Damon Hill clinched the 1996 Formula One Drivers' Championship, becoming the first son of a World Champion to win the title, while Williams-Renault dominated the Constructors' standings.
Key Facts
- Season
- 50th FIA Formula One World Championship
- Races
- 16
- Season duration
- 10 March – 13 October 1996
- Drivers' Champion
- Damon Hill (Williams-Renault)
- Constructors' Champion
- Williams-Renault
- Sole tyre supplier
- Goodyear (last season as sole supplier)
By the Numbers
Cause → Event → Consequence
Williams-Renault entered 1996 as the dominant constructor, fielding Damon Hill—runner-up for two consecutive seasons—alongside IndyCar champion Jacques Villeneuve. Michael Schumacher had departed Benetton for Ferrari, leaving Benetton weakened and Williams without a direct rival capable of sustaining a championship fight.
Over sixteen races from March to October, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve traded victories in a largely intra-team battle, while Ferrari gradually improved under Schumacher. Olivier Panis claimed the only win of his career at Monaco. Williams-Renault clinched both championships, with Hill securing the Drivers' title ahead of Villeneuve.
Hill's departure and Adrian Newey's exit at season's end, combined with Renault's announced withdrawal after 1997, signalled the decline of Williams's 1990s dominance. Bridgestone's arrival for 1997 ended Goodyear's monopoly as sole tyre supplier, introducing a tyre war. The season was also the last British drivers' championship success until Lewis Hamilton in 2008.