Motor car race
The
1996 Japanese Grand Prix
(officially known as the
XXII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
) was a
Formula One
motor race held at
Suzuka
on 13 October 1996. It was the sixteenth and final race of the
1996 Formula One World Championship
.
The 52-lap race was won by
Damon Hill
, driving a
Williams
-
Renault
. Hill took his eighth win of the season, and with it the Drivers' Championship, after teammate and pole-sitter
Jacques Villeneuve
made a poor start and then retired when a wheel fell off. Villeneuve had needed to win the race, without Hill scoring, in order to win the Championship himself.
Michael Schumacher
finished second in a
Ferrari
, enabling the Italian team to steal second place in the Constructors' Championship from
Benetton
, with
Mika Hakkinen
third in a
McLaren
-
Mercedes
.
Hill was the first son of a World Champion to win the championship himself, his father
Graham
having been champion in
1962
and
1968
. This was also the final race for
Martin Brundle
, who had been competing in F1 since
1984
and finished on the podium 9 times since
1992
, as well as the last race for
Pedro Lamy
,
Giovanni Lavaggi
,
Footwork
and
Ligier
.
Report
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Background and qualifying
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This was the first time since
1977
that Japan hosted the final round of the World Championship. In qualifying, Villeneuve beat Hill to pole position by nearly half a second, with a further 0.7 seconds back to Schumacher in third.
Race
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On race day, the first start was aborted when
David Coulthard
stalled his
McLaren
.
[5]
At the second start, Villeneuve made a poor getaway and fell to sixth behind Hill,
Gerhard Berger
, Hakkinen, Schumacher and
Eddie Irvine
. Meanwhile,
Jean Alesi
, attempting to make up several places after qualifying ninth, spun off at the second corner and destroyed his
Benetton
; Alesi was unhurt from the impact. On the third lap, Berger attempted to overtake Hill at the final chicane, only to damage his front wing; after having to pit for a new nosecone, Berger dropped to eighteenth, and last, place, effectively ending his challenge for the lead.
Thereafter, Hill gradually pulled away, with Schumacher overtaking Hakkinen for second during the first round of pit stops.
Pedro Diniz
had lost control of his Ligier at the final chicane and spun off into the gravel trap by lap 14. Hill pitted for his second stop with a 25-second gap to Schumacher, emerging narrowly ahead of the Ferrari, before pulling away gradually once again to lead by 13 seconds with ten laps remaining.
Villeneuve, meanwhile, passed Irvine, set the fastest lap of the race and ran fourth before his right rear wheel came off on lap 37 due to a wheel bearing failure (this was the same incident that happened to team-mate
Damon Hill
during the
British Grand Prix
, according to BBC pit reporter
Tony Jardine
), putting him out of the race and handing the Drivers' Championship to Hill, already dropped by Williams for the following season. Whilst fighting for fourth place,
Gerhard Berger
(having fought back to fifth place following his earlier collision with Hill) had another collision with the Ferrari of
Eddie Irvine
at the final chicane causing the Northern Irishman to spin out and retire, but Berger was able to carry on unscathed. A late fightback saw Schumacher close the gap to Hill, but Hill held on to win the race by 1.8 seconds, with Hakkinen a further 1.4 seconds back, while Berger recovered to finish fourth,
Martin Brundle
came fifth in his final Grand Prix, and
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
picked up the final point for sixth.
In the UK, this was the last F1 race until
2009
to be broadcast live by the
BBC
.
[
citation needed
]
As Hill crossed the line to win the race and the championship, commentator
Murray Walker
said, "And I've got to stop, because I've got a lump in my throat."
[6]
Classification
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Qualifying
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Race
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Championship standings after the race
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- Drivers' Championship standings
|
- Constructors' Championship standings
|
- Note
: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
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