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The 1996 San Marino Grand Prix, otherwise known as the 16° Gran Premio di San Marino, was the fifth round of the 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy, on the 5 May 1996.[1] The race would see Damon Hill secure his fourth victory of the season to increase his daunting Championship lead, despite the efforts of Michael Schumacher to rouse the home crowd.[1]

Indeed, Italian hearts had soared when Schumacher swept to pole position in the scarlet Ferrari, with his best qualifying lap coming moments before his suspension collapsed, a sign of his efforts.[1] Hill, meanwhile, would claim second for Williams-Renault ahead of teammate Jacques Villeneuve, while David Coulthard caused a stir by putting his McLaren-Mercedes up into fourth.[1]

The Scot would go on to steal the show at the start, blasting past the two Williams and Schumacher's Ferrari to claim the lead, much to the ire of the tifosi.[1] Schumacher himself, meanwhile, would just fend off Hill to secure second after a sluggish getaway, while Mika Salo quietly leapt into fourth as others tripped over one another.[1]

Indeed, Finn would gain two places at one at Tamburello, with Jean Alesi and Villeneuve colliding to leave the Canadian with a puncture.[1] Villeneuve duly stopped at the end of the opening lap for fresh tyres, while Alesi was left to fight with teammate Gerhard Berger.[1]

Out front, meanwhile, Coulthard and Schumacher tried their best to pull clear of Hill, McLaren and Ferrari both having opted for short opening stints and low fuel in a bid to break clear.[1] That ploy ultimately failed however, with Hill stalking them a few couple of seconds behind until they made their stops.[1]

Once they were out of the way on lap 20 Hill made his bid for the lead, setting a string of strong laps as he burned off the rest of his fuel load.[1] Schumacher, meanwhile, would get the jump on Coulthard during his out-lap, adapting very quickly to his cool tyres, and duly began exchanging fastest laps with Hill out front.[1]

Hill's stop came on lap 30, and he would emerge just a few seconds ahead of the German ace, before easing away once again.[1] Schumacher stopped again on lap 40, leaving Hill with a 45 second lead, before the Brit made his final "splash and dash" with thirteen laps to go.[1]

With the fight for victory over attention would focus further down the field, with Berger inheriting third when Coulthard stalled at his second stop.[1] Other fights would also fizzle out, with Salo retiring, Alesi dropping back, and Villeneuve's charge ending with a suspension failure, having climbed to sixth.[1]

Out front, meanwhile, Hill cruised across the line to claim victory, while Schumacher secured second in his first "home" race for Ferrari.[1] Berger was a content third ahead of Eddie Irvine, with Rubens Barrichello and Alesi claiming the remaining points.[1]

Background[]

Damon Hill left the Nürburgring with his Championship lead largely intact, although Jacques Villeneuve had cut the gap down to eleven points. Indeed, it seemed as if the Canadian racer would be the only real challenger to the Brit with a quarter of the season down, with third placed Jean Alesi now 23 points back. The Frenchman was not alone in third, however, with Michael Schumacher level with Alesi on ten points, and with an identical race record.

