The 1996 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula Onemotor race held at Suzuka on 13 October 1996. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship. The 52-lap race was won by Damon Hill, driving a Williams-Renault. Hill took his eighth win of the season, and with it the Drivers' Championship, after teammate and pole-sitter Jacques Villeneuve made a poor start and then retired when a wheel fell off. Villeneuve had needed to win the race, without Hill scoring, in order to win the Championship himself. Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari, enabling the Italian team to steal second place in the Constructors' Championship from Benetton, with Mika Häkkinen third in a McLaren-Mercedes. In the UK, this was the last F1 race until to be broadcast live by the BBC. As Hill crossed the line to win the race and the championship, commentator Murray Walker said, "I've got to stop now, because I've got a lump in my throat." Hill was the first son of a World Champion to win the championship himself, his father Graham having been champion in and. This was also the final race for Martin Brundle, who had been competing in F1 since and finished on the podium 9 times since, as well as the last race for Pedro Lamy, Giovanni Lavaggi and Ligier.
Race
This was the first time since 1977 that Japan hosted the final round of the World Championship. In qualifying, Villeneuve beat Hill to pole position by nearly half a second, with a further 0.7 seconds back to Schumacher in third. On race day, the first start was aborted when David Coulthard stalled his McLaren. At the second start, Villeneuve made a poor getaway and fell to sixth behind Hill, Gerhard Berger, Häkkinen, Schumacher and Eddie Irvine. Meanwhile, Jean Alesi, attempting to make up several places after qualifying ninth, spun off at the second corner and destroyed his Benetton, Alesi was unhurt from the impact. On the third lap, Berger attempted to overtake Hill at the final chicane, only to damage his front wing. Thereafter, Hill gradually pulled away, with Schumacher overtaking Häkkinen for second during the first round of pit stops. Pedro Diniz had lost control of his Ligier at the final chicane and spun off into the gravel trap by lap 14. Hill pitted for his second stop with a 25-second gap to Schumacher, emerging narrowly ahead of the Ferrari, before pulling away gradually once again to lead by 13 seconds with ten laps remaining. Villeneuve, meanwhile, passed Irvine, set the fastest lap of the race and ran fourth before his right rear wheel came off on lap 37 due to a wheel bearing failure, putting him out of the race and handing the Drivers' Championship to Hill, already dropped by Williams for the following season. As Gerhard Berger had another collision with the Ferrari of Eddie Irvine at the final chicane causing the Northern Irishman to spin out and retire whilst fighting for 4th place, Berger was able to carry on unscathed. A late fightback saw Schumacher close the gap to Hill, but Hill held on to win the race by 1.8 seconds, with Häkkinen a further 1.4 seconds back, while Berger recovered to finish fourth, Martin Brundle came fifth in his final Grand Prix, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen picked up the final point for sixth.
