1996 rewritten

The Australian Grand Prix began sensationally with rookie Jaques Villeneuve stealing pole form his teammate on debut. His race went really well until he started having an oil leak and had to back off. Hill passed him with ease and took a dominant victory, his second in a row, whilst behind him Schumacher passed Villeneuve to get second on his debut for Mclaren Mercedes. Villeneuve ran wide at turn 3, taking a trip into the sand, and lost a podium to Senna. The next race was in Brazil, and Hill took pole from Villeneuve, but a technical issue force Villeneuve out of the race. At the closing stages, light rain came to the Interlagos track, which made conditions greasy. Schumacher was rapid, and passed Hill for the lead with 7 laps to go, and won by 10 seconds, taking his first win for Mclaren in his second race for them. At Argentina, Hill made up for defeat in Brazil with another win, and Villeneuve scored his first ever podium in second, whilst another podium for Schumacher meant it was close in the championship race. At the Nurburgring, Hill took a hat trick of pole, but Hakkinen, who started on the front row, got an amazing start and lead the first few laps. Villneueve was closing in on Hill and passed him for second on lap 11, and then got Hakkinen in the pitstops. However, Hill got the overcut on both Hakkinen and Villeneuve with some sensational laps, but an aggressive move from Villeneuve at the Mullenbach corner meant he would retake the lead from Hill and win his first ever race at only the fourth time of asking.

At San Marino, Hill would continue his amazing early season form with his 4th pole in a row, and he would convert it into a second victory with a dominant performance over Jaques Villeneuve in second, the Williams car looking more dominant than it had been since 1993. Schumacher suffered his first Mercedes engine failure after running in 3rd, which handed Senna a podium in front of the tifosi. At Monaco, Senna was in great form in the Ferrari, looking to get his 8th win at the principality, but a crash in qualifying ended his hopes for pole, which went to Hill. However, in a wet race of attrition, Senna got a great start and stormed ahead of Hill, and went on to a dominant win from Panis who got his first podium for Ligier after Irvine crashed into Villeneuve and Alesi suffered a suspension failure. Senna's first win for Ferrari and Hill and Schumacher's retirement brought him right into the championship fight, and it also meant Senna equalled the record for most wins in F1 ever. At Spain, Hill got a 6th pole in a row, but in the wet, crashed, meaning Schumacher took the lead. However, Senna was rapidly closing after a poor qualifying session, and, under pressure, Suchmacher ran into the gravel trap but kept the car running. However, the race was Senna's, and he won by over a minute for the second race running, showing why he is the rain king, and taking the record for all time victories in F1. The result meant he takes the championship lead from Damon Hill by 4 points.

In Canada, Hill took his 7th consecuetive pole, but it was a close fight between Williams and Mclaren, as Schumacher qualified on the front row. It was the home racer Villneueve, on the track named after his father, who took the lead into turn one, but started suffering with blistering in the heat of Montreal, dropping to fouth by the end of his stint. This meant Schumacher would take the lead after a pass on Hill on lap 3. Villeneuve would pass Senna though on the way to take third, but the race for the lead was still close, with Hill setting multiple fastest lap on the way to catch Schumacher. He tried a pass at the last chicane with 12 to go, but locked up his brake, sending him accross the grass, and he had to settle for second, as Schumacher took his second win for Mclaren. At the next race in France, Hill equalled the record for most consecuetive poles with 8 and converted it for his fourth win of the season, extending his championship lead. Villeneuve made it a Williams 1-2, after fending off Schumacher who had charged from 5th on the grid in his Mclaren to a podium. At his home race, Hill would break Senna's consecuetive poles record with 9 in a row, but like in 1995 it would not be a victory for him as a technical failure early on ruled him out of the race. This meant there was an almighty battle for the lead between Schumacher and Villeneuve, and the German would take the lead at Copse on lap 16, but smoke would come out of his Mercedes engine just 3 laps later and he would retire, handing Villeneuve his second victory to throw himself into championship contention.

