1996 Argentine Grand Prix

  1996 Argentine Grand Prix

Race details
Race 3 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One season
Date	April 7, 1996
Location	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Course	Permanent race track
Course length	4.259 km (2.657 mi)
Distance	72 laps, 306.648 km (191.296 mi)
Weather	Dry with temperatures reaching up to 21 °C (70 °F)
Pole position
Driver	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Time	1:30.346
Fastest lap
Driver	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault
Time	1:29.413 on lap 66
Podium
First	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Second	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Third	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault

The 1996 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on April 7, 1996 at Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires. Despite suffering a bout of food poisoning, Damon Hill made it three wins out of three, with Jacques Villeneuve helping Williams complete their second one-two of the season. Jos Verstappen scored his only point of the season, Andrea Montermini his only finish of the season.

Pedro Diniz was involved in two major incidents during the race. First he collided with Luca Badoer, whose Forti was flipped and landed upside down in the gravel, forcing the marshals to bring out the safety car. Trackside marshals were heavily criticized for their delay in aiding Badoer's escape from the car; ultimately the Italian was forced to crawl out from underneath the Forti (the explanation for which was later given by the marshals that an uncharacteristic delay in the safety car picking up the race leader had caused confusion on the trackside). Diniz managed to continue and made a pit stop as the safety car was preparing to pull in - only to retire when he came back onto the circuit and his Ligier burst into flames, because a safety-valve in the fuel tank had jammed open, with the safety car staying out for three extra laps as a result. The UK's The Sun newspaper used the memorable headline "Diniz in the oven" for their report on this incident.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	5	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:30.346
2	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:30.598	+0.252
3	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1:30.907	+0.561
4	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1:31.038	+0.692
5	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	1:31.262	+0.916
6	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	1:31.404	+1.058
7	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	1:31.615	+1.269
8	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:31.801	+1.455
9	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:32.001	+1.655
10	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:32.058	+1.712
11	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	1:32.130	+1.784
12	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:32.177	+1.831
13	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:32.407	+2.061
14	21	Tarso Marques	Minardi-Ford	1:32.502	+2.156
15	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	1:32.696	+2.350
16	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:32.903	+2.557
17	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	1:33.256	+2.910
18	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:33.424	+3.078
19	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	1:33.727	+3.381
20	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	1:33.752	+3.406
21	22	Luca Badoer	Forti-Ford	1:34.830	+4.484
22	23	Andrea Montermini	Forti-Ford	1:35.651	+5.305
107% time: 1:36.670

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	72	1:54:55.322	1	10
2	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	72	+12.167	3	6
3	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	72	+14.754	4	4
4	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	72	+55.131	6	3
5	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	72	+1:04.991	10	2
6	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	72	+1:08.913	7	1
7	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	72	+1:13.400	9
8	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	72	+1:14.295	12
9	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	71	+1 Lap	17
10	23	Andrea Montermini	Forti-Ford	69	+3 Laps	22
Ret	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	56	Suspension	5
Ret	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	46	Broken wing	2
Ret	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	39	Transmission	19
Ret	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	36	Throttle	16
Ret	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	34	Collision	15
Ret	21	Tarso Marques	Minardi-Ford	33	Collision	14
Ret	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	32	Spun off	11
Ret	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	29	Fire	18
Ret	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	28	Transmission	13
Ret	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	24	Oil pump	20
Ret	22	Luca Badoer	Forti-Ford	24	Collision	21
Ret	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	19	Throttle	8
Source:

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	30
2	Jacques Villeneuve	12
3	Jean Alesi	10
4	Eddie Irvine	6
5	Mika Häkkinen	5

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Williams-Renault	42
2	Benetton-Renault	13
3	Ferrari	10
4	McLaren-Mercedes	5
5	Jordan-Peugeot	3

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

Previous race: 1996 Brazilian Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1996 season	Next race: 1996 European Grand Prix
Previous race: 1995 Argentine Grand Prix	Argentine Grand Prix	Next race: 1997 Argentine Grand Prix

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