Race Report
When qualifying rolls around, Jacques Villeneuve seems to be in class of his own. Despite the best efforts of team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Micheal Schumacher and an impressive Olivier Panis, his third straight pole of the season was never really in doubt.
The session was relatively trouble free, though the way Ralf Schumacher was throwing his Jordan around, one expected a shunt induced red flag at any moment.
Meanwhile, many of the supposed "big boys" were in trouble. Both Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi were having a terrible time finding any grip in the Benetton's, while the McLaren's of Australian winner David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen were having trouble outpacing the Minardi's!
The team that gave us shark noses and six-wheelers came up with yet another novel interpretation of the FIA rule book, as the Tyrrell's sprouted "supplemental wings" which looked like mutant rear view mirrors!
This marked the Williams teams' 100th pole position led only by Ferrari (108) and McLaren (106), though if Jacques keeps this up they will overtake both of them before the season is over!
After several mechanical glitches, which had both Rubens Barrichello and Jan Magnussen sharing the spare Stewart. The team was able to put the Brazilian back in his primary car half way through the session and he didn't disappoint, putting Jackie Stewart's car in among the big boys up on the third row.
Eddie Irvine got his setup all wrong and had trouble cracking the top 10 until late into the session and Damon Hill put in a reasonable, if unspectacular, midfield performance.
Unfortunately, they did little to help Mika Salo or Jos Verstappen go any faster.
1996 Pole: Damon Hill (Williams) 1m 30.346s
The Starting Grid
| Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 1m 24.473s |
| Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Williams-Renault | 1m 25.271s |
| Olivier Panis | Prost-Mugen | 1m 25.491s |
| Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1m 25.773s |
| Rubens Barrichello | Stewart-Ford | 1m 25.942s |
| Ralf Schumacher | Jordan-Peugeot | 1m 26.218s |
| Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 1m 26.327s |
| Johnny Herbert | Sauber-Petronas | 1m 26.564s |
| Gianni Fisichella | Jordan-Peugeot | 1m 26.619s |
| David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m 26.799s |
| Jean Alesi | Benetton-Renault | 1m 27.076s |
| Gerhard Berger | Benetton-Renault | 1m 27.259s |
| Damon Hill | TWR Arrows-Yamaha | 1m 27.281s |
| Nicola Larini | Sauber-Petronas | 1m 27.690s |
| Jan Magnussen | Stewart-Ford | 1m 28.035s |
| Jos Verstappen | Tyrrell-Ford | 1m 28.094s |
| Mika Hakkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m 28.135s |
| Jarno Trulli | Minardi-Hart | 1m 28.160s |
| Mika Salo | Tyrrell-Ford | 1m 28.224s |
| Shinji Nakano | Prost-Mugen | 1m 28.366s |
| Ukyo Katayama | Minardi-Hart | 1m 28.413s |
| Pedro Diniz | TWR Arrows-Yamaha | 1m 28.969s |
1996 Winner: Damon Hill (Williams) 1h 54m 55.322s
The Result
| Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 1h 52m 01.715s |
| Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 1h 52m 02.979s |
| Ralf Schumacher | Jordan-Peugeot | 1h 52m 13.804s |
| Johnny Herbert | Sauber-Petronas | 1h 52m 30.804s |
| Mika Hakkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1h 52m 32.066s |
| Gerhard Berger | Benetton-Renault | 1h 52m 33.108s |
| Jean Alesi | Benetton-Renault | 1h 52m 48.074s |
| Mika Salo | Tyrrell-Ford | 1 lap down |
| Jarno Trulli | Minardi-Hart | 1 lap down |
| Jan Magnussen | Stewart-Ford | 66 laps - engine failure |
| Nicola Larini | Sauber-Petronas | 63 laps - electronics |
| Pedro Diniz | TWR Arrows-Yamaha | 50 laps - engine failure |
| Shinji Nakano | Prost-Mugen | 49 laps - mechanical |
| Jos Verstappen | Tyrrell-Ford | 43 laps - fuel pressure |
| Ukyo Katayama | Minardi-Hart | 37 laps - spun off |
| Damon Hill | TWR Arrows-Yamaha | 33 laps - engine |
| Gianni Fisichella | Jordan-Peugeot | 24 laps - collision |
| Rubens Barrichello | Stewart-Ford | 24 laps - mechanical |
| Olivier Panis | Prost-Mugen | 18 laps - engine failure |
| Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Williams-Renault | 5 laps - driveshaft |
| David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 0 laps - collision damage |
| Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 0 laps - collision damage |
Fastest Lap
1997 : Gerhard Berger (Benetton) 1m 28.000s
Previous Record: Jean Alesi (Ferrari) 1m 29.413s (1995)
Analysis :
The "first corner carnage" that we have become accustomed to this season continued as Michael Schumacher clipped the fast starting Rubens Barrichello, spinning him around in front of the Germans' Ferrari. Behind them Ralf Schumacher had to take evasive action and collided with David Coulthard, tearing the front wheel off of the McLaren.
The safety car led the field for three laps while the wrecks are removed and Villeneuve made the most of his IndyCar experience by charging off at the rolling start. As his tyres warmed however, he and the team realized that the choice of the soft compound was all wrong. Heinz-Harald Frentzen matched his pace for a few laps, but a gearbox coupling broke after just a few laps, leaving the German without the chance of the confidence boosting result he sorely needs. Next to chase and fail was Olivier Panis, who is beginning to shine under the tutelage of Alain Prost. This time however, the Mugen-Honda powerplant let him down just as he was beginning to pressure Villeneuve.
The "Bonehead Of The Race Award" undoubtedly goes to Ralf Schumacher who managed to push his own team-mate, Giancarlo Fisichella into the the gravel trap on lap 24.
There seemed to be more than the usual amount of engine failures in this Grand Prix, with both Damon Hill and Pedro Diniz losing the Yamaha's behind them, while a dead Ford stopped Jan Magnussen's promising run ended just six laps from home.
Behind the podium places (and unseen by the world TV audience) was a great fight between Johnny Herbert, Mika Hakkinen and Gerhard Berger which ended with all three finishing within 1.5 seconds!
On a day that Eddie Irvine may have salvaged his reputation, Jacques Villeneuve showed the world why he is odds on favorite to take the driver's crown.
Despite a bout of stomach flu, the wrong choice of tyres and a charging Eddie Irvine, it looks like Jacques Villeneuve is on a roll. He won his second race in a row but it didn't come easily.
Ralf escaped unscathed, Barrichello limped around to the pits for a new nose cone, while Michael sprinted back for his spare car, but to Ferrari's dismay the red flags never appeared.
The young German's third place finish only partially made up for this graphic display of bad judgement and racing immaturity.
Jos Verstappen too, was having a much better race until the fuel pressure dropped on his Tyrrell, starving his engine.
But if the Williams team want the prestigous constructor's title as well, they are going to need both men on the podium and soon.
Photo credits : AP