1996 French Grand Prix

The 1996 French Grand Prix, otherwise known as the LXXXII Grand Prix de France, was the ninth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, staged on the 30 June 1996 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours, France.'French GP, 1996', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2014), https://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr590.html, (Accessed 15/08/2019) The race would see Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve secure the fourth one-two of the season for , after another dominant performance.
Qualifying, however, had not gone Williams' way, for a mistake from Hill on his final lap opened the door for Michael Schumacher to claim pole position for . Hill therefore had to settle for second ahead of Jean Alesi, while Villeneuve would start from sixth after crashing mid-session.
The warm-up would see Hill clash with Heinz-Harald Frentzen having been distracted by something in the cockpit, although he would receive no punishment. Villeneuve, meanwhile, would end up fastest despite using his hastily built spare car, while several drivers, including Schumacher and David Coulthard had brake issues.
Indeed, it was the start of a day to forget for Schumacher, whose engine expired midway around the formation lap. The German was out and a long way from the pitlane, effectively handing Hill a perfect opportunity to grab the lead at the start.
Hill duly aced the start and sprinted clear, leaving Alesi to fend off the attention's of Gerhard Berger to secure second. Fortunately for him a hard charging Mika Häkkinen would elbow his way past the Austrian, a move which also opened the door for Villeneuve to barge past.
Villeneuve subsequently found himself stuck behind Häkkinen during the early stages, allowing Alesi to secure second as Hill eased away out front. Indeed, the Finn's resistance was such the Villeneuve only managed to jump the during the first pit-window, with a series of quick laps in clean air carrying him past Häkkinen.
Once clear of the #7 McLaren Villeneuve would sweep onto the back of Alesi in second, before scything past the on the brakes for the Adelaide hairpin. The Canadian duly went chasing off after Hill, setting a series of fastest laps in a vain bid to catch his teammate.
Elsewhere, Berger would manage to get ahead of Häkkinen during the second pitstop phase, and duly hunted down teammate Alesi in the closing stages. Elsewhere, Olivier Panis was delivering one of his best performances, setting the second fastest lap overall in a bid to catch sixth placed Coulthard, having lost a lot of time early on having been stuck in a long train of cars trailing Pedro Diniz.
Out front, meanwhile, Hill was left to claim a comfortable victory ahead of Villeneuve, his sixth of the season and the fourth one-two for Williams. Alesi completed the podium after fending off teammate Berger's late charge, while Häkkinen and Coulthard collected the remaining points for McLaren-Mercedes.
==Background==
Damon Hill extended his Championship lead after his fifth win of the season, leaving Canada with a 21 point lead. Jacques Villeneuve left his home race as the main pretender to the Brit at the halfway point, having moved six clear of Michael Schumacher in third. The top five was then completed by Jean Alesi and David Coulthard, with sixteen drivers having scored in the first half of the season.
In the Constructors Championship it was who headed into the second half of the season as favourites, having managed a stunning tally of 85 points across eight races. were the closest thing to a challenger to the Anglo-French squad, although they headed into the second half of the season 50 points behind. The Scuderia were therefore expecting to fight with for second, with and completing the top five.
===Entry list===
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
1 	Michael Schumacher 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	F310 	 	046 3.0 V10 	
2 	Eddie Irvine 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	F310 	 	046 3.0 V10 	
3 	Jean Alesi 	Mild Seven Benetton Renault 	 	B196 	 	RS8 3.0 V10 	
4 	Gerhard Berger 	Mild Seven Benetton Renault 	 	B196 	 	RS8 3.0 V10 	
5 	Damon Hill 	Rothmans Williams Renault 	 	FW18 	 	RS8 3.0 V10 	
6 	Jacques Villeneuve 	Rothmans Williams Renault 	 	FW18 	 	RS8 3.0 V10 	
7 	Mika Häkkinen 	Marlboro McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4/11 	 	FO 110D 3.0 V10 	
8 	David Coulthard 	Marlboro McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4/11 	 	FO 110D 3.0 V10 	
9 	Olivier Panis 	Equipe Ligier Gauloises Blondes 	 	JS43 	 	MF301HA 3.0 V10 	
