| Type: | F1 |
| Country: | Argentina |
| Grand Prix: | Argentine |
| Date: | 7 April |
| Year: | 1996 |
| Race No: | 3 |
| Season No: | 16 |
| Location: | Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Course: | Permanent race track |
| Course Mi: | 2.657 |
| Course Km: | 4.259 |
| Distance Laps: | 72 |
| Distance Mi: | 191.296 |
| Distance Km: | 306.648 |
| Weather: | Dry with temperatures reaching up to 21C[1] |
| Pole Driver: | Damon Hill |
| Pole Team: | Williams-Renault |
| Pole Time: | 1:30.346 |
| Pole Country: | United Kingdom |
| Fast Driver: | Jean Alesi |
| Fast Team: | Benetton-Renault |
| Fast Time: | 1:29.413 |
| Fast Lap: | 66 |
| Fast Country: | France |
| First Driver: | Damon Hill |
| First Team: | Williams-Renault |
| First Country: | United Kingdom |
| Second Driver: | Jacques Villeneuve |
| Second Team: | Williams-Renault |
| Second Country: | Canada |
| Third Driver: | Jean Alesi |
| Third Team: | Benetton-Renault |
| Third Country: | France |
| Next Round: | 1996 European Grand Prix |
| Previous Round: | 1996 Brazilian Grand Prix |
The 1996 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 7 April 1996 at Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires. Despite suffering a bout of food poisoning, Damon Hill made it three wins out of three, with Jacques Villeneuve helping Williams complete their second one-two of the season. Jos Verstappen scored his only point of the season, Andrea Montermini his only finish of the season. This was the first race of 1996 where no drivers failed to meet the 107% time.
Pedro Diniz was involved in two major incidents during the race. First he collided with Luca Badoer, whose Forti was flipped and landed upside down in the gravel, forcing the marshals to bring out the safety car. Trackside marshals were heavily criticized for their delay in aiding Badoer's escape from the car; ultimately the Italian was forced to crawl out from underneath the Forti (the explanation for which was later given by the marshals that an uncharacteristic delay in the safety car picking up the race leader had caused confusion on the trackside). Diniz managed to continue and made a pit stop as the safety car was preparing to pull in - only to retire when he came back onto the circuit and his Ligier burst into flames, because a safety-valve in the fuel tank had jammed open, with the safety car staying out for three extra laps as a result.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | 1:30.346 | |||
| 2 | 1 |  Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:30.598 | +0.252 | ||
| 3 | 6 |  Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 1:30.907 | +0.561 | ||
| 4 | 3 |  Jean Alesi | Benetton-Renault | 1:31.038 | +0.692 | ||
| 5 | 4 |  Gerhard Berger | Benetton-Renault | 1:31.262 | +0.916 | ||
| 6 | 11 |  Rubens Barrichello | Jordan-Peugeot | 1:31.404 | +1.058 | ||
| 7 | 17 | Jos Verstappen | Footwork-Hart | 1:31.615 | +1.269 | ||
| 8 | 7 |  Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:31.801 | +1.455 | ||
| 9 | 8 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:32.001 | +1.655 | ||
| 10 | 2 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 1:32.058 | +1.712 | ||
| 11 | 15 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Ford | 1:32.130 | +1.784 | ||
| 12 | 9 | Olivier Panis | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 1:32.177 | +1.831 | ||
| 13 | 18 |  Ukyo Katayama | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:32.407 | +2.061 | ||
| 14 | 21 | Tarso Marques | Minardi-Ford | 1:32.502 | +2.156 | ||
| 15 | 12 | Martin Brundle | Jordan-Peugeot | 1:32.696 | +2.350 | ||
| 16 | 19 | Mika Salo | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:32.903 | +2.557 | ||
| 17 | 14 | Johnny Herbert | Sauber-Ford | 1:33.256 | +2.910 | ||
| 18 | 10 | Pedro Diniz | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 1:33.424 | +3.078 | ||
| 19 | 20 |  Pedro Lamy | Minardi-Ford | 1:33.727 | +3.381 | ||
| 20 | 16 | Ricardo Rosset | Footwork-Hart | 1:33.752 | +3.406 | ||
| 21 | 22 |  Luca Badoer | Forti-Ford | 1:34.830 | +4.484 | ||
| 22 | 23 | Andrea Montermini | Forti-Ford | 1:35.651 | +5.305 | ||
| 107% time 1:36.670 | |||||||
| Sources:[2] [3] | |||||||
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 |  Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | 72 | 1:54:55.322 | 1 | 10 | |
| 2 | 6 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 72 | +12.167 | 3 | 6 | |
| 3 | 3 | Jean Alesi | Benetton-Renault | 72 | +14.754 | 4 | 4 | |
| 4 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Jordan-Peugeot | 72 | +55.131 | 6 | 3 | |
| 5 | 2 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 72 | +1:04.991 | 10 | 2 | |
| 6 | 17 |  Jos Verstappen | Footwork-Hart | 72 | +1:08.913 | 7 | 1 | |
| 7 | 8 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 72 | +1:13.400 | 9 | ||
| 8 | 9 | Olivier Panis | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 72 | +1:14.295 | 12 | ||
| 9 | 14 | Johnny Herbert | Sauber-Ford | 71 | +1 Lap | 17 | ||
| 10 | 23 | Andrea Montermini | Forti-Ford | 69 | +3 Laps | 22 | ||
| Ret | 4 | Gerhard Berger | Benetton-Renault | 56 | Suspension | 5 | ||
| Ret | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 46 | Broken wing | 2 | ||
| Ret | 20 | Pedro Lamy | Minardi-Ford | 39 | Transmission | 19 | ||
| Ret | 19 | Mika Salo | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 36 | Throttle | 16 | ||
| Ret | 12 | Martin Brundle | Jordan-Peugeot | 34 | Collision | 15 | ||
| Ret | 21 | Tarso Marques | Minardi-Ford | 33 | Collision | 14 | ||
| Ret | 15 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Ford | 32 | Spun off | 11 | ||
| Ret | 10 | Pedro Diniz | Ligier-Mugen-Honda | 29 | Fire | 18 | ||
| Ret | 18 | Ukyo Katayama | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 28 | Differential | 13 | ||
| Ret | 16 | Ricardo Rosset | Footwork-Hart | 24 | Oil pump | 20 | ||
| Ret | 22 | Luca Badoer | Forti-Ford | 24 | Collision | 21 | ||
| Ret | 7 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | 19 | Throttle | 8 | ||
| Pos | Driver | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damon Hill | 30 | |
| 2 | Jacques Villeneuve | 12 | |
| 3 | Jean Alesi | 10 | |
| 4 | Eddie Irvine | 6 | |
| 5 | Mika Häkkinen | 5 | |
| Source:[4] | |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Williams-Renault | 42 | |
| 2 | Benetton-Renault | 13 | |
| 3 | Ferrari | 10 | |
| 4 | McLaren-Mercedes | 5 | |
| 5 |  Jordan-Peugeot | 3 | |
| Source: | |||