1996 Argentine Grand Prix
| 1996 Argentine Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One World Championship | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | April 7, 1996 | ||
| Location | Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||
| Course | Permanent race track | ||
| Course length | 4.259 km (2.657 miles) | ||
| Distance | 72 laps, 306.648 km (191.296 miles) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Williams-Renault | ||
| Time | 1:30.346 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Jean Alesi | Benetton-Renault | |
| Time | 1:29.413 on lap 66 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Williams-Renault | ||
| Second | Williams-Renault | ||
| Third | 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, bringing 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. Diniz managed to continue and made a pit stop, 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. The UK's The Sun newspaper used the memorable headline "Diniz in the oven" for their report on this incident.
Classification
Qualifying
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 |
Standings after Grand Prix
- Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.