1996 Belgian Grand Prix

  1996 Belgian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 13 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One season
Date	August 25, 1996
Official name	LIV Grand Prix de Belgique
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium
Course	Permanent racing facility 6.968 km (4.330 mi)
Distance	44 laps, 306.592 km (190.507 mi)
Weather	Dry, sunny
Pole position
Driver	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Time	1:50.574
Fastest lap
Driver	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault
Time	1:53.067 on lap 36
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Third	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes

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

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Diff.
1	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1:50.574
2	5	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:50.980	+0.406
3	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:51.778	+1.204
4	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:51.884	+1.310
5	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	1:51.960	+1.386
6	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:52.318	+1.744
7	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1:52.354	+1.780
8	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	1:52.977	+2.403
9	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:53.043	+2.469
10	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	1:53.152	+2.578
11	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	1:53.199	+2.625
12	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	1:53.993	+3.419
13	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:54.095	+3.521
14	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:54.220	+3.646
15	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:54.700	+4.126
16	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	1:55.150	+4.576
17	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:55.371	+4.797
18	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	1:56.286	+5.712
19	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	1:56.830	+6.256
107% time: 1:58.314
DNQ	21	Giovanni Lavaggi	Minardi-Ford	1:58.579	+8.005

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	44	1:28:15.125	3	10
2	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	44	+ 5.602	1	6
3	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	44	+ 15.710	6	4
4	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	44	+ 19.125	7	3
5	5	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	44	+ 29.179	2	2
6	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	44	+ 29.896	5	1
7	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	44	+ 1:00.754	13
8	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	44	+ 1:40.227	17
9	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	43	+ 1 Lap	18
10	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	43	+ 1 Lap	19
Ret	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	37	Spun off	4
Ret	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	34	Engine	8
Ret	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	29	Gearbox	9
Ret	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	29	Suspension	10
Ret	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	22	Electrical	15
Ret	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	11	Accident	16
Ret	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	0	Collision	11
Ret	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	0	Collision	12
Ret	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	0	Collision	14
DNQ	21	Giovanni Lavaggi	Minardi-Ford		DNQ

Notes

• 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 McLaren's 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.
• Running in fourth place at half distance, Gerhard Berger spun off in his Benetton while trying to pass Eddie Irvine and grounded his car near the pit lane entrance - as a result the marshals held him stationary until the track was clear, which dropped him to 12th place. Berger continued with the aid of a push start, and after setting a string of fastest laps he eventually recovered, coincidentally thanks in part to Irvine's retirement with gearbox problems, to 6th place by the end of the race.

Standings after Grand Prix

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

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Damon Hill 81 2 Jacques Villeneuve 68 3 Michael Schumacher 39 4 Jean Alesi 38 5 Mika Häkkinen 23

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 149 2 Benetton-Renault 55 3 Ferrari 48 4 McLaren-Mercedes 41 5 Jordan-Peugeot 15

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

Previous race: 1996 Hungarian Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1996 season	Next race: 1996 Italian Grand Prix
Previous race: 1995 Belgian Grand Prix	Belgian Grand Prix	Next race: 1997 Belgian Grand Prix

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