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1996 European Grand Prix

{{Infobox Grand Prix race report

|Type = F1

|Country = Germany

|Grand Prix = European

|Image = Circuit Nürburgring-1995-GP.svg

|Caption = The Nürburgring in its 1996 configuration

|Official name = XL Grand Prix of Europe

|Date = 28 April

|Year = 1996

|Race_No = 4

|Season_No = 16

|Location = Nürburgring
Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

|Course = Permanent racing facility

|Course_mi = 2.842

|Course_km = 4.556

|Distance_laps = 67

|Distance_mi = 190.425

|Distance_km = 305.252

|Weather = Cloudy, but dry

|Pole_Driver = Damon Hill

|Pole_Team = Williams-Renault

|Pole_Time = 1:18.941

|Pole_Country = United Kingdom

|Fast_Driver = Damon Hill

|Fast_Team = Williams-Renault

|Fast_Time = 1:21.363

|Fast_Lap = 55

|Fast_Country = United Kingdom

|First_Driver = Jacques Villeneuve

|First_Team = Williams-Renault

|First_Country = Canada

|Second_Driver = Michael Schumacher

|Second_Team = Ferrari

|Second_Country = Germany

|Third_Driver = David Coulthard

|Third_Team = McLaren-Mercedes

|Third_Country = United Kingdom

|Lapchart = {{F1Laps1996|EUR}}

|Previous_round=1996 Argentine Grand Prix|Next_round=1996 San Marino Grand Prix}}

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=

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
1

| 5

| data-sort-value="hil"|{{flagicon|UK}} Damon Hill

| Williams-Renault

| 1:18.941

|

2

| 6

| data-sort-value="vil"|{{flagicon|Canada}} Jacques Villeneuve

| Williams-Renault

| 1:19.721

| +0.780

3

| 1

| data-sort-value="sc, m"|{{flagicon|Germany}} Michael Schumacher

| Ferrari

| 1:20.149

| +1.208

4

| 3

| data-sort-value="ale"|{{flagicon|France}} Jean Alesi

| Benetton-Renault

| 1:20.711

| +1.770

5

| 11

| data-sort-value="bar"|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Rubens Barrichello

| Jordan-Peugeot

| 1:20.818

| +1.877

6

| 8

| data-sort-value="cou"|{{flagicon|UK}} David Coulthard

| McLaren-Mercedes

| 1:20.888

| +1.947

7

| 2

| data-sort-value="irv"|{{flagicon|UK}} Eddie Irvine

| Ferrari

| 1:20.931

| +1.990

8

| 4

| data-sort-value="ber"|{{flagicon|Austria}} Gerhard Berger

| Benetton-Renault

| 1:21.054

| +2.113

9

| 7

| data-sort-value="hak"|{{flagicon|Finland}} Mika Häkkinen

| McLaren-Mercedes

| 1:21.078

| +2.137

10

| 15

| data-sort-value="fre"|{{flagicon|Germany}} Heinz-Harald Frentzen

| Sauber-Ford

| 1:21.113

| +2.172

11

| 12

| data-sort-value="bru"|{{flagicon|UK}} Martin Brundle

| Jordan-Peugeot

| 1:21.177

| +2.236

12

| 14

| data-sort-value="her"|{{flagicon|UK}} Johnny Herbert

| Sauber-Ford

| 1:21.210

| +2.269

13

| 17

| data-sort-value="ver"|{{flagicon|the Netherlands}} Jos Verstappen

| Footwork-Hart

| 1:21.367

| +2.426

14

| 19

| data-sort-value="sal"|{{flagicon|Finland}} Mika Salo

| Tyrrell-Yamaha

| 1:21.458

| +2.517

15

| 9

| data-sort-value="pan"|{{flagicon|France}} Olivier Panis

| Ligier-Mugen-Honda

| 1:21.509

| +2.568

16

| 18

| data-sort-value="kat"|{{flagicon|Japan|1947}} Ukyo Katayama

| Tyrrell-Yamaha

| 1:21.812

| +2.871

17

| 10

| data-sort-value="din"|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Pedro Diniz

| Ligier-Mugen-Honda

| 1:22.733

| +3.792

18

| 21

| data-sort-value="fis"|{{flagicon|Italy}} Giancarlo Fisichella

| Minardi-Ford

| 1:22.921

| +3.980

19

| 20

| data-sort-value="lamy"|{{flagicon|Portugal}} Pedro Lamy

| Minardi-Ford

| 1:23.139

| +4.198

20

| 16

| data-sort-value="ros"|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Ricardo Rosset

| Footwork-Hart

| 1:23.620

| +4.679

class="sortbottom"

! colspan=8|107% time: 1:24.467

data-sort-value="21"|DNQ

| 23

| data-sort-value="mon"|{{flagicon|Italy}} Andrea Montermini

| Forti-Ford

| 1:25.053

| +6.112

data-sort-value="22"|DNQ

| 22

| data-sort-value="bad"|{{flagicon|Italy}} Luca Badoer

| Forti-Ford

| 1:25.840

| +6.899

colspan="6"| Sources:{{cite web|title=Europe 1996 – Qualifications|url=https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/europe/qualification.aspx|work=StatsF1|access-date=29 December 2023}}{{cite web|title=1996 European Grand Prix Classification Qualifying|url=https://www.motorsportstats.com/results/fia-formula-one-world-championship/1996/european-grand-prix/classification/qualifying|publisher=Motorsport Stats|access-date=29 December 2023}}

