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1996 European Grand Prix
Race 4 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
The Nürburgring in its 1996 configuration
Race details
Date	28 April 1996
Official name	XL Grand Prix of Europe
Location	Nürburgring Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.556 km (2.842 miles)
Distance	67 laps, 305.252 km (190.425 miles)
Weather	Cloudy, but dry
Pole position
Driver	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Time	1:18.941
Fastest lap
Driver	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Time	1:21.363 on lap 55
Podium
First	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Second	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Third	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

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:

Notes

• Both of Mika Häkkinen's pit lane speeding penalties in this race were caused by a problem with his pit speed limiter.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Damon Hill 33 2 Jacques Villeneuve 22 3 Jean Alesi 10 4 Michael Schumacher 10 5 Eddie Irvine 6 Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 55 2 Ferrari 16 3 Benetton-Renault 13 4 McLaren-Mercedes 9 5 Jordan-Peugeot 6 Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. "Europe 1996 – Qualifications". StatsF1. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
2. "1996 European Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
3. "1996 European Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
4. ^ "Europe 1996 - Championship". Statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.

• 1996 Formula One races
• European Grand Prix
• 1996 in German motorsport
• Sport in Rhineland-Palatinate
• April 1996 sports events in Germany