1996 Spanish Grand Prix
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That's Damon Hill out! He's in the wall on the start-finish line, and he gets out of the car! Day over.
Schumacher is getting closer and closer with every lap - and Villeneuve nearly leaves the door open at turn 10! The Williams has the measure of the Ferrari on the fast bits, but Schumacher's got something else on the slow bits...
Villeneuve goes a bit wide, almost letting Schumacher through - but still hangs onto the lead! This is breathtaking stuff, and the race is only 10 laps in!
Villeneuve precludes Schumacher from doing a repeat move into Turn 5, holding the inside line for that corner. Smart driving there.
Villeneuve is under attack already - brace yourselves for another move, folks!
Schumacher passes Alesi at Turn 5! The absolute bravery of that move is a joy to behold; he follows Alesi in the spray and finds the inside line to pass the Benetton. Villeneuve's next.
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That's another off for Hill! The championship leader is having a torrid time out there...
Berger is closing in on the leading trio, although it seems Villeneuve is certainly holding things up...
As we say that, Schumacher weighs up the merits of passing Alesi at the start of Lap 8, but decides discretion is the better part of valour. He's taking the karting lines out there.
Schumacher is really eating into Alesi's advantage here, he looks absolutely fearless out there.
And that's an off for Martin Brundle, having gone off at Turn 5 just as Johnny Herbert had done previously. You'd have thought that the Brits would like the rain...
Stopwatch
Schumacher does a 1m50.568s to close in on Alesi - having dispatched Berger.
Williams' pit crew had been out as a precaution for Hill, but saunter back into the garage. Crisis averted, it seems.
The young Italian driver Fisichella's stricken Minardi, going out on the first lap.
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The top six is currently Villeneuve, Alesi, Berger, Schumacher, Hill, Barrichello. Alesi's just posted a fastest lap - a 1m51.673s - to eat into the lead.
Villeneuve has pulled out almost two seconds over Alesi, as Hill falls off the road! He loses positions to both Berger and Schumacher.
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We also saw Irvine going off! We've only done a couple of laps and it's already chaos - the Ferrari driver just drifted off the road and loses his fifth place berth. Herbert also has a spin at Turn 5, but he keeps his foot in it and makes it back on the road.
Look at the spray! Villeneuve takes the lead as Schumacher falls all the way down the field.
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And that's the Monaco winner Panis! He pulls out of the car and he's out of the race!
So it's Coulthard who hit Lamy, and Fisichella was the Minardi we saw taking to the gravel. That's the little Italian team presumably taking off early.
That's Villeneuve from Alesi from Hill at the end of lap 1.
Crash
Pedro Lamy is out already! He's missing a rear wing - and that's the day over for the Minardi driver.
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It's so hard to see what's happening! That's Villeneuve in the lead, as Hill falls down into third! Schumacher is all the way down the field...
Lights green
We're away, the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix is go!
Hill is about to slot into his grid spot, followed by Villeneuve, Schumacher, et al.
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That's a Tyrrell stranded on the grid! Salo is pushed away into the pits, so he'll start from the back, behind Ricardo Rosset.
We're away for the formation lap! Hill leads the field away - crucially, sans safety car.
Alesi's switched the tarpaulin for a standard brolly setup - interesting strategy call from the Benetton squad.
One of Tyrrell's innovations, attempting to reduce the drag produced by the suspension wishbones. The team is never afraid to innovate.
Alesi's got a lovely piece of tarpaulin over his car, attempting to keep him dry.
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Both Forti drivers - Luca Badoer and Andrea Montermini - failed to qualify for this one, falling foul of the 1m26.296s marker needed for the 107% rule. Qualifying hasn't been Forti's forte this year.
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So, here's the grid for today's race:
1. Hill, 2. Villeneuve, 3. Schumacher, 4. Alesi, 5. Berger, 6. Irvine, 7. Barrichello, 8. Panis, 9. Herbert, 10. Hakkinen, 11. Frentzen, 12. Salo, 13. Verstappen, 14. Coulthard, 15. Brundle, 16. Katayama, 17. Diniz, 18. Lamy, 19. Fisichella, 20. Rosset
1. Hill, 2. Villeneuve, 3. Schumacher, 4. Alesi, 5. Berger, 6. Irvine, 7. Barrichello, 8. Panis, 9. Herbert, 10. Hakkinen, 11. Frentzen, 12. Salo, 13. Verstappen, 14. Coulthard, 15. Brundle, 16. Katayama, 17. Diniz, 18. Lamy, 19. Fisichella, 20. Rosset
After the previous round, Britain's Damon Hill leads the world championship with 43 points, 21 clear of his team-mate Jacques Villeneuve and 27 ahead of Michael Schumacher.
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Last time out, the Monaco Grand Prix was also a particularly drenched affair, and it was one of the best races you'll ever see - Ligier's Olivier Panis took victory against all the odds, beating David Coulthard to his maiden victory in F1. Can Panis retain his wet-weather form?
It wasn't quite so wet earlier on this morning, and Benetton team-mates Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi tried out a video game simulation device. We can't imagine they'll ever catch on...
Hello folks, and thanks for joining Autosport's retro Live session for the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix! As you join us, it's a very wet Sunday at the start of June - who'd have thought! The rain in Spain is mainly on the track...
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
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