Rule Changes
The race weekend schedule was changed for the 1996 season compared to the 1995 season. The number of free practice sessions was increased from the two to three with the number of laps allocated for each day increased from 23 to 30. Also, to increase the spectacle, the Friday qualifying session was dropped, with the FIA World Motor Sport Council opting to have only one qualifying session, held on Saturday afternoon.
The old system of having a red and green light to start the race was replaced by the current system of five red lights coming on individually and then all going out to start the race.
This year saw the introduction of the '107% rule', which meant all cars had to be within 107% of the pole position time in order to qualify for the race.
A new numbering system for cars was adopted for 1996 and remains in place as of 2012. Previously the reigning Drivers Champion's team had simply swapped car numbers with the previous Drivers Champion’s team to carry numbers 1 and 2, with all other teams retaining their existing numbers. For 1996 the reigning Drivers Champion was given number 1 and his team-mate number 2 with the rest of the teams numbered in the order of their finishing position in the previous year's Constructors' Championship. Any new teams were allocated the following numbers.
Read more about this topic: 1996 Formula One Season
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