1996 European Grand Prix

Template:Infobox Grand Prix race report The 1996 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring in Germany on 28 April 1996. It was the fourth race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship.

The 67-lap race was won by Jacques Villeneuve, driving a Williams-Renault. Villeneuve beat teammate and pole-sitter Damon Hill off the line and led all 67 laps, taking his first F1 victory in only his fourth race. Local driver Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari, with David Coulthard third in a McLaren-Mercedes, just ahead of Hill.

Both Benetton cars made extremely slow starts, due to the brakes locking on. Berger was forced to pit for fresh tyres after a flat-spot was caused, while Alesi finished lap 1 in 13th place and spun while trying to recover.

The Tyrrells were disqualified for separate infringements - Salo finished 10th but his car was found post-race to be underweight, while Katayama finished 12th but was disqualified for receiving an illegal push-start on the parade lap.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	5	Template:Flagicon Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:18.941
2	6	Template:Flagicon Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1:19.721	+0.780
3	1	Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:20.149	+1.208
4	3	Template:Flagicon Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1:20.711	+1.770
5	11	Template:Flagicon Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	1:20.818	+1.877
6	8	Template:Flagicon David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:20.888	+1.947
7	2	Template:Flagicon Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:20.931	+1.990
8	4	Template:Flagicon Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	1:21.054	+2.113
9	7	Template:Flagicon Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:21.078	+2.137
10	15	Template:Flagicon Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	1:21.113	+2.172
11	12	Template:Flagicon Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	1:21.177	+2.236
12	14	Template:Flagicon Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	1:21.210	+2.269
13	17	Template:Flagicon Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	1:21.367	+2.426
14	19	Template:Flagicon Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:21.458	+2.517
15	9	Template:Flagicon Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:21.509	+2.568
16	18	Template:Flagicon Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:21.812	+2.871
17	10	Template:Flagicon Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:22.733	+3.792
18	21	Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella	Minardi-Ford	1:22.921	+3.980
19	20	Template:Flagicon Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	1:23.139	+4.198
20	16	Template:Flagicon Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	1:23.620	+4.679
107% time: 1:24.467
DNQ	23	Template:Flagicon Andrea Montermini	Forti-Ford	1:25.053	+6.112
DNQ	22	Template:Flagicon Luca Badoer	Forti-Ford	1:25.840	+6.899
Sources:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Template:Flagicon Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	67	1:33:26.473	2	10
2	1	Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	67	+ 0.762	3	6
3	8	Template:Flagicon David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	67	+ 32.834	6	4
4	5	Template:Flagicon Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	67	+ 33.511	1	3
5	11	Template:Flagicon Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	67	+ 33.713	5	2
6	12	Template:Flagicon Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	67	+ 55.567	11	1
7	14	Template:Flagicon Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	67	+ 1:18.027	12
8	7	Template:Flagicon Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	67	+ 1:18.438	9
9	4	Template:Flagicon Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	67	+ 1:21.061	8
10	10	Template:Flagicon Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	66	+ 1 Lap	17
11	16	Template:Flagicon Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	65	+ 2 Laps	20
12	20	Template:Flagicon Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	65	+ 2 Laps	19
13	21	Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella	Minardi-Ford	65	+ 2 Laps	18
Ret	15	Template:Flagicon Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	59	Brakes	10
Ret	17	Template:Flagicon Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	38	Engine	13
Ret	9	Template:Flagicon Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	6	Collision	15
Ret	2	Template:Flagicon Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	6	Collision	7
Ret	3	Template:Flagicon Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1	Collision	4
DSQ	19	Template:Flagicon Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	66	Underweight	14
DSQ	18	Template:Flagicon Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	65	Push Start	16
Source:<ref name="formula1.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Notes

• Both of Mika Häkkinen's pit lane speeding penalties in this race were caused by a problem with his pit speed limiter.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Template:Flagicon Damon Hill	33
2	Template:Flagicon Jacques Villeneuve	22
3	Template:Flagicon Jean Alesi	10
4	Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher	10
5	Template:Flagicon Eddie Irvine	6
Source: <ref name="champ">Template:Cite web</ref>

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Template:Flagicon Williams-Renault	55
2	Template:Flagicon Ferrari	16
3	Template:Flagicon Benetton-Renault	13
4	Template:Flagicon McLaren-Mercedes	9
5	Template:Flagicon Jordan-Peugeot	6
Source: <ref name="champ"/>

• Template:Small

References

Template:S-start |- style="text-align:center" |width="35%"|Previous race:
1996 Argentine Grand Prix |width="30%"|Template:Nowrap
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1996 San Marino Grand Prix |- style="text-align:center" |width="35%"|Previous race:
1995 European Grand Prix |width="30%"|European Grand Prix |width="35%"|Next race:
1997 European Grand Prix
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