first chicane and retired with broken suspension. Eddie Irvine ran in third place for most of the first half of the race before having a similar accident. In all, eight cars made contact with the tyre barriers after running wide on the track, of which five (Hill, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Olivier Panis, Ricardo Rosset and Irvine) retired. Michael Schumacher also hit a tyre stack in the closing stages but continued without damage to his car and won the race. This was his first ever Italian Grand Prix victory after years of misfortunes including the collision with Hill the previous year. Alesi, who re-took the lead following Hill's exit, finished second after losing out to Schumacher in the pit stops, and Häkkinen eventually recovered to third place thanks in part to Irvine's retirement. The Jordan-Peugeots of Martin Brundle and Rubens Barrichello finished in fourth and fifth positions respectively after a race-long battle for fourth place, Brundle overtaking at the Parabolica corner after Barrichello accidentally turned his engine off while trying to investigate a clutch problem, and had to get a push-start from the marshalls to continue. Pedro Diniz finished sixth ahead of Villeneuve, who only managed seventh place after Johnny Herbert's engine cut out on the final lap. Classification Qualifying Race Notes This was the last points-scoring race for the Ligier Formula 1 team. The tyre stacks were removed for the 1997 event. First time the Italian Grand Prix at Monza had been won by a German driver since Bernd Rosemeyer in 1936. This was the second and last time Williams would not score a point during the 1996 season, with the other one being the Monaco Grand Prix. Championship standings after the race Bold text indicates the World Champions. Drivers' Championship standings Constructors' Championship standings References Italian Grand Prix Italian Grand Prix Grand Prix Italian Grand Prix