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Home / Seasons / 1996 F1 World Championship Season / 1996 French Grand Prix

1996 French Grand Prix

DateSunday, 30 June 1996
Winner
  • Damon Hill
  • Williams-Renault
Pole position
  • Michael Schumacher
  • Ferrari
Fastest lap
  • Jacques Villeneuve
  • Williams-Renault
CircuitMagny-Cours, 72 laps
Round9 of 16
Race numbers

The 1996 French Grand Prix was the:

  • 590th World Championship race
  • 46th World Championship French Grand Prix
  • 6th World Championship race at Magny-Cours
More 1996 season
More French Grands Prix

Race result

PosDriverConstructorLapsTimePoints
1+1(GBR) Damon HillWilliams-Renault721hr 36m 28.795s10
2+4(CAN) Jacques VilleneuveWilliams-Renault72+8.127s6
3 (FRA) Jean AlesiBenetton-Renault72+46.442s4
4 (AUT) Gerhard BergerBenetton-Renault72+46.859s3
5 (FIN) Mika HakkinenMcLaren-Mercedes72+1m 02.774s2
6+1(GBR) David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes71+1 lap1
7+2(FRA) Olivier PanisLigier-Mugen-Honda71+1 lap 
8 (GBR) Martin BrundleJordan-Peugeot71+1 lap 
9+1(BRA) Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Peugeot71+1 lap 
10+3(FIN) Mika SaloTyrrell-Yamaha70+2 laps 
DQ (GBR) Johnny HerbertSauber-Ford Cosworth70+2 laps 
11+8(BRA) Ricardo RossetFootwork-Hart69+3 laps 
12+6(PRT) Pedro LamyMinardi-Ford Cosworth69+3 laps 
R (DEU) Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Ford Cosworth56DNF 
R (JPN) Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha33DNF 
R (ITA) Luca BadoerForti-Ford Cosworth29DNF 
R (BRA) Pedro DinizLigier-Mugen-Honda28DNF 
R (NLD) Jos VerstappenFootwork-Hart10DNF 
R (GBR) Eddie IrvineFerrari5DNF 
R (ITA) Giancarlo FisichellaMinardi-Ford Cosworth2DNF 
R (ITA) Andrea MonterminiForti-Ford Cosworth2DNF 
Did not start
  (DEU) Michael SchumacherFerrari   

Notes

  • Johnny Herbert was disqualified post-race due to bodywork irregularities.
  • Michael Schumacher failed to start the race due to an engine failure on the formation lap.

Starting grid

PosDriverConstructor
1  
2(GBR) Damon HillWilliams-Renault
3(FRA) Jean AlesiBenetton-Renault
4(AUT) Gerhard BergerBenetton-Renault
5(FIN) Mika HakkinenMcLaren-Mercedes
6(CAN) Jacques VilleneuveWilliams-Renault
7(GBR) David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes
8(GBR) Martin BrundleJordan-Peugeot
9(FRA) Olivier PanisLigier-Mugen-Honda
10(BRA) Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Peugeot
11(BRA) Pedro DinizLigier-Mugen-Honda
12(DEU) Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Ford Cosworth
13(FIN) Mika SaloTyrrell-Yamaha
14(JPN) Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha
15(NLD) Jos VerstappenFootwork-Hart
16(GBR) Johnny HerbertSauber-Ford Cosworth
17(ITA) Giancarlo FisichellaMinardi-Ford Cosworth
18(PRT) Pedro LamyMinardi-Ford Cosworth
19(BRA) Ricardo RossetFootwork-Hart
20(ITA) Luca BadoerForti-Ford Cosworth
21(ITA) Andrea MonterminiForti-Ford Cosworth
22(GBR) Eddie IrvineFerrari

Qualifying result

PosDriverConstructorTimeGap
1(DEU) Michael SchumacherFerrari1:15.989 
2(GBR) Damon HillWilliams-Renault1:16.0580.069
3(FRA) Jean AlesiBenetton-Renault1:16.3100.321
4(AUT) Gerhard BergerBenetton-Renault1:16.5920.603
5(FIN) Mika HakkinenMcLaren-Mercedes1:16.6340.645
6(CAN) Jacques VilleneuveWilliams-Renault1:16.9050.916
7(GBR) David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes1:17.0071.018
8(GBR) Martin BrundleJordan-Peugeot1:17.1871.198
9(FRA) Olivier PanisLigier-Mugen-Honda1:17.3901.401
10(GBR) Eddie IrvineFerrari– 
11(BRA) Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Peugeot1:17.6651.676
12(BRA) Pedro DinizLigier-Mugen-Honda1:17.6761.687
13(DEU) Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Ford Cosworth1:17.7391.750
14(FIN) Mika SaloTyrrell-Yamaha1:18.0212.032
15(JPN) Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha1:18.2422.253
16(NLD) Jos VerstappenFootwork-Hart1:18.3242.335
17(GBR) Johnny HerbertSauber-Ford Cosworth1:18.5562.567
18(ITA) Giancarlo FisichellaMinardi-Ford Cosworth1:18.6042.615
19(PRT) Pedro LamyMinardi-Ford Cosworth1:19.2103.221
20(BRA) Ricardo RossetFootwork-Hart1:19.2423.253
21(ITA) Luca BadoerForti-Ford Cosworth1:20.5624.573
22(ITA) Andrea MonterminiForti-Ford Cosworth1:20.6474.658

Championship standings

How the championship standings stood post-race.

Driver

PosDriverPoints
1(GBR) Damon Hill63
2(CAN) Jacques Villeneuve38
3(DEU) Michael Schumacher26
4(FRA) Jean Alesi25
5(GBR) David Coulthard14
6(FIN) Mika Hakkinen12
7(FRA) Olivier Panis11
8(AUT) Gerhard Berger10
9(GBR) Eddie Irvine9
10(BRA) Rubens Barrichello7
11(DEU) Heinz-Harald Frentzen6
12(FIN) Mika Salo5
13(GBR) Johnny Herbert4
14(GBR) Martin Brundle2
15(NLD) Jos Verstappen1
=(BRA) Pedro Diniz1

Constructor

PosConstructorPoints
1Williams-Renault101
2Ferrari35
3Benetton-Renault35
4McLaren-Mercedes26
5Ligier-Mugen-Honda12
6Sauber-Ford Cosworth10
7Jordan-Peugeot9
8Tyrrell-Yamaha5
9Footwork-Hart1

Stats & milestones

Last start
Andrea Montermini
Forti
Wins
19th for Damon Hill
90th for Williams (3rd constructor to win 90 races)
Race 1-2
28th for Williams
Podiums
36th for Damon Hill
23rd for Jean Alesi
6th for Jacques Villeneuve
217th & 218th for Williams
83rd for Benetton
Poles
13th for Michael Schumacher
117th for Ferrari
Fastest laps
3rd for Jacques Villeneuve
96th for Williams
Front row starts
40th for Damon Hill (9th driver to achieve 40 front row starts, 5th British driver)

See also

  • French Grand Prix
  • Magny-Cours circuit
  • 1996 World Championship season

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