1996 was the first full season without Ayrton Senna. The shadow of Imola 1994 still loomed. Safety had improved, but the sport was still lethal. At the (eerily, the same circuit), a freak accident during practice saw a wheel fly off Benetton’s Gerhard Berger’s car, hurtle over the fence, and kill a trackside marshal. It was a brutal reminder that F1’s danger had not been legislated away.
Rookie Jacques Villeneuve shocked the paddock by taking pole position in his first-ever race at the Australian Grand Prix . f1 1996 season
It was the year the machine won, and the man driving it paid the price. 1996 was the first full season without Ayrton Senna