10 	Pedro Diniz 	Equipe Ligier Gauloises Blondes 	 	JS43 	 	MF301HA 3.0 V10 	
11 	Rubens Barrichello 	B&H Total Jordan Peugeot 	 	196 	 	A12 3.0 V10 	
12 	Martin Brundle 	B&H Total Jordan Peugeot 	 	196 	 	A12 3.0 V10 	
14 	Johnny Herbert 	Red Bull Sauber Ford 	 	C15 	 	JD Zetec-R 3.0 V8 	
15 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	Red Bull Sauber Ford 	 	C15 	 	JD Zetec-R 3.0 V8 	
16 	Ricardo Rosset 	Footwork Hart 	 	FA17 	 	830 3.0 V8 	
17 	Jos Verstappen 	Footwork Hart 	 	FA17 	 	830 3.0 V8 	
18 	Ukyo Katayama 	Tyrrell Yamaha 	 	024 	 	OX11A 3.0 V10 	
19 	Mika Salo 	Tyrrell Yamaha 	 	024 	 	OX11A 3.0 V10 	
20 	Pedro Lamy 	Minardi F1 Team 	 	M195B 	 	EDM 3.0 V8 	
21 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	Minardi F1 Team 	 	M195B 	 	EDM 3.0 V8 	
22 	Luca Badoer 	Forti Corse 	 	FG03 	 	EDD 3.0 V8 	
23 	Andrea Montermini 	Forti Corse 	 	FG03 	 	EDD 3.0 V8 	
Source:'France 1996: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/engages.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/engages.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/engages.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/engages.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/engages.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/engages.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/engages.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/engages.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
===Report===
===Qualifying Results===
The full qualifying results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Time 	Gap 	Ave. Speed
1 	1 	Michael Schumacher 	 	1:15.989 	— 	201.345 km/h
2 	5 	Damon Hill 	 	1:16.058 	+0.069s 	201.162 km/h
3 	3 	Jean Alesi 	 	1:16.310 	+0.321s 	200.498 km/h
4 	4 	Gerhard Berger 	 	1:16.592 	+0.603s 	199.760 km/h
5 	7 	Mika Häkkinen 	 	1:16.634 	+0.645s 	199.650 km/h
6 	6 	Jacques Villeneuve 	 	1:16.905 	+0.916s 	198.947 km/h
7 	8 	David Coulthard 	 	1:17.007 	+1.018s 	198.683 km/h
8 	12 	Martin Brundle 	 	1:17.187 	+1.198s 	198.220 km/h
9 	9 	Olivier Panis 	 	1:17.390 	+1.401s 	197.700 km/h
10 	11 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	1:17.665 	+1.676s 	197.000 km/h
11 	10 	Pedro Diniz 	 	1:17.676 	+1.687s 	196.972 km/h
12 	15 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	 	1:17.739 	+1.750s 	196.812 km/h
13 	19 	Mika Salo 	 	1:18.021 	+2.032s 	196.101 km/h
14 	18 	Ukyo Katayama 	 	1:18.242 	+2.253s 	195.547 km/h
15 	17 	Jos Verstappen 	 	1:18.324 	+2.335s 	195.342 km/h
16 	14 	Johnny Herbert 	 	1:18.556 	+2.567s 	194.766 km/h
17 	21 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	1:18.604 	+2.615s 	194.647 km/h
18 	20 	Pedro Lamy 	 	1:19.210 	+3.221s 	193.157 km/h
19 	16 	Ricardo Rosset 	 	1:19.242 	+3.253s 	193.079 km/h
20 	22 	Luca Badoer 	 	1:20.562 	+4.573s 	189.916 km/h
21 	23 	Andrea Montermini 	 	1:20.647 	+4.658s 	189.716 km/h
107% Time: 1:21.308 	107% Time: 1:21.308 	107% Time: 1:21.308 	107% Time: 1:21.308 	107% Time: 1:21.308 	107% Time: 1:21.308 	107% Time: 1:21.308
EXC* 	2 	Eddie Irvine 	 	— 	— 	—
Source:'Grand Prix de France - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1996/races/646/france/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 15/08/2019)'France 1996: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'Grand Prix de France - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1996/races/646/france/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 15/08/2019)'France 1996: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'Grand Prix de France - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1996/races/646/france/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 15/08/2019)'France 1996: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'Grand Prix de France - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1996/races/646/france/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 15/08/2019)'France 1996: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'Grand Prix de France - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1996/races/646/france/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 15/08/2019)'France 1996: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'Grand Prix de France - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1996/races/646/france/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 15/08/2019)'France 1996: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)	Source:'Grand Prix de France - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1996/races/646/france/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 15/08/2019)'France 1996: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)
