1996 Formula One season

1996 FIA Formula One World Championship season Previous: 1995 Next: 1997 Index: Races by country | Races by season

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 solitary World Championship two years after being pipped by a point by Michael Schumacher, beating off Jacques Villeneuve after a season long battle. 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 number 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	Test driver(s)
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	F310	Ferrari 046 3.0 V10	G	1	Michael Schumacher	Nicola Larini
					2	Eddie Irvine
Mild Seven Benetton Renault	Benetton	B196	Renault RS8 3.0 V10	G	3	Jean Alesi	Vincenzo Sospiri
					4	Gerhard Berger
Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams	FW18	Renault RS8 3.0 V10	G	5	Damon Hill	Jean-Christophe Boullion
					6	Jacques Villeneuve
Marlboro McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4/11 MP4/11B	Mercedes FO 110 3.0 V10	G	7	Mika Häkkinen	Jan Magnussen
					8	David Coulthard
Ligier Gauloises Blondes	Ligier	JS43	Mugen-Honda MF-301 HA 3.0 V10	G	9	Olivier Panis	Kelvin Burt
					10	Pedro Diniz
B&H Total Jordan Peugeot	Jordan	196	Peugeot A12 EV5 3.0 V10	G	11	Rubens Barrichello	Gianni Morbidelli
					12	Martin Brundle
Red Bull Sauber Ford	Sauber	C15	Ford JD Zetec-R 3.0 V10	G	14	Johnny Herbert	Norberto Fontana
					15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Footwork Hart	Footwork	FA17	Hart 830 3.0 V8	G	16	Ricardo Rosset	n/a
					17	Jos Verstappen
Tyrrell Yamaha	Tyrrell	024	Yamaha OX11A 3.0 V10	G	18	Ukyo Katayama	Emmanuel Collard
					19	Mika Salo
Minardi Team	Minardi	M195B	Ford EDM2 3.0 V8 Ford EDM3 3.0 V8	G	20	Pedro Lamy	n/a
					21	Giancarlo Fisichella
						Tarso Marques
						Giovanni Lavaggi
Forti Grand Prix	Forti	FG01B FG03	Ford ECA Zetec-R 3.0 V10	G	22	Luca Badoer	Franck Lagorce
					23	Andrea Montermini

Season review

Grands Prix

Rnd	Race	Date	Location	Winning Driver	Constructor	Report
1	Australian Grand Prix	March 10	Melbourne	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
2	Brazilian Grand Prix	March 31	Interlagos	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
3	Argentine Grand Prix	April 7	Oscar Gálvez	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
4	European Grand Prix	April 28	Nürburgring	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
5	San Marino Grand Prix	May 5	Imola	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
6	Monaco Grand Prix	May 19	Monaco	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	Report
7	Spanish Grand Prix	June 2	Catalunya	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
8	Canadian Grand Prix	June 16	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
9	French Grand Prix	June 30	Magny-Cours	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
10	British Grand Prix	July 14	Silverstone	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
11	German Grand Prix	July 28	Hockenheimring	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
12	Hungarian Grand Prix	August 11	Hungaroring	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
13	Belgian Grand Prix	August 25	Spa-Francorchamps	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
14	Italian Grand Prix	September 8	Monza	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
15	Portuguese Grand Prix	September 22	Estoril	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
16	Japanese Grand Prix	October 13	Suzuka	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report

1996 Constructors Championship final standings

Pos	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Points	Wins	Podiums	Poles
1	Williams-Renault	FW18	Renault	G	175	12	21	12
2	Ferrari	F310	Ferrari	G	70	3	9	4
3	Benetton-Renault	B196	Renault	G	68		10
4	McLaren-Mercedes	MP4/11 MP4/11B	Mercedes	G	49		6
5	Jordan-Peugeot	196	Peugeot	G	22
6	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	JS43	Mugen-Honda	G	15	1	1
7	Sauber-Ford	C15	Ford	G	11		1
8	Tyrrell-Yamaha	024	Yamaha	G	5
9	Footwork-Hart	FA17	Hart	G	1
10	Minardi-Ford	M195B	Ford	G	0
11	Forti-Ford	FG01B FG03	Ford	G	0

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 Hill 1 1 1 4 1 Ret Ret 1 1 Ret 1 2 5 Ret 2 1 97 2 Villeneuve 2 Ret 2 1 11 Ret 3 2 2 1 3 1 2 7 1 Ret 78 3 M.Schumacher Ret 3 Ret 2 2 Ret 1 Ret DNS Ret 4 9 1 1 3 2 59 4 Alesi Ret 2 3 Ret 6 Ret 2 3 3 Ret 2 3 4 2 4 Ret 47 5 Häkkinen 5 4 Ret 8 8 6 5 5 5 3 Ret 4 3 3 Ret 3 31 6 Berger 4 Ret Ret 9 3 Ret Ret Ret 4 2 13 Ret 6 Ret 6 4 21 7 Coulthard Ret Ret 7 3 Ret 2 Ret 4 6 5 5 Ret Ret Ret 13 8 18 8 Barrichello Ret Ret 4 5 5 Ret Ret Ret 9 4 6 6 Ret 5 Ret 9 14 9 Panis 7 6 8 Ret Ret 1 Ret Ret 7 Ret 7 5 Ret Ret 10 7 13 10 Irvine 3 7 5 Ret 4 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 Ret 11 11 Brundle Ret 12 Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret 6 8 6 10 Ret Ret 4 9 5 8 12 Frentzen 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 4 4 Ret Ret 8 8 Ret Ret Ret 7 6 7 13 Salo 6 5 Ret DSQ Ret 5 DSQ Ret 10 7 9 Ret 7 Ret 11 Ret 5 14 Herbert Ret Ret 9 7 Ret 3 Ret 7 DSQ 9 Ret Ret Ret 9 8 10 4 15 Diniz 10 8 Ret 10 7 Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret 2 16 Verstappen Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret 11 1 17 Katayama 11 9 Ret DSQ Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 8 10 12 Ret 0 18 Rosset 9 Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret Ret Ret 11 Ret 11 8 9 Ret 14 13 0 19 Fisichella Ret 13 Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret 11 0 20 Lamy Ret 10 Ret 12 9 Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 12 Ret 10 Ret 16 12 0 21 Badoer DNQ 11 Ret DNQ 10 Ret DNQ Ret Ret DNQ 0 22 Lavaggi DNQ 10 DNQ Ret 15 DNQ 0 23 Montermini DNQ Ret 10 DNQ DNQ DNS DNQ Ret Ret DNQ 0 — Marques Ret Ret 0 Pos Driver AUS BRA ARG EUR SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN Points

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate Blank Injured (INJ) Blank Excluded (EX)