The 1996 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 22 September 1996 at Autódromo do Estoril in Estoril, Portugal. It was the 15th and penultimate race of the 1996 Formula One season.
Williams' Jacques Villeneuve won the race from team-mate Damon Hill and Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, having overtaken the latter on the outside of the final corner while the two were lapping the slow-moving back-marking Minardi of Giovanni Lavaggi (who at the time was described by BBC TV commentator Jonathan Palmer as "desperately slow" and "there because of his money"). This victory, Villeneuve's fourth of the season, ensured that the Drivers' Championship battle between him and Hill went to the final round in Japan three weeks later.
Benetton's Jean Alesi finished fourth, just behind Schumacher, while Eddie Irvine in the second Ferrari and Gerhard Berger in the second Benetton survived a last-lap collision to take fifth and sixth respectively.
The Portuguese Grand Prix would not be held again until 2020 but this race was held at a new venue at the Algarve International Circuit as opposed to Estoril.
Classification
Qualifying
Pos No Driver Constructor Time Diff. 1 5 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:20.330 2 6 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:20.339 +0.009 3 3 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:21.088 +0.758 4 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:21.236 +0.906 5 4 Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 1:21.293 +0.963 6 2 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:21.362 +1.032 7 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.640 +1.310 8 8 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.066 +1.736 9 11 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 1:22.205 +1.875 10 12 Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 1:22.324 +1.994 11 15 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 1:22.325 +1.995 12 14 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 1:22.655 +2.325 13 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:22.765 +2.435 14 18 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:23.013 +2.683 15 9 Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:23.055 +2.725 16 17 Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 1:23.531 +3.201 17 16 Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 1:24.230 +3.900 18 10 Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:24.293 +3.963 19 20 Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 1:24.510 +4.180 20 21 Giovanni Lavaggi Minardi-Ford 1:25.612 +5.282107% time: 1:25.953 Sources:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 6 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 70 1:40:22.915 2 10 2 5 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 70 + 19.966 1 6 3 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 70 + 53.765 4 4 4 3 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 70 + 55.109 3 3 5 2 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 70 + 1:27.389 6 2 6 4 Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 70 + 1:33.141 5 1 7 15 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 69 + 1 Lap 11 8 14 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Ford 69 + 1 Lap 12 9 12 Martin Brundle Jordan-Peugeot 69 + 1 Lap 10 10 9 Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 69 + 1 Lap 15 11 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 69 + 1 Lap 13 12 18 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 68 + 2 Laps 14 13 8 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 68 + 2 Laps 8 14 16 Ricardo Rosset Footwork-Hart 67 + 3 Laps 17 15 21 Giovanni Lavaggi Minardi-Ford 65 + 5 Laps 20 16 20 Pedro Lamy Minardi-Ford 65 + 5 Laps 19 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 52 Collision damage 7 17 Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 47 Engine 16 10 Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 46 Collision 18 11 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 41 Spun Off 9
Championship standings after the race Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Damon Hill* 87 2 Jacques Villeneuve* 78 3 Michael Schumacher 53 4 Jean Alesi 47 5 Mika Häkkinen 27Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 165 2 Benetton-Renault 65 3 Ferrari 64 4 McLaren-Mercedes 45 5 Jordan-Peugeot 20Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References