With no Formula One World Championship Grand Prix falling on today’s date, Chequered Past turns to a season that quietly reshaped the sport.

The 1996 Formula One season is often remembered as predictable — a year without sustained tension or open uncertainty. But that memory misses what made it significant. This was not a season without drama; it was a season in which drama struggled to change outcomes.

In Part 1 of this two-episode review, we explore how Williams took control of the championship almost immediately — and why that control proved so resilient. From a new circuit in Melbourne revealing clarity rather than confusion, through the pressure of extreme conditions in Spain, to the chaos of Monaco and the calm restoration of order in Canada, 1996 shows a sport learning how to absorb disruption without losing direction.

Along the way, we examine Jacques Villeneuve’s extraordinary debut, Damon Hill’s methodical accumulation of results, and the way Williams’ structure allowed internal competition without instability. Even the season’s most famous anomaly failed to rewrite the narrative.

This is the story of how 1996 revealed its character early — and why that mattered.
 Not because the season lacked a fight, but because it contained one.

Join us again tomorrow for Schumacher’s Ferrari foundations, the disappearing outsider, and the legacy of 1996 from racing’s rich and chequered past.

Cover image: By Rdikeman, Jacques_Villeneuve_1996, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

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Music by #Mubert Music Rendering