# 1996 European Grand Prix

The 1996 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring in Germany on 28 April 1996. It was the fourth race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship.
The 67-lap race was won by Jacques Villeneuve, driving a Williams-Renault. Villeneuve beat teammate and pole-sitter Damon Hill off the line and led all 67 laps, taking his first F1 victory in only his fourth race. Local driver Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari, with David Coulthard third in a McLaren-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: ||||||||