1996 Spanish Grand Prix

  1996 Spanish Grand Prix

Race details
Race 7 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One season
Date	June 2, 1996
Official name	Gran Premio Marlboro de Espana
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	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Time	1:20.650
Fastest lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:45.517
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault
Third	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. In the torrential rain, he produced a stunning drive, and is a prime example of why he earned the nickname "Regenmeister" ("Rainmaster").

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.

Rubens Barrichello, who led briefly at one point while Schumacher and Alesi made their first pit stops, put in a strong performance in this race and was running in third, seemingly bound for his first podium of the season, before being 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 pass Barrichello; these two retirements handed the final podium spot to Jacques Villeneuve.

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 sixth 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	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:20.650
2	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1:21.084	+0.434
3	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:21.587	+0.937
4	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1:22.061	+1.411
5	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	1:22.125	+1.475
6	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:22.333	+1.683
7	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	1:22.379	+1.729
8	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:22.685	+2.035
9	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	1:23.027	+2.377
10	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:23.070	+2.420
11	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	1:23.195	+2.545
12	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:23.224	+2.574
13	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	1:23.371	+2.721
14	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:23.416	+2.766
15	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	1:23.438	+2.788
16	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:24.401	+3.751
17	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:24.468	+3.818
18	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	1:25.274	+4.624
19	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Minardi-Ford	1:25.531	+4.881
20	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	1:25.621	+4.971
107% time: 1:26.296
DNQ	22	Luca Badoer	Forti-Ford	1:26.615	+5.965
DNQ	23	Andrea Montermini	Forti-Ford	1:27.358	+6.708

Race

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

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 43 2= Michael Schumacher 26 2= Jacques Villeneuve 26 4 Jean Alesi 17 5 Olivier Panis 11

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

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

References

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

This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1996 Spanish Grand Prix. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.