The 1996 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours, France on 30 June 1996. It was the ninth race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship.
The 72-lap race was won by Briton Damon Hill, driving a Williams-Renault, after he started from second position. German Michael Schumacher took pole position in his Ferrari but failed to start the race after his engine blew on the warm-up lap, leaving Hill to lead from start to finish except for the pit stops. Hill's teammate, Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who had crashed heavily at Estoril corner in qualifying, finished second, with local driver Jean Alesi third in a Benetton-Renault.
This was the last Grand Prix where a Forti car started the race as they would fail to qualify for the remaining Grand Prix they would enter, however both cars were forced to retire.
This Grand Prix marked the debut of Mercedes-supplied safety cars to Formula One, a partnership which is still in place as of 2026.
Classification
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:15.989 2 5 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:16.058 +0.069 3 3 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:16.310 +0.321 4 4 Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 1:16.592 +0.603 5 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.634 +0.645 6 6 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:16.905 +0.916 7 8 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.007 +1.018 8 12 Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 1:17.187 +1.198 9 9 Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:17.390 +1.401 10 11 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 1:17.665 +1.676 11 10 Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:17.676 +1.687 12 15 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 1:17.739 +1.750 13 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:18.021 +2.032 14 18 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:18.242 +2.253 15 17 Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 1:18.324 +2.335 16 14 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 1:18.556 +2.567 17 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Minardi-Ford 1:18.604 +2.615 18 20 Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 1:19.210 +3.221 19 16 Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 1:19.242 +3.253 20 22 Luca Badoer Forti-Ford 1:20.562 +4.573 21 23 Andrea Montermini Forti-Ford 1:20.647 +4.658107% time: 1:21.308 22 2 Eddie Irvine Ferrari Source: Eddie Irvine had qualified 10th, but had all his qualifying times deleted and was demoted to the back of the grid after one of the air deflectors on his Ferrari was found to be too tall.
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 72 1:36:28.795 2 10 2 6 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 72 + 8.127 6 6 3 3 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 72 + 46.442 3 4 4 4 Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 72 + 46.859 4 3 5 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 72 + 1:02.774 5 2 6 8 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 71 + 1 lap 7 1 7 9 Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 71 + 1 lap 9 8 12 Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 71 + 1 lap 8 9 11 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 71 + 1 lap 10 10 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 70 + 2 laps 13 11 16 Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 69 + 3 laps 19 12 20 Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 69 + 3 laps 18 14 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 70 Bodywork 16 15 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 56 Throttle 12 18 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 33 Engine 14 22 Luca Badoer Forti-Ford 29 Fuel system 20 10 Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 28 Engine 11 17 Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 10 Suspension 15 2 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 5 Gearbox 22 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Minardi-Ford 2 Fuel pump 17 23 Andrea Montermini Forti-Ford 2 Electrical 21 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 0 Engine –
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Damon Hill 63 2 Jacques Villeneuve 38 3 Michael Schumacher 26 4 Jean Alesi 25 5 David Coulthard 14Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 101 2 Ferrari 35 3 Benetton-Renault 35 4 McLaren-Mercedes 26 5 Ligier-Mugen-Honda 12Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References