The 1996 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring in Germany on 28 April 1996. It was the fourth race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship.
The 67-lap race was won by Jacques Villeneuve, driving a Williams-Renault. Villeneuve beat teammate and pole-sitter Damon Hill off the line and led all 67 laps, taking his first F1 victory in only his fourth race. Local driver Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari, with David Coulthard third in a McLaren-Mercedes, just ahead of Hill.
Both Benetton cars made extremely slow starts, due to the brakes locking on. Berger was forced to pit for fresh tyres after a flat-spot was caused, while Alesi finished lap 1 in 13th place and spun while trying to recover.
The Tyrrells were disqualified for separate infringements - Salo finished 10th but his car was found post-race to be underweight, while Katayama finished 12th but was disqualified for receiving an illegal push-start on the parade lap.
Classification
Qualifying
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Time !! Gap
|-
! 1
| 5
| data-sort-value="hil"| Damon Hill
| Williams-Renault
| 1:18.941
|
|-
! 2
| 6
| data-sort-value="vil"| Jacques Villeneuve
| Williams-Renault
| 1:19.721
| +0.780
|-
! 3
| 1
| data-sort-value="sc, m"| Michael Schumacher
| Ferrari
| 1:20.149
| +1.208
|-
! 4
| 3
| data-sort-value="ale"| Jean Alesi
| Benetton-Renault
| 1:20.711
| +1.770
|-
! 5
| 11
| data-sort-value="bar"| Rubens Barrichello
| Jordan-Peugeot
| 1:20.818
| +1.877
|-
! 6
| 8
| data-sort-value="cou"| David Coulthard
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 1:20.888
| +1.947
|-
! 7
| 2
| data-sort-value="irv"| Eddie Irvine
| Ferrari
| 1:20.931
| +1.990
|-
! 8
| 4
| data-sort-value="ber"| Gerhard Berger
| Benetton-Renault
| 1:21.054
| +2.113
|-
! 9
| 7
| data-sort-value="hak"| Mika Häkkinen
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 1:21.078
| +2.137
|-
! 10
| 15
| data-sort-value="fre"| Heinz-Harald Frentzen
| Sauber-Ford
| 1:21.113
| +2.172
|-
! 11
| 12
| data-sort-value="bru"| Martin Brundle
| Jordan-Peugeot
| 1:21.177
| +2.236
|-
! 12
| 14
| data-sort-value="her"| Johnny Herbert
| Sauber-Ford
| 1:21.210
| +2.269
|-
! 13
| 17
| data-sort-value="ver"| Jos Verstappen
| Footwork-Hart
| 1:21.367
| +2.426
|-
! 14
| 19
| data-sort-value="sal"| Mika Salo
| Tyrrell-Yamaha
| 1:21.458
| +2.517
|-
! 15
| 9
| data-sort-value="pan"| Olivier Panis
| Ligier-Mugen-Honda
| 1:21.509
| +2.568
|-
! 16
| 18
| data-sort-value="kat"| Ukyo Katayama
| Tyrrell-Yamaha
| 1:21.812
| +2.871
|-
! 17
| 10
| data-sort-value="din"| Pedro Diniz
| Ligier-Mugen-Honda
| 1:22.733
| +3.792
|-
! 18
| 21
| data-sort-value="fis"| Giancarlo Fisichella
| Minardi-Ford
| 1:22.921
| +3.980
|-
! 19
| 20
| data-sort-value="lamy"| Pedro Lamy
| Minardi-Ford
| 1:23.139
| +4.198
|-
! 20
| 16
| data-sort-value="ros"| Ricardo Rosset
| Footwork-Hart
| 1:23.620
| +4.679
|-class="sortbottom"
! colspan=8|107% time: 1:24.467
|-
! data-sort-value="21"|
| 23
| data-sort-value="mon"| Andrea Montermini
| Forti-Ford
| 1:25.053
| +6.112
|-
! data-sort-value="22"|
| 22
| data-sort-value="bad"| Luca Badoer
| Forti-Ford
| 1:25.840
| +6.899
|-
!colspan="6"| Sources:
|}
Race
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Laps !! Time/Retired !! Grid !! Points
|-
! 1
| 6
| Jacques Villeneuve
| Williams-Renault
| 67
| 1:33:26.473
| 2
| 10
|-
! 2
| 1
| Michael Schumacher
| Ferrari
| 67
| + 0.762
| 3
| 6
|-
! 3
| 8
| David Coulthard
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 67
| + 32.834
| 6
| 4
|-
! 4
| 5
| Damon Hill
| Williams-Renault
| 67
| + 33.511
| 1
| 3
|-
! 5
| 11
| Rubens Barrichello
| Jordan-Peugeot
| 67
| + 33.713
| 5
| 2
|-
! 6
| 12
| Martin Brundle
| Jordan-Peugeot
| 67
| + 55.567
| 11
| 1
|-
! 7
| 14
| Johnny Herbert
| Sauber-Ford
| 67
| + 1:18.027
| 12
|
|-
! 8
| 7
| Mika Häkkinen
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 67
| + 1:18.438
| 9
|
|-
! 9
| 4
| Gerhard Berger
| Benetton-Renault
| 67
| + 1:21.061
| 8
|
|-
! 10
| 10
| Pedro Diniz
| Ligier-Mugen-Honda
| 66
| + 1 Lap
| 17
|
|-
! 11
| 16
| Ricardo Rosset
| Footwork-Hart
| 65
| + 2 Laps
| 20
|
|-
! 12
| 20
| Pedro Lamy
| Minardi-Ford
| 65
| + 2 Laps
| 19
|
|-
! 13
| 21
| Giancarlo Fisichella
| Minardi-Ford
| 65
| + 2 Laps
| 18
|
|-
!
| 15
| Heinz-Harald Frentzen
|Sauber-Ford
| 59
| Brakes
| 10
|
|-
!
| 17
| Jos Verstappen
|Footwork-Hart
| 38
| Engine
| 13
|
|-
!
| 9
| Olivier Panis
|Ligier-Mugen-Honda
| 6
| Collision
| 15
|
|-
!
| 2
| Eddie Irvine
|Ferrari
| 6
| Collision
| 7
|
|-
!
| 3
| Jean Alesi
|Benetton-Renault
| 1
| Collision
| 4
|
|-
!
| 19
| Mika Salo
| Tyrrell-Yamaha
| 66
| Underweight
| 14
|
|-
!
| 18
| Ukyo Katayama
| Tyrrell-Yamaha
| 65
| Push Start
| 16
|
|-
!colspan="8"|Source:
|}
Notes
- Both of Mika Häkkinen's pit lane speeding penalties in this race were caused by a problem with his pit speed limiter.
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Driver
! Points
|-
| 1
| Damon Hill
|align="right"| 33
|-
| 2
| Jacques Villeneuve
|align="right"| 22
|-
| 3
| Jean Alesi
|align="right"| 10
|-
| 4
| Michael Schumacher
|align="right"| 10
|-
| 5
| Eddie Irvine
|align="right"| 6
|-
!colspan=4|Source:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
| 1
| Williams-Renault
|align="right"| 55
|-
| 2
| Ferrari
|align="right"| 16
|-
| 3
| Benetton-Renault
|align="right"| 13
|-
| 4
| McLaren-Mercedes
|align="right"| 9
|-
| 5
| Jordan-Peugeot
|align="right"| 6
|-
!colspan=4|Source: