# 1996 French Grand Prix

The 1996 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours, France on 30 June 1996. It was the ninth race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship.
The 72-lap race was won by Briton Damon Hill, driving a Williams-Renault, after he started from second position. German Michael Schumacher took pole position in his Ferrari but failed to start the race after his engine blew on the warm-up lap, leaving Hill to lead from start to finish except for the pit stops. Hill's teammate, Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who had crashed heavily at Estoril corner in qualifying, finished second, with local driver Jean Alesi third in a Benetton-Renault.
This was the last Grand Prix where a Forti car started the race as they would fail to qualify for the remaining Grand Prix they would enter, however both cars were forced to retire.

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
| 1 | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:15.989 | |
| 2 | 5 | Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | 1:16.058 | +0.069 |
| 3 | 3 | Jean Alesi | Benetton-Renault | 1:16.310 | +0.321 |
| 4 | 4 | Gerhard Berger | Benetton-Renault | 1:16.592 | +0.603 |
| 5 | 7 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:16.634 | +0.645 |
| 6 | 6 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 1:16.905 | +0.916 |
| 7 | 8 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:17.007 | +1.018 |
| 8 | 12 | Martin Brundle | Jordan-Peugeot | 1:17.187 | +1.198 |
| 9 | 9 | Olivier Panis | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 1:17.390 | +1.401 |
| 10 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Jordan-Peugeot | 1:17.665 | +1.676 |
| 11 | 10 | Pedro Diniz | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 1:17.676 | +1.687 |
| 12 | 15 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Ford | 1:17.739 | +1.750 |
| 13 | 19 | Mika Salo | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:18.021 | +2.032 |
| 14 | 18 | Ukyo Katayama | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:18.242 | +2.253 |
| 15 | 17 | Jos Verstappen | Footwork-Hart | 1:18.324 | +2.335 |
| 16 | 14 | Johnny Herbert | Sauber-Ford | 1:18.556 | +2.567 |
| 17 | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Minardi-Ford | 1:18.604 | +2.615 |
| 18 | 20 | Pedro Lamy | Minardi-Ford | 1:19.210 | +3.221 |
| 19 | 16 | Ricardo Rosset | Footwork-Hart | 1:19.242 | +3.253 |
| 20 | 22 | Luca Badoer | Forti-Ford | 1:20.562 | +4.573 |
| 21 | 23 | Andrea Montermini | Forti-Ford | 1:20.647 | +4.658 |
| 107% time: 1:21.308 ||||||
| 22 | 2 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | | |
| Source: ||||||
^1 Eddie Irvine had qualified 10th, but had all his qualifying times deleted and was demoted to the back of the grid after one of the air deflectors on his Ferrari was found to be too tall.

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 5 | Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | 72 | 1:36:28.795 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | 6 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 72 | + 8.127 | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | 3 | Jean Alesi | Benetton-Renault | 72 | + 46.442 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | Gerhard Berger | Benetton-Renault | 72 | + 46.859 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | 7 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | 72 | + 1:02.774 | 5 | 2 |
| 6 | 8 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 71 | + 1 lap | 7 | 1 |
| 7 | 9 | Olivier Panis | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 71 | + 1 lap | 9 | |
| 8 | 12 | Martin Brundle | Jordan-Peugeot | 71 | + 1 lap | 8 | |
| 9 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Jordan-Peugeot | 71 | + 1 lap | 10 | |
| 10 | 19 | Mika Salo | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 70 | + 2 laps | 13 | |
| 11 | 16 | Ricardo Rosset | Footwork-Hart | 69 | + 3 laps | 19 | |
| 12 | 20 | Pedro Lamy | Minardi-Ford | 69 | + 3 laps | 18 | |
| DSQ | 14 | Johnny Herbert | Sauber-Ford | 70 | Bodywork | 16 | |
| Ret | 15 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Ford | 56 | Throttle | 12 | |
| Ret | 18 | Ukyo Katayama | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 33 | Engine | 14 | |
| Ret | 22 | Luca Badoer | Forti-Ford | 29 | Fuel system | 20 | |
| Ret | 10 | Pedro Diniz | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 28 | Engine | 11 | |
| Ret | 17 | Jos Verstappen | Footwork-Hart | 10 | Suspension | 15 | |
| Ret | 2 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 5 | Gearbox | 22 | |
| Ret | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Minardi-Ford | 2 | Fuel pump | 17 | |
| Ret | 23 | Andrea Montermini | Forti-Ford | 2 | Electrical | 21 | |
| DNS | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 0 | Engine | – | |
| Source: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Damon Hill | 63 |
| 2 | Jacques Villeneuve | 38 |
| 3 | Michael Schumacher | 26 |
| 4 | Jean Alesi | 25 |
| 5 | David Coulthard | 14 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Williams-Renault | 101 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 35 |
| 3 | Benetton-Renault | 35 |
| 4 | McLaren-Mercedes | 26 |
| 5 | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 12 |
| Source: |||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.