1996 Formula 1 Season

The 1996 season delivered Damon Hill the World Championship he had pursued so doggedly, the Briton finally claiming the crown that had eluded him in dramatic fashion in previous years. Driving the dominant Williams-Renault FW18, Hill enjoyed by far the best car on the grid and made the most of it, winning eight races across the campaign. In doing so he became the first son of a world champion to win the title himself, his father Graham having won two championships in the 1960s, a unique piece of family history.

Hill's principal rival proved not to be from a competing team but his own new teammate, the Canadian rookie Jacques Villeneuve, son of the beloved Ferrari driver Gilles Villeneuve. Villeneuve, arriving from a championship-winning IndyCar career, adapted to Formula One with remarkable speed, taking pole position on his debut in Australia and very nearly winning that first race before an oil leak intervened. He pushed Hill hard throughout the season and won four races, keeping the championship alive until the penultimate round.

The title was settled at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, where Hill needed only to outscore Villeneuve to be sure of the crown. Villeneuve's challenge ended when a wheel came loose and detached from his car, leaving Hill to win the race and seal the championship in commanding style. It was a fitting climax for Hill, who had endured the trauma of 1994 and the disappointment of 1995, and who now stood as champion in his own right after years of carrying Williams through difficult times.

The season was marked by Michael Schumacher's arrival at Ferrari, where he wrestled an uncompetitive and unreliable car to three victories through sheer brilliance, including a sublime wet-weather triumph in the rain at Spain that announced his intentions for the rebuilding project. Williams comfortably retained the constructors' championship, but in a twist that became part of F1 folklore, the team chose not to retain its new champion, releasing Hill for 1997 in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen, a controversial decision that meant a reigning world champion would struggle to find a competitive seat the following year.