice in the opening laps, before another spin into the pit wall on lap 12 ended his race. Schumacher recovered from a poor start to take the lead from Villeneuve on lap 13, and from then on he dominated the race, lapping over three seconds a lap faster than the remainder of the field. [3] [4]

Rubens Barrichello was running a competitive race, getting as high as 2nd place after Jacques Villeneuve and Alesi made their pit stops. After his own scheduled (lengthy) pitstop he was sent back to the race but forced to retire from third place with 20 laps to go after a clutch problem caused his engine to fade out. On the previous lap, Gerhard Berger had spun his Benetton out of fourth place while trying to lap the Ligier of Pedro Diniz. Alesi and Villeneuve switched places on their own pitstops, Alesi taking his only one some 6 laps before Villeneuve.

After an uneventful race on his part, Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished in fourth, while Mika Häkkinen took fifth after surviving a spin off the track in the closing stages of the race. Jos Verstappen, running fifth after the retirements of Barrichello and Berger, crashed into the tyre barrier with 12 laps left, guaranteeing Diniz his first Formula One point as by this time only six drivers were left in the race. With no further retirements, Diniz brought his car home in sixth, after driving at a more cautious pace that saw him fall two laps adrift of the front runners by the end.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
15 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:20.650
26 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:21.084+0.434
31 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:21.587+0.937
43 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:22.061+1.411
54 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 1:22.125+1.475
62 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:22.333+1.683
711 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 1:22.379+1.729
89 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:22.685+2.035
914 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 1:23.027+2.377
107 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.070+2.420
1115 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 1:23.195+2.545
1219 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:23.224+2.574
1317 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 1:23.371+2.721
148 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.416+2.766
1512 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 1:23.438+2.788
1618 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:24.401+3.751
1710 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:24.468+3.818
1820 Flag of Portugal (official).svg Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 1:25.274+4.624
1921 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Minardi-Ford 1:25.531+4.881
2016 Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 1:25.621+4.971
107% time: 1:26.296
DNQ22 Flag of Italy.svg Luca Badoer Forti-Ford 1:26.615+5.965
DNQ23 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea Montermini Forti-Ford 1:27.358+6.708
Sources: [5] [6]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
11 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 651:59:49.307310
23 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 65+ 45.30246
36 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 65+ 48.38824
415 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 64+ 1 Lap113
57 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 64+ 1 Lap102
610 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 63+ 2 Laps171
Ret17 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 47Spun off13 
Ret11 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 45Clutch7 
Ret4 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 44Spun off5 
Ret14 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 20Spun off9 
Ret12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 17Differential15 
Ret5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Williams-Renault 10Spun off1 
Ret18 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 8Electrical16 
Ret2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1Spun off6 
Ret9 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1Collision damage8 
Ret21 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Minardi-Ford 1Collision damage19 
Ret8 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 0Collision14 
Ret20 Flag of Portugal (official).svg Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 0Collision18 
Ret16 Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 0Collision20 
DSQ19 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 16Illegal car change12 
Source: [7]

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. "1996 Spanish Grand Prix". Motor Sport . Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  2. Benson, Andrew (14 May 2016). "Spanish Grand Prix: Why Michael Schumacher's epic 1996 win matters". BBC Sport . Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Schumacher's first win for Ferrari - Spanish Grand Prix 1996". Formula1.com. 30 April 2003. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  4. "Classic F1 - Spanish Grand Prix 1996". BBC Sport. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  5. "Spain 1996 – Qualifications". StatsF1. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  6. "1996 Spanish Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  7. "1996 Spanish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Spain 1996 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
Previous race:
1996 Monaco Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1996 season
Next race:
1996 Canadian Grand Prix
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1995 Spanish Grand Prix
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1997 Spanish Grand Prix