1996 Spanish Grand Prix

Spain  1996 Spanish Grand Prix
Race details
Race 7 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One season

Date June 2, 1996
Location Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Course Permanent racing facility
4.727 km (2.954 mi)
Distance 65 laps, 307.255 km (192.034 mi)
Weather Rain
Pole position
Driver United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault
Time 1:20.650
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Time 1:45.517
Podium
First Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Second France Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault
Third Canada Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault

The 1996 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on June 2, 1996 at the Circuit de Catalunya.

This race, Michael Schumacher's first Ferrari victory, is generally regarded as one of his finest.[1] 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.

Mika Salo was disqualifed 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.[1][2]

Rubens Barrichello, who was running in second place after Jacques Villeneuve and Alesi made their pit stops, put in a strong performance in this race, but was forced to retire with 20 laps to go after a clutch problem caused his engine to fade out. On the previous lap, Gerhard Berger had spun his Bennetton out of fourth place while trying to lap Diniz.

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 Pedro 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

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 5 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:20.650
2 6 Canada Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:21.084 +0.434
3 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:21.587 +0.937
4 3 France Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:22.061 +1.411
5 4 Austria Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 1:22.125 +1.475
6 2 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:22.333 +1.683
7 11 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 1:22.379 +1.729
8 9 France Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:22.685 +2.035
9 14 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 1:23.027 +2.377
10 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.070 +2.420
11 15 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 1:23.195 +2.545
12 19 Finland Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:23.224 +2.574
13 17 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 1:23.371 +2.721
14 8 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.416 +2.766
15 12 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 1:23.438 +2.788
16 18 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:24.401 +3.751
17 10 Brazil Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:24.468 +3.818
18 20 Portugal Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 1:25.274 +4.624
19 21 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Minardi-Ford 1:25.531 +4.881
20 16 Brazil Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 1:25.621 +4.971
107% time: 1:26.296
DNQ 22 Italy Luca Badoer Forti-Ford 1:26.615 +5.965
DNQ 23 Italy Andrea Montermini Forti-Ford 1:27.358 +6.708

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 65 1:59:49.307 3 10
2 3 France Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 65 +45.302 4 6
3 6 Canada Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 65 +48.388 2 4
4 15 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 64 +1 Lap 11 3
5 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 64 +1 Lap 10 2
6 10 Brazil Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 63 +2 Laps 17 1
Ret 17 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 47 Spun off 13  
Ret 11 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 45 Differential 7  
Ret 4 Austria Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 44 Spun off 5  
Ret 14 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 20 Spun off 9  
Ret 12 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 17 Differential 15  
DSQ 19 Finland Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 16 Disqualified 12  
Ret 5 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 10 Spun off 1  
Ret 18 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 8 Electrical 16  
Ret 2 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1 Spun off 6  
Ret 9 France Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1 Collision 8  
Ret 21 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Minardi-Ford 1 Collision 19  
Ret 8 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 0 Collision 14  
Ret 16 Brazil Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 0 Collision 20  
Ret 20 Portugal Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 0 Collision 18  
DNQ 22 Italy Luca Badoer Forti-Ford   107% Rule 21  
DNQ 23 Italy Andrea Montermini Forti-Ford   107% Rule 22  

Standings after Grand Prix

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United Kingdom Damon Hill 43
2 Canada Jacques Villeneuve 26
3 Germany Michael Schumacher 26
4 France Jean Alesi 17
5 France Olivier Panis 11

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 United Kingdom Williams-Renault 69
2 Italy Ferrari 35
3 Italy Benetton-Renault 24
4 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 18
5 France Ligier-Mugen-Honda 12

Previous race:
1996 Monaco Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1996 season
Next race:
1996 Canadian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1995 Spanish Grand Prix
Spanish Grand Prix Next race:
1997 Spanish Grand Prix

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Schumacher's first win for Ferrari - Spanish Grand Prix 1996". Formula1.com. 30 April 2003. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  2. "Classic F1 - Spanish Grand Prix 1996". BBC News. May 5, 2009.