German Grand Prix

Analysis :
After sliding out of his home race two weeks before, Damon Hill's luck held as he took his 7th win of the season. After leading most of the race Gerhard Berger's Renault engine expired in a cloud of oil smoke as he held off Hill's late race charge. Jean Alesi fared better than Berger, with the second Benetton finishing ahead of the third placed Williams of Jacques Villeneuve. A distant fourth was the Ferrari of Hockenheim's main man Micheal Schumacher, though the boys from Maranello were just happy to have a car finish, since once more Eddie Irvine's car let him down while running a strong fifth.

David Coulthard brought home his McLaren fifth, while teammate Mika Hakkinen's gearbox broke while running strongly. The final point went to Jordan's Rubens Barrichello who just pipped the Ligier of Olivier Panis. In fact just 3 seconds separated fourth and seventh at the finish.

Jos Verstappen once again blotted his copybook, hitting the back of Johnny Herbert on the first lap. Herbert continued, Verstappen did not. Twelve cars were running at the finish - quite surprising at a circuit that usually takes a heavy toll on engines and gearboxes.

Luck was definitely on Damon Hill's side at Hockenheim (his great qualifying performance aside), for although he was running right behind Gerhard Berger, getting past him was quite another matter. The recent resurgence of Benetton may be a case of "too little, too late" for their driver's to take the title and time is beginning to run short for Jacques Villeneuve.

Qualifying :
Warm and sunny
PosDriverNat.TeamTime m:ss.sss
1Damon HillGBRWilliams-Renault1:43.912
2Gerhard BergerAUTBenetton-Renault1:44.299
3Michael SchumacherGERFerrari1:44.477
4Mika HakkinenFINMcLaren-Mercedes1:44.644
5Jean AlesiFRABenetton-Renault1:44.670
6Jacques Villeneuve CANWilliams-Renault1:44.842
7David CoulthardGBRMcLaren-Mercedes1:44.951
8Eddie IrvineIRLFerrari1:45.389
9Rubens BarrichelloBRAJordan-Peugeot1:45.452
10Martin BrundleGBRJordan-Peugeot1:45.876
11Pedro DinizBRALigier-Mugen1:46.575
12Olivier PanisFRALigier-Mugen1:46.746
13H-H FrentzenGER Sauber-Ford1:46.899
14Johnny HerbertGBRSauber-Ford1:47.711
15Mika SaloFINTyrrell-Yamaha1:48.139
16Ukyo KatayamaJAPTyrrell-Yamaha1:48.381
17Jos VerstappenNEDTWR-Hart1:48.512
18Pedro LamyPORMinardi-Ford1:49.461
19Ricardo RossetBRATWR-Hart1:49.551

107 % rule : 1:51.185
Did Not Qualify :

Gianni Lavaggi - ITA - Minardi Ford 1:51.357
Andrea Montermini - ITA - Forti-Ford no time
Luca Badoer - ITA - Forti-Ford no time

Race : 45 laps
Cloudy, dry
PosDriverNat.CarTime h:mm:ss.sss
1Damon HillGBRWilliams-Renault1:21:43.417
2Jean AlesiFRABenetton-Renault1:21:54.959
3Jacques VilleneuveCANWilliams-Renault1:22:17.343
4Michael SchumacherGERFerrari1:22:24.934
5David CoulthardGBRMcLaren-Mercedes1:22:25.613
6Rubens BarrichelloBRAJordan-Peugeot1:22:26.516
7Olivier PanisFRALigier-Mugen1:22:27.329
8H-H FrentzenGER Sauber-Ford1 lap down
9Mika SaloFINTyrrell-Yamaha1 lap down
10Martin BrundleGBRJordan-Puegeot1 lap down
11Ricardo Rosset BRATWR-Hart1 lap down
12Pedro LamyPORMinardi-Ford2 laps down
13Gerhard BergerAUTBenetton-Renault42 laps - engine
14Eddie IrvineIRLFerrari35 laps - engine
15Johnny HerbertGBRSauber-Ford26 laps - holed radiator
16Ukyo KatayamaJAPTyrrell-Yamaha20 laps - spun off
17Pedro DinizBRALigier-Mugen20 laps - engine
18Mika HakkinenFINMcLaren-Mercedes14 laps - gearbox
19Jos VerstappenNEDTWR-Hart1 lap - collision

Return to the 1996 Race Info Page