*T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
*Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
** Irvine had his times deleted for using illegal bodywork but was allowed to start at the stewards' discretion.
===Grid===
** Schumacher was unable to start the race due to an engine failure on the formation lap.
==Race==
===Report===
===Results===
The full results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid 	Points
1 	5 	Damon Hill 	 	72 	1:36:28.795 	2 	10
2 	6 	Jacques Villeneuve 	 	72 	+8.127s 	6 	6
3 	3 	Jean Alesi 	 	72 	+46.442s 	3 	4
4 	4 	Gerhard Berger 	 	72 	+46.859s 	4 	3
5 	7 	Mika Häkkinen 	 	72 	+1:02.774 	5 	2
6 	8 	David Coulthard 	 	71 	+1 Lap 	7 	1
7 	9 	Olivier Panis 	 	71 	+1 Lap 	9 	
8 	12 	Martin Brundle 	 	71 	+1 Lap 	8 	
9 	11 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	71 	+1 Lap 	10 	
10 	19 	Mika Salo 	 	70 	+2 Laps 	13 	
11 	16 	Ricardo Rosset 	 	69 	+3 Laps 	19 	
12 	20 	Pedro Lamy 	 	69 	+3 Laps 	18 	
DSQ* 	14 	Johnny Herbert 	 	70 	Disqualified 	16 	
Ret 	15 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	 	56 	Throttle 	12 	
Ret 	18 	Ukyo Katayama 	 	33 	Engine 	14 	
Ret 	22 	Luca Badoer 	 	29 	Fuel system 	20 	
Ret 	10 	Pedro Diniz 	 	28 	Engine 	11 	
Ret 	17 	Jos Verstappen 	 	10 	Steering 	15 	
Ret 	2 	Eddie Irvine 	 	5 	Gearbox 	22 	
Ret 	21 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	2 	Fuel pump 	17 	
Ret 	23 	Andrea Montermini 	 	2 	Electrical 	21 	
DNS† 	1 	Michael Schumacher 	 	 	 	 	
Source:'France 1996: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/classement.aspx, (Accessed 12/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/classement.aspx, (Accessed 12/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/classement.aspx, (Accessed 12/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/classement.aspx, (Accessed 12/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/classement.aspx, (Accessed 12/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/classement.aspx, (Accessed 12/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/classement.aspx, (Accessed 12/08/2019)	Source:'France 1996: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france/classement.aspx, (Accessed 12/08/2019)
*T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
** Herbert was disqualified from the results of the race for using an illegal wing.
*† Schumacher was unable to start the race due to an engine failure.
==Milestones==
* 22nd and final Grand Prix start for a chassis.
* Mika Häkkinen entered his 75th Grand Prix.'1996 French GP', chicanef1.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2014), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1996&gp=French%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 15/08/2019)
* Pedro Lamy entered his 25th race.
* Damon Hill secured his nineteenth victory.'9. France 1996', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/france.aspx, (Accessed 15/08/2019)
* 90th win for as a constructor.
** 81st victory for as an engine supplier.
==Standings==
A sixth victory in nine races left Damon Hill in complete command of the Championship, ending the weekend on 63 points. That equated to a 25 point advantage over Jacques Villeneuve in second, with the Canadian racer likely to be the only pretender to the Brit for the rest of the season. Indeed, Michael Schumacher had slipped 37 points behind after his pre-race engine failure, with Jean Alesi just a point behind the German racer in fourth.
In the Constructors Championship it was who once again ended a Grand Prix weekend as the best team, leaving France with 101 points. A huge 66 point gap followed before appeared in second, level on points with defending Champions in third, separated by Ferrari's lone victory. were nine points behind in fourth, with in fifth.
World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	Damon Hill 	63 	
2 	Jacques Villeneuve 	38 	
3 	Michael Schumacher 	26 	
4 	Jean Alesi 	25 	
5 	David Coulthard 	14 	
6 	Mika Häkkinen 	12 	1
7 	Olivier Panis 	11 	1
8 	Gerhard Berger 	10 	1
9 	Eddie Irvine 	9 	1
10 	Rubens Barrichello 	7 	
11 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	6 	
12 	Mika Salo 	5 	
13 	Johnny Herbert 	4 	
14 	Martin Brundle 	2 	
15 	Pedro Diniz 	1 	
16 	Jos Verstappen 	1 	
World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors
Pos. 	Team 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	 	101 	
2 	 	35 	
3 	 	35 	
4 	 	26 	
5 	 	12 	
6 	 	10 	
7 	 	9 	
8 	 	5 	
9 	 	1 	
Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.
==References==
Images and Videos:
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References:
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:French Grand Prix
Category:1996 Grands Prix
Category:Formula One races in France