In the Constructors Championship, meanwhile, it looked to be Williams-Renault's Championship to lose, leaving the European Grand Prix with 55 points to their name. That translated into a crushing 39 point lead over Ferrari in second, meaning the Anglo-French squad could afford to miss two rounds and still hold a fair lead. Ferrari themselves, meanwhile, had moved ahead of Benetton-Renault, while McLaren-Mercedes and Jordan-Peugeot retained their places in the top five.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 1996 San Marino Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari F310 Ferrari 046 3.0 V10 G
2 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Italy Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari F310 Ferrari 046 3.0 V10 G
3 France Jean Alesi Italy Mild Seven Benetton Renault Benetton B196 Renault RS8 3.0 V10 G
4 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Mild Seven Benetton Renault Benetton B196 Renault RS8 3.0 V10 G
5 United Kingdom Damon Hill United Kingdom Rothmans Williams Renault Williams FW18 Renault RS8 3.0 V10 G
6 Canada Jacques Villeneuve United Kingdom Rothmans Williams Renault Williams FW18 Renault RS8 3.0 V10 G
7 Finland Mika Häkkinen United Kingdom Marlboro McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4/11 Mercedes FO 110D 3.0 V10 G
8 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom Marlboro McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4/11 Mercedes FO 110D 3.0 V10 G
9 France Olivier Panis France Equipe Ligier Gauloises Blondes Ligier JS43 Mugen-Honda MF301HA 3.0 V10 G
10 Brazil Pedro Diniz France Equipe Ligier Gauloises Blondes Ligier JS43 Mugen-Honda MF301HA 3.0 V10 G
11 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ireland B&H Total Jordan Peugeot Jordan 196 Peugeot A12 3.0 V10 G
12 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ireland B&H Total Jordan Peugeot Jordan 196 Peugeot A12 3.0 V10 G
14 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Switzerland Red Bull Sauber Ford Sauber C15 Ford Cosworth JD Zetec-R 3.0 V8 G
15 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Switzerland Red Bull Sauber Ford Sauber C15 Ford Cosworth JD Zetec-R 3.0 V8 G
16 Brazil Ricardo Rosset United Kingdom Footwork Hart Footwork FA17 Hart 830 3.0 V8 G
17 Netherlands Jos Verstappen United Kingdom Footwork Hart Footwork FA17 Hart 830 3.0 V8 G
18 Japan Ukyo Katayama United Kingdom Tyrrell Yamaha Tyrrell 024 Yamaha OX11A 3.0 V10 G
19 Finland Mika Salo United Kingdom Tyrrell Yamaha Tyrrell 024 Yamaha OX11A 3.0 V10 G
20 Portugal Pedro Lamy Italy Minardi F1 Team Minardi M195B Ford Cosworth EDM 3.0 V8 G
21 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Minardi F1 Team Minardi M195B Ford Cosworth EDM 3.0 V8 G
22 Italy Luca Badoer Italy Forti Corse Forti FG03 Ford Cosworth EDD 3.0 V8 G
23 Italy Andrea Montermini Italy Forti Corse Forti FG01B Ford Cosworth EDD 3.0 V8 G
Source:[2]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Report[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 1996 San Marino Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap Ave. Speed
1 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Ferrari 1:26.890 202.684 km/h
2 5 United Kingdom Damon Hill United Kingdom Williams-Renault 1:27.105 +0.215s 202.184 km/h
3 6 Canada Jacques Villeneuve United Kingdom Williams-Renault 1:27.220 +0.330s 201.917 km/h
4 8 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.688 +0.798s 200.839 km/h
5 3 France Jean Alesi Italy Benetton-Renault 1:28.009 +1.119s 200.107 km/h
6 2 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Italy Ferrari 1:28.205 +1.315s 199.662 km/h
7 4 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Benetton-Renault 1:28.336 +1.446s 199.366 km/h
8 19 Finland Mika Salo United Kingdom Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:28.423 +1.533s 199.170 km/h
9 11 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ireland Jordan-Peugeot 1:28.632 +1.742s 198.700 km/h
10 15 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Switzerland Sauber-Ford Cosworth 1:28.785 +1.895s 198.358 km/h
11 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1:29.079 +2.189s 197.703 km/h
12 12 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ireland Jordan-Peugeot 1:29.099 +2.209s 197.659 km/h
13 9 France Olivier Panis France Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:29.472 +2.582s 196.835 km/h
14 17 Netherlands Jos Verstappen United Kingdom Footwork-Hart 1:29.539 +2.649s 196.687 km/h
15 14 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Switzerland Sauber-Ford Cosworth 1:29.541 +2.651s 196.683 km/h
16 18 Japan Ukyo Katayama United Kingdom Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:29.892 +3.002s 195.915 km/h
17 10 Brazil Pedro Diniz France Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:29.989 +3.099s 195.704 km/h
18 20 Portugal Pedro Lamy Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:30.471 +3.581s 194.661 km/h
19 21 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:30.814 +3.924s 193.926 km/h
20 16 Brazil Ricardo Rosset United Kingdom Footwork-Hart 1:31.316 +4.426s 192.860 km/h
21 22 Italy Luca Badoer Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:32.037 +5.147s 191.349 km/h
107% Time: 1:32.972[3]
NC 23 Italy Andrea Montermini Italy Forti-Ford Cosworth 1:33.685 +6.795s 187.983 km/h
Source:[4][3]
  • 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.

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 1 ______________
Michael Schumacher 2
______________ Damon Hill
Row 2 3 ______________
Jacques Villeneuve 4
______________ David Coulthard
Row 3 5 ______________
Jean Alesi 6
______________ Eddie Irvine
Row 4 7 ______________
Gerhard Berger 8
______________ Mika Salo
Row 5 9 ______________
Rubens Barrichello 10
______________ Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Row 6 11 ______________
Mika Häkkinen 12
______________ Martin Brundle
Row 7 13 ______________
Olivier Panis 14
______________ Jos Verstappen
Row 8 15 ______________
Johnny Herbert 16
______________ Ukyo Katayama
Row 9 17 ______________
Pedro Diniz 18
______________ Pedro Lamy
Row 10 19 ______________
Giancarlo Fisichella 20
______________ Ricardo Rosset
Row 11 21 ______________
Luca Badoer 22
______________

