1996 European Grand Prix

The1996 European Grand Prixwas aFormula Onemotor race held at theNürburgringin Germany on 28 April 1996. It was the fourth race of the1996 Formula One World Championship.

1996 European Grand Prix
Race 4 of 16 in the1996 Formula One World Championship ←Previous race Next race→
The Nürburgring in its 1996 configuration
Race details
Date	28 April 1996
Official name	XL Grand Prix of Europe
Location	Nürburgring Nürburg,Rhineland-Palatinate,Germany
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.556 km (2.842 miles)
Distance	67 laps, 305.252 km (190.425 miles)
Weather	Cloudy, but dry
Pole position
Driver	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Time	1:18.941
Fastest lap
Driver	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Time	1:21.363 on lap 55
Podium
First	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Second	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Third	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 67-lap race was won byJacques Villeneuve,driving aWilliams-Renault.Villeneuve beat teammate and pole-sitterDamon Hilloff the line and led all 67 laps, taking his first F1 victory in only his fourth race. Local driverMichael Schumacherfinished second in aFerrari,withDavid Coulthardthird in aMcLaren-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	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:18.941
2	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1:19.721	+0.780
3	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:20.149	+1.208
4	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1:20.711	+1.770
5	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	1:20.818	+1.877
6	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:20.888	+1.947
7	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:20.931	+1.990
8	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	1:21.054	+2.113
9	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:21.078	+2.137
10	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	1:21.113	+2.172
11	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	1:21.177	+2.236
12	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	1:21.210	+2.269
13	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	1:21.367	+2.426
14	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:21.458	+2.517
15	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:21.509	+2.568
16	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:21.812	+2.871
17	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:22.733	+3.792
18	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Minardi-Ford	1:22.921	+3.980
19	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	1:23.139	+4.198
20	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	1:23.620	+4.679
107% time:1:24.467
DNQ	23	Andrea Montermini	Forti-Ford	1:25.053	+6.112
DNQ	22	Luca Badoer	Forti-Ford	1:25.840	+6.899
Sources:

Race

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

Notes

• Both ofMika 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	Damon Hill	33
2	Jacques Villeneuve	22
3	Jean Alesi	10
4	Michael Schumacher	10
5	Eddie Irvine	6
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Williams-Renault	55
2	Ferrari	16
3	Benetton-Renault	13
4	McLaren-Mercedes	9
5	Jordan-Peugeot	6
Source:

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