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1996 Spanish Grand Prix
Race 7 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	2 June 1996
Official name	Gran Premio Marlboro de España
Location	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.727 km (2.937 miles)
Distance	65 laps, 307.114 km (190.832 miles)
Weather	Rain
Attendance	55,000
Pole position
Driver	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Time	1:20.650
Fastest lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:45.517 on lap 14
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault
Third	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Lap leaders

The 1996 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Catalunya on 2 June 1996. It was the seventh race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship.

This race, Michael Schumacher's first Ferrari victory, is generally regarded as one of his finest. In the torrential rain, he produced a stunning drive, and is a prime example of why he earned the nickname "Regenmeister" ("Rainmaster"), despite his early and unforced crash at a wet Monaco Grand Prix two weeks earlier. The race was also Schumacher's 20th career win.

At the start, Schumacher lost several positions due to a clutch problem, which indirectly resulted in several clashes in the main straight involving 5 cars. Giancarlo Fisichella emerged from the carnage with a blown left front and a missing rear wing, while Olivier Panis escaped with suspension damage. Both pulled into the pits and retired a lap later.

Mika Salo was disqualified for the second time this season, for changing cars after the field was under starter's orders.

Damon Hill had started the race from pole position, but dropped to 8th after spinning twice in the opening laps, before another spin into the pit wall on lap 12 ended his race. Schumacher recovered from a poor start to take the lead from Villeneuve on lap 13, and from then on he dominated the race, lapping over three seconds a lap faster than the remainder of the field.

Rubens Barrichello was running a competitive race, getting as high as 2nd place after Jacques Villeneuve and Alesi made their pit stops. After his own scheduled (lengthy) pitstop he was sent back to the race but forced to retire from third place with 20 laps to go after a clutch problem caused his engine to fade out. On the previous lap, Gerhard Berger had spun his Benetton out of fourth place while trying to lap the Ligier of Pedro Diniz. Alesi and Villeneuve switched places on their own pitstops, Alesi taking his only one some 6 laps before Villeneuve.

After an uneventful race on his part, Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished in fourth, while Mika Häkkinen took fifth after surviving a spin off the track in the closing stages of the race. Jos Verstappen, running fifth after the retirements of Barrichello and Berger, crashed into the tyre barrier with 12 laps left, guaranteeing Diniz his first Formula One point as by this time only six drivers were left in the race. With no further retirements, Diniz brought his car home in sixth, after driving at a more cautious pace that saw him fall two laps adrift of the front runners by the end.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	5	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:20.650
2	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1:21.084	+0.434
3	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:21.587	+0.937
4	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1:22.061	+1.411
5	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	1:22.125	+1.475
6	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:22.333	+1.683
7	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	1:22.379	+1.729
8	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:22.685	+2.035
9	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	1:23.027	+2.377
10	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:23.070	+2.420
11	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	1:23.195	+2.545
12	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:23.224	+2.574
13	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	1:23.371	+2.721
14	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:23.416	+2.766
15	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	1:23.438	+2.788
16	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:24.401	+3.751
17	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:24.468	+3.818
18	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	1:25.274	+4.624
19	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Minardi-Ford	1:25.531	+4.881
20	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	1:25.621	+4.971
107% time: 1:26.296
DNQ	22	Luca Badoer	Forti-Ford	1:26.615	+5.965
DNQ	23	Andrea Montermini	Forti-Ford	1:27.358	+6.708
Sources:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	65	1:59:49.307	3	10
2	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	65	+ 45.302	4	6
3	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	65	+ 48.388	2	4
4	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	64	+ 1 Lap	11	3
5	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	64	+ 1 Lap	10	2
6	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	63	+ 2 Laps	17	1
Ret	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	47	Spun off	13
Ret	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	45	Clutch	7
Ret	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	44	Spun off	5
Ret	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	20	Spun off	9
Ret	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	17	Differential	15
Ret	5	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	10	Spun off	1
Ret	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	8	Electrical	16
Ret	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1	Spun off	6
Ret	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1	Collision damage	8
Ret	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Minardi-Ford	1	Collision damage	19
Ret	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	0	Collision	14
Ret	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	0	Collision	18
Ret	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	0	Collision	20
DSQ	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	16	Illegal car change	12
Source:

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Damon Hill 43 2 Jacques Villeneuve 26 3 Michael Schumacher 26 4 Jean Alesi 17 5 Olivier Panis 11 Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 69 2 Ferrari 35 3 Benetton-Renault 24 4 McLaren-Mercedes 18 5 Ligier-Mugen-Honda 12 Source:

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

References

1. "1996 Spanish Grand Prix". Motor Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
2. Benson, Andrew (14 May 2016). "Spanish Grand Prix: Why Michael Schumacher's epic 1996 win matters". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
3. ^ "Schumacher's first win for Ferrari - Spanish Grand Prix 1996". Formula1.com. 30 April 2003. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
4. "Classic F1 - Spanish Grand Prix 1996". BBC Sport. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
5. "Spain 1996 – Qualifications". StatsF1. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
6. "1996 Spanish Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
7. "1996 Spanish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
8. ^ "Spain 1996 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

• 1996 Formula One races
• Spanish Grand Prix
• 1996 in Spanish motorsport
• June 1996 sports events in Europe