| 1996 Italian Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 14 of 16 in the1996 Formula One World Championship
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| Race details | |||||
| Date | 8 September 1996 | ||||
| Official name | Pioneer 67º Gran Premio d'Italia[1] | ||||
| Location | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza Monza,Lombardy,Italy | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 5.770 km (3.585 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 53 laps, 305.810 km (190.022 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Dry | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Williams-Renault | ||||
| Time | 1:24.204 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | |||
| Time | 1:26.110 on lap 50 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Ferrari | ||||
| Second | Benetton-Renault | ||||
| Third | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The1996 Italian Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held on 8 September 1996 atMonza. It was the fourteenth race of the1996 Formula One World Championship.
The 53-lap race was won byMichael Schumacher, driving aFerrari, after he started from third position. It was Schumacher's third victory of the season and the Ferrari team's first victory at Monza since1988. With Schumacher also having won the previous race inBelgium, these were also the first consecutive Ferrari victories since the1990 season.
Jean Alesi finished second in aBenetton-Renault, withMika Häkkinen third in aMcLaren-Mercedes. Drivers' Championship leaderDamon Hill tookpole position in hisWilliams-Renault and led until he made an error and spun off on lap 6, while his teammate and rival,Jacques Villeneuve, could only manage seventh.
To stop cars kerb-hopping at chicanes due to ongoing track modifications at the time of the race, tyre barriers were erected at each chicane. However this caused much controversy during the race, particularly in the opening laps, when two tyres ran free across the track in the path of other drivers. Damon Hill had a comfortable lead but would retire after colliding with the tyres.
Jean Alesi made an excellent start from sixth to lead polesitterDamon Hill into the first corner, but ran wide and struck a tyre stack between the two Lesmos on the opening lap and lost the lead to Hill. Alesi was fortunate to escape with his own car undamaged, but his error caused a tyre to fall on the track and break the front wing ofMika Häkkinen'sMcLaren. Häkkinen was forced to pit for a new nose-cone, dropping him to seventeenth on the track.
Jacques Villeneuve sent a tyre spinning intoDavid Coulthard's car at the Ascari chicane on the opening lap in a similar incident while trying to passMichael Schumacher. Villeneuve was able to continue, although the collision with the tyre stack bent his suspension, which slowed his car and forced him to pit for a new set of tyres, a new nose-cone and a new steering wheel, dropping him to sixteenth place and putting him a lap behind. Coulthard was less fortunate, and immediately spun off with a broken suspension pushrod. Villeneuve apologised to Coulthard after the race. WhilstGerhard Berger in the second Benetton had eventually pulled off before Parabolica when his gearbox failed on lap 5.
Hill was leading by four seconds on lap six when he hit the tyre barriers at the first chicane and retired with broken suspension.Eddie Irvine ran in third place for most of the first half of the race before having a similar accident. In all, eight cars made contact with the tyre barriers after running wide on the track, of which five (Hill,Heinz-Harald Frentzen,Olivier Panis,Ricardo Rosset and Irvine) retired.
Michael Schumacher also hit a tyre stack in the closing stages but continued without damage to his car and won the race. This was his first everItalian Grand Prix victory after years of misfortunes including the collision with Hill the previous year, as well as his team's first win at Monza since1988. Alesi, who re-took the lead following Hill's exit, finished second after losing out to Schumacher in the pit stops, and Häkkinen eventually recovered to third place thanks in part to Irvine's retirement. The Jordan-Peugeots ofMartin Brundle andRubens Barrichello finished in fourth and fifth positions respectively after a race-long battle for fourth place, Brundle overtaking at the Parabolica corner after Barrichello accidentally turned his engine off while trying to investigate a clutch problem, and had to get a push-start from the marshalls to continue.Pedro Diniz finished sixth ahead of Villeneuve, who only managed seventh place afterJohnny Herbert's engine cut out on the final lap.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Diff. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 |  Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | 1:24.204 | |||
| 2 | 6 |  Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 1:24.521 | +0.317 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:24.781 | +0.577 | ||
| 4 | 7 |  Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:24.939 | +0.735 | ||
| 5 | 8 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:24.976 | +0.772 | ||
| 6 | 3 |  Jean Alesi | Benetton-Renault | 1:25.201 | +0.997 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 1:25.226 | +1.022 | ||
| 8 | 4 |  Gerhard Berger | Benetton-Renault | 1:25.470 | +1.266 | ||
| 9 | 12 | Martin Brundle | Jordan-Peugeot | 1:26.037 | +1.833 | ||
| 10 | 11 |  Rubens Barrichello | Jordan-Peugeot | 1:26.194 | +1.990 | ||
| 11 | 9 | Olivier Panis | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 1:26.206 | +2.002 | ||
| 12 | 14 | Johnny Herbert | Sauber-Ford | 1:26.345 | +2.141 | ||
| 13 | 15 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Ford | 1:26.505 | +2.301 | ||
| 14 | 10 | Pedro Diniz | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 1:26.726 | +2.522 | ||
| 15 | 17 |  Jos Verstappen | Footwork-Hart | 1:27.270 | +3.066 | ||
| 16 | 18 |  Ukyo Katayama | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:28.234 | +4.030 | ||
| 17 | 19 | Mika Salo | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:28.472 | +4.268 | ||
| 18 | 20 |  Pedro Lamy | Minardi-Ford | 1:28.933 | +4.729 | ||
| 19 | 16 | Ricardo Rosset | Footwork-Hart | 1:29.181 | +4.977 | ||
| 20 | 21 |  Giovanni Lavaggi | Minardi-Ford | 1:29.833 | +5.629 | ||
| 107% time: 1:30.098 | |||||||
| Sources:[2][3] | |||||||
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 53 | 1:17:43.632 | 3 | 10 |
| 2 | 3 | Jean Alesi | Benetton-Renault | 53 | + 18.265 | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | 7 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | 53 | + 1:06.635 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 12 | Martin Brundle | Jordan-Peugeot | 53 | + 1:25.217 | 9 | 3 |
| 5 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Jordan-Peugeot | 53 | + 1:25.475 | 10 | 2 |
| 6 | 10 | Pedro Diniz | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 52 | + 1 Lap | 14 | 1 |
| 7 | 6 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 52 | + 1 Lap | 2 | |
| 8 | 17 | Jos Verstappen | Footwork-Hart | 52 | + 1 Lap | 15 | |
| 9 | 14 | Johnny Herbert | Sauber-Ford | 51 | Engine | 12 | |
| 10 | 18 | Ukyo Katayama | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 51 | + 2 Laps | 16 | |
| Ret | 16 | Ricardo Rosset | Footwork-Hart | 36 | Spun Off | 19 | |
| Ret | 2 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 23 | Spun Off | 7 | |
| Ret | 20 | Pedro Lamy | Minardi-Ford | 12 | Engine | 18 | |
| Ret | 19 | Mika Salo | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 9 | Engine | 17 | |
| Ret | 15 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Ford | 7 | Spun Off | 13 | |
| Ret | 5 | Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | 5 | Spun Off | 1 | |
| Ret | 21 | Giovanni Lavaggi | Minardi-Ford | 5 | Engine | 20 | |
| Ret | 4 | Gerhard Berger | Benetton-Renault | 4 | Gearbox | 8 | |
| Ret | 9 | Olivier Panis | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 2 | Spun Off | 11 | |
| Ret | 8 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 1 | Spun Off | 5 | |
Source:[4] | |||||||
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| Previous race: 1996 Belgian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1996 season | Next race: 1996 Portuguese Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1995 Italian Grand Prix | Italian Grand Prix | Next race: 1997 Italian Grand Prix |
