Formula 1 historical archive

Damon Hill won the 1996 German Grand Prix

Damon Hill won the 1996 German Grand Prix for Williams, ahead of Jean Alesi and Jacques Villeneuve at Hockenheimring.

Browse the full classification, related season, driver, team, circuit, and championship history.

Race recap

Winner
Damon Hill
Team
Williams
Top listed
Damon Hill, Jean Alesi, and Jacques Villeneuve
Race date
July 28, 1996
Pole
Damon Hill
Fastest lap
Damon Hill
Classified drivers
20
Circuit
Hockenheimring

The decisive result

Damon Hill finished first for Williams. Jean Alesi is listed 2 for Benetton, with Jacques Villeneuve 3 for Williams.

Grid to finish

Ricardo Rosset from P19 to P11 (+8), Mika Salo from P15 to P9 (+6), and Pedro Lamy from P18 to P12 (+6) recorded the largest positive grid-to-finish changes in the classification. Damon Hill started from the listed P1 grid position.

Status and fastest lap

The classification lists 7 Finished, 4 +1 lap, 2 Engine, 2 Gearbox, and 1 +2 laps. Damon Hill holds the fastest-lap entry at 1:46.504 on lap 26. It records the result without speculating about incidents or strategy.

This summary sticks to the classification and does not speculate about incidents, strategy, weather, or causes. Source: F1DB (CC BY 4.0) · updated Jul 26, 2026.

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Race classification
PosDriverConstructorTime / statusPoints
1Damon HillWilliams1:21:43.41710
2Jean AlesiBenetton1:21:54.8696
3Jacques VilleneuveWilliams1:22:17.3434
4Michael SchumacherFerrari1:22:24.9343
5David CoulthardMcLaren1:22:25.6132
6Rubens BarrichelloJordan1:23:25.5161
7Olivier PanisLigier1:23:27.3290
8Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber+1 lap0
9Mika SaloTyrrell+1 lap0
10Martin BrundleJordan+1 lap0
11Ricardo RossetFootwork+1 lap0
12Pedro LamyMinardi+2 laps0
13Gerhard BergerBenettonEngine0
DNFEddie IrvineFerrariGearbox0
DNFJohnny HerbertSauberVibrations0
DNFPedro DinizLigierEngine0
DNFUkyo KatayamaTyrrellSpun off0
DNFMika HäkkinenMcLarenGearbox0
DNFJos VerstappenFootworkCollision0
DNQGiovanni LavaggiMinardiDNQ0