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 1996 San Marino Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 United Kingdom Damon Hill United Kingdom Williams-Renault 63 1:35:26.156 2 10
2 1 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Ferrari 63 +16.460s 1 6
3 4 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Benetton-Renault 63 +46.891s 7 4
4 2 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Italy Ferrari 63 +1:01.583 6 3
5 11 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ireland Jordan-Peugeot 63 +1:18.490 9 2
6 3 France Jean Alesi Italy Benetton-Renault 62 +1 Lap 5 1
7 10 Brazil Pedro Diniz United Kingdom Footwork-Hart 62 +1 Lap 17
8* 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 61 Engine 11
9 20 Portugal Pedro Lamy Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 61 +2 Laps 18
10 22 Italy Luca Badoer Italy Forti-Ford Cosworth 59 +4 Laps 21
11* 6 Canada Jacques Villeneuve United Kingdom Williams-Renault 57 Suspension 3
Ret 9 France Olivier Panis France Ligier-Mugen-Honda 54 Engine 13
Ret 18 Japan Ukyo Katayama United Kingdom Tyrrell-Yamaha 45 Spin 16
Ret 8 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 44 Hydraulics 4
Ret 16 Brazil Ricardo Rosset United Kingdom Footwork-Hart 40 Engine 20
Ret 17 Netherlands Jos Verstappen United Kingdom Footwork-Hart 38 Hydraulics 14
Ret 12 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ireland Jordan-Peugeot 36 Spin 12
Ret 15 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Switzerland Sauber-Ford Cosworth 32 Brakes 10
Ret 21 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 30 Engine 19
Ret 14 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Switzerland Sauber-Ford Cosworth 25 Electrical 15
Ret 19 Finland Mika Salo United Kingdom Tyrrell-Yamaha 23 Engine 8
DNQ 23 Italy Andrea Montermini Italy Forti-Ford Cosworth
Source:[5]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
  • * Häkkinen and Villeneuve were still classified despite retiring as they had completed 90% of the race distance.[5]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Damon Hill had, once again, extended his Championship lead with his fourth victory of the season, leaving Italy with 43 points to his name. His advantage over Jacques Villeneuve had therefore blossomed back out to 21 points, more than two race wins, with the Canadian now only six points ahead of Michael Schumacher in third. Elsewhere, Jean Alesi and Eddie Irvine completed the top five, with thirteen drivers on the board.

In the Constructors Championship it was, as ever, a strong afternoon's work for Williams-Renault, who left Imola with 65 points to their credit. With Ferrari on 25 points in second that meant that Williams-Renault had a 40 point lead after just five races, a daunting advantage that made all of their rivals write-off hopes of claiming the crown. Elsewhere, defending Champions Benetton-Renault were third, seven off of Ferrari, while McLaren-Mercedes had yet to break into double figures in fourth.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom Damon Hill 43
2 Canada Jacques Villeneuve 22
3 Germany Michael Schumacher 16 ▲1
4 France Jean Alesi 11 ▼1
5 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine 9
6 Austria Gerhard Berger 7 ▲3
7 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 7
8 Finland Mika Häkkinen 5 ▼2
9 United Kingdom David Coulthard 4 ▼1
10 Finland Mika Salo 3
11 France Olivier Panis 1
12 United Kingdom Martin Brundle 1
13 Netherlands Jos Verstappen 1
World Championship for Constructors
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom Williams-Renault 65
2 Italy Ferrari 25
3 Italy Benetton-Renault 18
4 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 9
5 Ireland Jordan-Peugeot 8
6 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Yamaha 3
7 France Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1
8 United Kingdom Footwork-Hart 1

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 'San Marino GP, 1996', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2014), https://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr586.html, (Accessed 13/08/2019)
  2. 'San Marino 1996: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/saint-marin/engages.aspx, (Accessed 13/08/2019)
  3. 3.0 3.1 'San Marino 1996: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/saint-marin/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 13/08/2019)
  4. '16° Gran Premio Di San Marino - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1996/races/642/san-marino/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 13/08/2019)
  5. 5.0 5.1 'San Marino 1996: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/saint-marin/classement.aspx, (Accessed 13/08/2019)
  6. 6.0 6.1 '1996 San Marino GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1996&gp=San%20Marino%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 13/08/2019)
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 '5. San Marino 1996', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1996/saint-marin.aspx, (Accessed 13/08/2019)
V T E San Marino San Marino Grand Prix
Circuits Imola (1981-2006)
Imola 1981
Races 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006
V T E 1996 Formula One Season
Teams Ferrari • Benetton • Williams • McLaren • Ligier • Jordan • Sauber • Footwork • Tyrrell • Minardi • Forti
Engines Ferrari • Ford • Hart • Mercedes • Mugen-Honda • Peugeot • Renault • Yamaha
Drivers M. Schumacher • 2 Irvine • 3 Alesi • 4 Berger • 5 Hill • 6 Villeneuve • 7 Häkkinen • 8 Coulthard • 9 Panis • 10 Diniz • 11 Barrichello • 12 Brundle • 14 Herbert • 15 Frentzen • 16 Rosset • 17 Verstappen • 18 Katayama • 19 Salo • 20 Lamy • 21 Fisichella • 21 Marques • 21 Lavaggi • 22 Badoer • 23 Montermini
Other Drivers Magnussen • Mansell • McNish • Prost • R. Schumacher • Tuero
Cars Ferrari F310 • Benetton B196 • Williams FW18 • McLaren MP4/11 • Ligier JS43 • Jordan 196 • Sauber C15 • Footwork FA17 • Tyrrell 024 • Minardi 195B • Forti FG01B • Forti FG03
Tyres Goodyear
Races Australia • Brazil • Argentina • Europe • San Marino • Monaco • Spain • Canada • France • Britain • Germany • Hungary • Belgium • Italy • Portugal • Japan
Non-Championship Races F1 Indoor Trophy
See also 1995 Formula One Season • 1997 Formula One Season • Category
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