Hill and Williams incredible run of poles finally came to an end at Germany, as Schumacher took his first pole position for Mclaren and converted it into a dominant win from Hill in second. Senna and Ferrari struggled, and Berger at the closing stages of the race would let Senna by to take two extra points for 5th place, and Sospiri got his third podium for Bennetton. Hill was back on pole in Hungary, and Naoki Hattori would replace Ricardo Rosset at Footwork. Hill took his third win at his favorite track to extend his lead in the championship, whilst Villeneuve closed in on Schumacher for the runners up spot. Senna's championship was in jeporady as an engine failure took him out of the race, and Schumacher had outraced Alesi for the last podium spot. It was Villeneuve who took pole position in Spa, but he fell back in a wet start. Hakkinen got an excellent getaway and passed Hill and Villeneuve for the lead into La Source. Senna and Schumacher would later pass Hill until an engine failure took the championship leader out of the race. Hakkinen still lead, but Senna and Schumacher were hounding him like hungry dogs, and the Finn succumbed to the pressure, spinning in the gravel trap at Les Combes and dropping to 4th, but keeping the engine running. Senna lead, but a couple of laps later Schumacher would pass him into La Source, but then would move (in Senna's opinion) dangerously at 190 mph on the Kemmel straight to block him. The time ofr slicks came, and Senna came in a lap early, controled his Ferrari perfectly and took the lead off Schumacher, and he held it there to take not only his first podium byut win since Monaco. Hakkinen would regain 3rd from Villeneuve in the dying stages of the race, whilst Badoer would take Forti's first points of the season.

For Monza, Giovanni Lavaggi would be replaced by Tarso Marques for Minardi. Senna would delight the tifosi by taking pole in front of his home crowd for the first time in red, but a poor start saw him drop behind the two Williams. However, Senna would regain the position on lap 4, but forcing Villeneuve off the track at the frst chicane, sending him spinning into the tyre barrier and forcing him to go round the lap with no front wing. Hill lead the race, but Senna was hunting him down lap after lap relentlessly, and just as he was getting close to the rear wing of the Williams his engine died, sending the tifosi wild as Senna now lead. Schumacher would be running 4th behind Hakkinen and Alesi, which became third when the Finn was told to move over, but it would be a disaster race for Mclaren as both cars would retire. Senna would go on to win the race and regain the championship lead after being 48 points down just two races earlier. This would set up a stunning four way showdown into the last two races. Hill would take his 11th pole of the season in Portugal, but Senna in third would take a lightning start to take the lead. Villeneuve took an opportunistic move at curva 3 to take second off Hill, and he and Senna would dominate the race. Just after the first stops, Villeneueve gained a lot of time with his undercut and and the next lap tried overtaking Senna round the outside of the last corner, but again was forced onto the grass, but this time kept control. He would try the same move again 5 laps later, and it succeded, meaning he would win the race and that there would be a 4 way title fight between Senna, the leader, Hill in second, Villeneuve, who was third tied on points but further back due to Hill's two extra wins, and Schumacher, who was a long shot 19 points down. Villneuve took a sensational pole, with Hill alongside him in second and Schumacher 4th. Senna had a dreadful qualifying and only managed 8th. Villeneueve was looking like the white hot favorite until on lap 31, his rear brakes failed, devastatingly ending his championship dreams despite a perfect drive. So it was Hill who took the lead, with Schumacher 2nd, but Schumacher would need Hill to retire or drop down to 8th or lower to win the title. Senna meanwhile, had been let through by Berger and passed Sospiri for 6th. Hakkinen's engine failure would mean he would move to 5th, and he tried passing Alesi for 4th at the last chicane and missed his marks, sending him onto the grass and giving up 6th to Sospiri. He would pass the Italian one lap later at the first curve, but it was Hill who would win his second title after a commanding performance. Senna would be classified 2nd, but it was no constollation as he had been extremely close to winning his first title in 5 years.

So Hill would win his second title in what was a dominant Williams, taking 14 poles and 9 wins. It shouldn't have been a four way fight, as the Mclaren and the Ferrari were no where near the Williams on most tracks. However, the Williams drivers struggled in the rain, as 4 of the rival teams 6 wins came in race effected by rain. Despite only having the 3rd fastest car, Senna would be the closest challenger thanks to the reliability of the Ferrari, with him only having 2 DNF's all season compared to 4 for Schumacher, 4 for Villeneuve (scored points in Monaco due to only being 7 finishers), and 5 for Hill. However, some drivers pointed out that Senna used very aggresive tactics, especially in the last few rounds against Villeneuve, to gain his victories. He would go unpunished, but for next season the FIA promised to be more strict about forcing other drivers off the road.