Classic F1: Spain 1996

Jacques Villeneuve in the pits

As part of our classic F1 series that we’re bringing to you every race, we look at one of the greatest ever F1 drives. It was because of races like this that seven time champion Michael Schumacher became known as the “rainmaster”, read on to find out why!

A Williams front row lockout was ominous for the rest of the field, with third place Michael Schumacher almost a second slower than pole man Damon Hill. The two Benettons were 4th and 5th, Alesi ahead of Berger. Monaco race winner Olivier Panis was the highest place Ligier – 1.8 seconds ahead of his team mate Pedro Diniz. There would only be 20 cars starting the race. The two Forti cars failed to qualify.

The formation lap got underway, with Mika Salo’s Tyrrell failing to leave the grid. He was pushed to the pits from where he jumped into the spare car. Too late, as it turned out – he was disqualified on lap 16 for switching cars whilst under starter’s orders.

Off the line, Schumacher and Hill made bad starts. The pole man dropped down to 3rd, whilst the Ferrari driver fell into the dangerous area of midfield.

Hill’s day did not get much better. Several spins in the opening laps saw him drop out of the points into 8th place, before a final spin out of the final corner ended his race as the eventual world champion crashed into the pit wall on lap 12.

Between the Brit’s spins, Schumacher had worked his way back up the order. He overtook Williams new boy Jacques Villeneuve on lap 13 to take the lead, where he would remain for the end of the race. Canadian Villeneuve lost second to Jean Alesi in the pit stops, and was fortunate to finish third.

Rubens Barrichello was driving like a man possessed for Jordan. Due to the pit stops, he had worked his way up to second by the time he came in to refuel. A duel down the pit exit and into turn 1 with the sole remaining Williams would relegate him to fourth, but his hard work was undone when he was struck with a differential problem and forced to retire – a fate that had already ended team mate Martin Brundle’s race.

The Brazilian became the 13th driver to be eliminated from the Catalunya race. Just two laps later, there would be a 14th as Jos Verstappen – Max Verstappen’s father – spun into the gravel and beached his Footwork.

Despite starting 17th, this allowed Pedro Diniz to move up into the last points scoring position of sixth. Although technically, it was also last position.

Brazilian Diniz would bring the car home, albeit two laps down. Michael Schumacher took a dominant win for Ferrari – his first of many victories for the Prancing Horse. Indeed, the German lapped the three cars that didn’t finish on the podium.

In the end, Hill’s poor race did not effect his title hopes – he went on to claim the world title at the final race in Japan, whilst Schumacher would of course win five titles in a row for Ferrari in the early 2000s.

1996 Spanish Grand Prix Result: