1996 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1996 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on August 25, 1996 at Spa-Francorchamps.

Classification

Notes

• Pole position: Jacques Villeneuve 1:50.574
• Fastest lap: Gerhard Berger 1:53.067
• The start of the race was catastrophic for the Sauber team, with both of their drivers Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Johnny Herbert eliminated immediately after a collision at the first corner while trying to avoid hitting Olivier Panis, who was attempting to rejoin the track having spun off at the same corner in a separate incident when he ran into Rubens Barrichello. Panis was also forced to retire on the spot; Barrichello was able to continue, although he had to pit to repair his suspension, putting him two laps behind; however, this proved all to no avail as his suspension collapsed completely on lap 29, forcing him out of the race altogether.
• On lap 10, Jos Verstappen pitted with a sticking throttle. No damage was found and the Dutchman was released from the pits, but spun straight off on his return. The incident brought out the safety car for seven laps, during which time all the drivers besides the McLarens of Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard (both running a one-stop strategy) made pit stops. Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve, leading the race at the time, missed his stop on lap 13 (later explaining that he misunderstood the radio instruction to come in due to the confusion brought about by the arrival of the safety car), and Damon Hill in the sister Williams was already on his way into the pits when radioed to stay out on the following lap. Hill went down to thirteenth when he finally got to make his pit stop on lap 16, but recovered to 5th place by the end of the race.
• Footwork/Arrows' team boss Tom Walkinshaw confirmed after the race that the throttle problem that had caused Verstappen to stop shortly before his crash had not recurred, and that the crash was caused by a faulty wheel.
• The Tyrrells of Mika Salo and Ukyo Katayama finished in seventh and eighth places respectively. A fast early stop during the safety car period saw Salo running as high as third at one point.

Standings after Grand Prix

• Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

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