1996 Portuguese Grand Prix

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.

1996 Portuguese Grand Prix
Race 15 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One World Championship
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Race details
Date 22 September 1996
Official name XXV Grande Prémio de Portugal
Location Autódromo do Estoril in Estoril, Portugal
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.360 km (2.725 miles)
Distance 71 laps, 309.560 km (193.475 miles)
Weather Mostly sunny with ambient temperatures reaching 25 °C during the day.
Pole position
Driver Williams-Renault
Time 1:20.330
Fastest lap
Driver Canada Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault
Time 1:22.873 on lap 37
Podium
First Williams-Renault
Second Williams-Renault
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders
The podium ceremony.

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.[1]

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.[2]

Classification

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Qualifying

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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 +5.282
107% time: 1:25.953
Sources:[3][4]

Race

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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  
Ret 7   Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 52 Collision damage 7  
Ret 17   Jos Verstappen Footwork-Hart 47 Engine 16  
Ret 10   Pedro Diniz Ligier-Mugen-Honda 46 Collision 18  
Ret 11   Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 41 Spun Off 9  
Source:[5]

Championship standings after the race

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  • Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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  1. ^ "F1 News – Grandprix.com > GP Encyclopedia > Races > Portuguese GP, 1996". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 2013-04-18.
  2. ^ "Formula 1 adds Portimao, Nurburgring and 2-day event in Imola to 2020 race calendar". formula1.com. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  3. ^ "Portugal 1996 – Qualifications". StatsF1. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  4. ^ "1996 Portuguese Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  5. ^ "1996 Portuguese Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Portugal 1996 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.


Previous race:
1996 Italian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1996 season
Next race:
1996 Japanese Grand Prix
Previous race:
1995 Portuguese Grand Prix
Portuguese Grand Prix Next race:
2020 Portuguese Grand Prix