The 1996 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 7 April 1996 at Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires. Despite suffering a bout of food poisoning, Damon Hill made it three wins out of three, with Jacques Villeneuve helping Williams complete their second one-two of the season. Jos Verstappen scored his only point of the season, Andrea Montermini his only finish of the season. This was the first race of 1996 where no drivers failed to meet the 107% time.
Pedro Diniz was involved in two major incidents during the race. First he collided with Luca Badoer, whose Forti was flipped and landed upside down in the gravel, forcing the marshals to bring out the safety car. Trackside marshals were heavily criticized for their delay in aiding Badoer's escape from the car; ultimately the Italian was forced to crawl out from underneath the Forti (the explanation for which was later given by the marshals that an uncharacteristic delay in the safety car picking up the race leader had caused confusion on the trackside). Diniz managed to continue and made a pit stop as the safety car was preparing to pull in - only to retire when he came back onto the circuit and his Ligier burst into flames, because a safety-valve in the fuel tank had jammed open, with the safety car staying out for three extra laps as a result.
Classification
Qualifying
Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 5 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:30.346 2 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:30.598 +0.252 3 6 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:30.907 +0.561 4 3 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:31.038 +0.692 5 4 Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 1:31.262 +0.916 6 11 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 1:31.404 +1.058 7 17 Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 1:31.615 +1.269 8 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.801 +1.455 9 8 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.001 +1.655 10 2 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:32.058 +1.712 11 15 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 1:32.130 +1.784 12 9 Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:32.177 +1.831 13 18 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:32.407 +2.061 14 21 Tarso Marques Minardi-Ford 1:32.502 +2.156 15 12 Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 1:32.696 +2.350 16 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:32.903 +2.557 17 14 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 1:33.256 +2.910 18 10 Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:33.424 +3.078 19 20 Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 1:33.727 +3.381 20 16 Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 1:33.752 +3.406 21 22 Luca Badoer Forti-Ford 1:34.830 +4.484 22 23 Andrea Montermini Forti-Ford 1:35.651 +5.305107% time: 1:36.670 Sources:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 72 1:54:55.322 1 10 2 6 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 72 +12.167 3 6 3 3 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 72 +14.754 4 4 4 11 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 72 +55.131 6 3 5 2 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 72 +1:04.991 10 2 6 17 Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 72 +1:08.913 7 1 7 8 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 72 +1:13.400 9 8 9 Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 72 +1:14.295 12 9 14 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 71 +1 Lap 17 10 23 Andrea Montermini Forti-Ford 69 +3 Laps 22 4 Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 56 Suspension 5 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 46 Broken wing 2 20 Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 39 Transmission 19 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 36 Throttle 16 12 Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 34 Collision 15 21 Tarso Marques Minardi-Ford 33 Collision 14 15 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 32 Spun off 11 10 Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 29 Fire 18 18 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 28 Differential 13 16 Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 24 Oil pump 20 22 Luca Badoer Forti-Ford 24 Collision 21 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 19 Throttle 8
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Damon Hill 30 2 Jacques Villeneuve 12 3 Jean Alesi 10 4 Eddie Irvine 6 5 Mika Häkkinen 5Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 42 2 Benetton-Renault 13 3 Ferrari 10 4 McLaren-Mercedes 5 5 Jordan-Peugeot 3Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References