As we take a look at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, we see names such as Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, and the current three-time world champion’s father, Jos Verstappen.
Pole position was taken by Schumacher who was, at the time, two-time world champion. He set a lap time of 1:20.356. He was followed closely by Hill, Jean Alesi, Gerhard Berger, and then David Coulthard.
During the warm-up session, Andrea Montermini crashed coming out of the tunnel, leaving the starting grid one car down.
As the lights went out, Schumacher led the race but was then overtaken by Hill in the Williams. By the end of the first lap we saw Verstappen, Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Pedro Lamy, and his teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella all out of the race.
By lap 10, there has been another four retirements. Ukyo Katayama hit the wall on lap two, Ricardo Rosset spun out and hit the wall backwards on lap three, and Pedro Paulo Diniz retired on lap five due to mechanical issues. Berger pitted on lap nine to refuel but ended up stalling and had to retire.
On lap 17, we saw Eddie Irvine and Heinz-Harald Frentzen battling for third position. Frentzen clipped the rear of Irvine’s Ferrari ahead of him, leading to the damage of his front wing. Frentzen was forced to pit due to the damage and the stop lasted 14.8 seconds.
Hill pitted for slicks on lap 27, with a 23-second lead on the Benetton behind him. However, it was not enough to keep him in the lead.
As lap 31 came around, we saw Martin Brundle spin into the casino, damaging one of the rear wheels of the car.
On lap 35, Villeneuve set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:28.508. Meanwhile, Irvine was put under pressure by Olivier Panis, which led to him clipping the barrier at the hairpin, stalling the engine.
Due to the engine failure of Hill’s Williams, he was forced to retire on lap 40, giving Alesi a lead of 31.927 seconds from Panis in second.
Panis inherited the lead after Alesi was forced to retire the car due to steering difficulty. A lapped Irvine was sandwiched between the leader – Panis – and the driver in second – Coulthard – at this point in the race.
On lap 66, we saw Luca Badoer collide with Villeneuve at Mirabeau, retiring both drivers. Irvine spun out at the same corner his teammate crashed. As he was trying to rejoin the race, Mika Salo hit the back of Irvine, who was then in turn hit by Mika Hakkinen.
Frentzen did not manage to finish the race due to not making it to the chequered flag in time.
The chequered flag was brought out at the two-hour mark before all 78 laps were completed. Only three drivers finished the race. From starting in P14 to finishing in P1, Panis took his maiden win and his team, Ligier’s, first win in 15 years. In second place was Coulthard in the McLaren. And, taking the final podium spot in third was the Sauber driver, Johnny Herbert.
Written by Chloe.
Featured Image Credit: F1TV
The Fastest Sector 