The phrase “a crazy race” tends to be overused in motor racing, even in Formula 1, but it was definitely bang on the money when referring to the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix that took place on 19th May. After qualifying, the Ferrari fans started to dream of glory thanks to a fantastic performance from Michael Schumacher, who had steered his F310 to pole position, no less than half a second ahead of championship leader, Damon Hill in the Williams. In the other Ferrari, Eddie Irvine was only seventh, and 1.186 down on his team-mate.
At the start in the wet, Michael got away slowly, which meant Hill led going into Ste. Devote. Schumacher, caught up in the thrill of the chase, made a rare mistake, running over the wet kerb at the entrance to Portier, which put his car into a slide that ended in the barriers.
It was carnage in the race, with one retirement after another: Hill’s engine broke while he was leading and that meant Jean Alesi was ahead in the Benetton. Shortly after, the Frenchman ended up hitting a guardrail with a rear wheel and had to retire. Then it was Irvine’s turn to find himself sideways across the track in the Ferrari and as he tried to rejoin, Mika Hakkinen in the McLaren and Mika Salo in the Tyrrell both rushed past him, but all three would retire.
All this meant that, with six laps to go, there were only four cars still on track: Frenchman Olivier Panis who would go on to win, giving the French Ligier team its first victory in 15 years, David Coulthard in the McLaren and the Saubers of Johnny Herbert and Heinz Harald Frentzen.
One unusual fact: in a way Michael Schumacher had a presence on the podium, as he had lent Coulthard one of his helmets for the race, as the Scotsman didn’t have one with a good visor demisting system.
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