= Race =

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1

| 6

| {{flagicon|Canada}} Jacques Villeneuve

| Williams-Renault

| 67

| 1:33:26.473

| 2

| 10

2

| 1

| {{flagicon|Germany}} Michael Schumacher

| Ferrari

| 67

| + 0.762

| 3

| 6

3

| 8

| {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} David Coulthard

| McLaren-Mercedes

| 67

| + 32.834

| 6

| 4

4

| 5

| {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Damon Hill

| Williams-Renault

| 67

| + 33.511

| 1

| 3

5

| 11

| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Rubens Barrichello

| Jordan-Peugeot

| 67

| + 33.713

| 5

| 2

6

| 12

| {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Martin Brundle

| Jordan-Peugeot

| 67

| + 55.567

| 11

| 1

7

| 14

| {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Johnny Herbert

| Sauber-Ford

| 67

| + 1:18.027

| 12

|  

8

| 7

| {{flagicon|Finland}} Mika Häkkinen

| McLaren-Mercedes

| 67

| + 1:18.438

| 9

|  

9

| 4

| {{flagicon|Austria}} Gerhard Berger

| Benetton-Renault

| 67

| + 1:21.061

| 8

|  

10

| 10

| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Pedro Diniz

| Ligier-Mugen-Honda

| 66

| + 1 Lap

| 17

|  

11

| 16

| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Ricardo Rosset

| Footwork-Hart

| 65

| + 2 Laps

| 20

|  

12

| 20

| {{flagicon|Portugal}} Pedro Lamy

| Minardi-Ford

| 65

| + 2 Laps

| 19

|  

13

| 21

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Giancarlo Fisichella

| Minardi-Ford

| 65

| + 2 Laps

| 18

|  

Ret

| 15

|{{flagicon|Germany}} Heinz-Harald Frentzen

|Sauber-Ford

| 59

| Brakes

| 10

| 

Ret

| 17

|{{flagicon|Netherlands}} Jos Verstappen

|Footwork-Hart

| 38

| Engine

| 13

| 

Ret

| 9

|{{flagicon|France}} Olivier Panis

|Ligier-Mugen-Honda

| 6

| Collision

| 15

| 

Ret

| 2

|{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Eddie Irvine

|Ferrari

| 6

| Collision

| 7

| 

Ret

| 3

|{{flagicon|France}} Jean Alesi

|Benetton-Renault

| 1

| Collision

| 4

| 

DSQ

| 19

| {{flagicon|Finland}} Mika Salo

| Tyrrell-Yamaha

| 66

| Underweight

| 14

|  

DSQ

| 18

| {{flagicon|Japan|1947}} Ukyo Katayama

| Tyrrell-Yamaha

| 65

| Push Start

| 16

|  

colspan="8"|Source:{{cite web |url=http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1996/134/ |title=1996 European Grand Prix |publisher=formula1.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101203227/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1996/134/ |archive-date=1 November 2014 |access-date=24 December 2015}}

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

{{col-start}}

{{col-2}}

;Drivers' Championship standings

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
Pos

! Driver

! Points

1

| {{flagicon|UK}} Damon Hill

|align="right"| 33

2

| {{flagicon|Canada}} Jacques Villeneuve

|align="right"| 22

3

| {{flagicon|France}} Jean Alesi

|align="right"| 10

4

| {{flagicon|Germany}} Michael Schumacher

|align="right"| 10

5

| {{flagicon|UK}} Eddie Irvine

|align="right"| 6

colspan=4|Source: {{Cite web|url=https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/europe/championnat.aspx|title=Europe 1996 - Championship|website=Statsf1.com|access-date=15 March 2019}}

{{col-2}}

;Constructors' Championship standings

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
Pos

! Constructor

! Points

1

| {{flagicon|UK}} Williams-Renault

|align="right"| 55

2

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Ferrari

|align="right"| 16

3

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Benetton-Renault

|align="right"| 13

4

| {{flagicon|UK}} McLaren-Mercedes

|align="right"| 9

5

| {{flagicon|Ireland}} Jordan-Peugeot

|align="right"| 6

colspan=4|Source:

{{col-end}}

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

References

{{reflist}}

{{F1 race report

| Name_of_race = European Grand Prix

| Year_of_race = 1996

| Previous_race_in_season = 1996 Argentine Grand Prix

| Next_race_in_season = 1996 San Marino Grand Prix

| Previous_year's_race = 1995 European Grand Prix

| Next_year's_race = 1997 European Grand Prix
Next race at the Nürburgring: 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix

}}

{{F1GP 90-99}}

European Grand Prix

Category:European Grand Prix

European Grand Prix

Category:Sport in Rhineland-Palatinate

European Grand Prix