Jacques Villeneuve's victory kept the 1996 Drivers' Championship battle with Damon Hill alive, forcing a deciding final round in Japan.
Key Facts
- Race date
- 22 September 1996
- Circuit
- Autódromo do Estoril
- Season round
- 15th of 16 (penultimate)
- Winner
- Jacques Villeneuve (Williams)
- Villeneuve seasonal wins
- 4th victory of the 1996 season
- Next Portuguese GP at Estoril
- Not held again at Estoril; returned in 2020 at Algarve International Circuit
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
With the 1996 Drivers' Championship unresolved between Williams teammates Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill, the penultimate round at Estoril offered Villeneuve a critical opportunity to prevent Hill from clinching the title early. Both drivers entered the race needing a result that would determine whether the championship would be settled in Portugal or pushed to the final round in Japan.
Held on 22 September 1996 at Autódromo do Estoril, the race saw Villeneuve overtake Ferrari's Michael Schumacher on the outside of the final corner while both were lapping backmarker Giovanni Lavaggi's Minardi. Villeneuve won ahead of Hill and Schumacher, with Jean Alesi fourth and Eddie Irvine and Gerhard Berger completing the points after a last-lap collision.
Villeneuve's fourth win of the season denied Hill an early championship, ensuring the Drivers' title would be decided at the Japanese Grand Prix three weeks later. The Portuguese Grand Prix itself was not staged again until 2020, when it returned at a new venue, the Algarve International Circuit, rather than Estoril.