Historic Monaco chaos: when only three drivers crossed the finish line in Monte Carlo

In a season dominated by the Williams pair of Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, supported by Michael Schumacher in his Ferrari, the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix produced the most improbable result with Olivier Panis picking up his one and only career win, in what was also the final victory for Ligier before Alain Prost bought out the team for the following season.

Last season, Lando Norris beat Charles Leclerc to win the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position, and more often than not it is the man that starts on pole that is expected to win. In 1996, Schumacher took pole position and was looking for his first victory in Ferrari red. He was expected to face a heavy challenge by eventual champion Hill, with the Benetton pair of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger on Row 2. However, it was Panis, who started back in 14th, who took a stunning victory, and to this day still holds the record for the driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix from the lowest starting position.

Starting on pole at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, many expected Schumacher to take his first victory for Ferrari, as even 30 years ago it was a circuit that was impossible to overtake on. However, it was Hill who took the lead into Sainte-Dévote, and Schumacher perhaps stunned to lose the lead, lost control coming out of Lower Mirabeau and hit the wall.

Often described as the Rain Master, Schumacher was caught out by the tricky, damp track surface and made an uncharacteristic driver error. Ironically, perhaps his worst wet weather drive at Monaco in 1996, was followed off by his best drive in even worse conditions at the Spanish Grand Prix just two weeks later where he lapped the entire field bar Alesi and Jacques Villeneuve, making his error at Monaco seem even more bizarre.

From there it looked like it was Hill's race to lose. Hill had never won on the streets of Monaco, where his father Graham famously won on five separate occasions. Schumacher's DNF was one of five retirements on the opening lap, and another five drivers were out by Lap 40, including Gerhard Berger and Martin Brundle. Eddie Irvine and Panis also had a tangle but both somehow were able to carry on.

Hill had a 30 second lead ahead of Alesi's Benetton and continued to remain untroubled until misfortune hit him on Lap 40, as the Brit failed to win at the circuit where his dad enjoyed so much good fortune.

Despite his collision with Irvine on Lap 34, Panis would somehow go on to win the Monaco Grand Prix after bad luck struck the main contenders in the second half of the race. Hill's engine blew up in the tunnel on Lap 40, seemingly handing the victory to Alesi. Then the Frenchman, on for his second career victory, suffered a suspension failure on Lap 60, handing the lead to his compatriot Panis.

Panis who catapulted up the order after a long-first stint, held off McLaren's David Coulthard to win the race, with Johnny Herbert, the only other driver to finish the race completing the podium in third. Heinz-Harald Frentzen could have finished the race but came into the pits one lap early as he was guaranteed to finish fourth. The late-race drama also saw Villeneuve collide with the Forti of Luca Badoer, while Irvine crashed at the same spot as his teammate Schumacher, but was collected by Mika Salo and Mika Hakkinen as he tried to rejoin the track.

Panis's victory was one of the most improbable in Formula One history and one that could easily have been missed out on. Not only did Panis collide with Irvine for an extremely overambitious move, but he also nearly crashed after doing a 360-degree spin on the oil of Hill's Williams. On top of that, Panis was light on fuel and was asked to come into the pits. Panis rightly refused to do so and instead managed the fuel consumption himself, abandoning sixth gear entirely, lifting and coasting through the harbour chicane.

Speaking to Motorsport Magazine this year, he said: "I don’t want to compare myself to Senna, never, but that day I think I felt a little bit like what he described when he drove that amazing pole lap at Monaco in 1988. You know: an out-of-body experience almost.”