The Benetton B196 was the car with which the Benetton team competed in the 1996 Formula One season. It was driven by the experienced pairing of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger, who both moved from Ferrari to replace departing 1994 and 1995 champion Michael Schumacher and his number two, Johnny Herbert.

Many thought, Benetton and Alesi included, that this could well be the Frenchman's year to seriously challenge for the title - something many had been predicting he would do since he signed for Ferrari in 1991. However, after achieving the double of Drivers' and Constructors' Championships in 1995, 1996 saw the team slip slightly from its position of eminence. The new drivers found the car difficult to drive (as it had been designed with Schumacher's unusual driving style in mind), but managed to score a series of points and podium finishes. The biggest disappointment was not winning a race for the first time since 1988, although Berger was extremely unlucky to lose the German GP when his engine failed with three laps to go. Alesi was also leading the Monaco Grand Prix when he had to retire due to mechanical failure.

Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi; June 11, 1964) is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi. In 2006 Alesi was awarded Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur.

Alesi was born to Sicilian parents in Avignon, Vaucluse. Starting his career with a passion for rallying rather than racing, he graduated to single seaters through the French Renault 5 championship. In the late 1980s he was very much a coming man in motor racing, winning the 1987 French Formula 3 title before moving up to International Formula 3000 in 1988. In 1989, his second season in International F3000, he won the championship. Both crowns were after duels with his rival Érik Comas. In 1989 Alesi tied on points for the F3000 title with Comas but won the titled based on the fact Alesi had three wins to Comas' two.

Alesi debuted in the 1989 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard in a Tyrrell-Cosworth, replacing Michele Alboreto, finishing fourth. He drove most of the rest of the season for Tyrrell while continuing his successful Formula 3000 campaign, (occasionally giving the car up in favour of Johnny Herbert when Formula 3000 clashed), scoring points again at the Italian and Spanish Grands Prix.

Gerhard Berger (born 27 August 1959 in Wörgl) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver, who previously owned 50% of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team until he sold his share back to energy drink owner Dietrich Mateschitz in November 2008.

Berger competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing 3rd overall in the championship. During this time, he won ten Grands Prix, achieved 48 podiums, 12 poles and 21 fastest laps (two more than his former team-mate, rival and friend Ayrton Senna). With 210 starts he is amongst the most experienced Formula One drivers of all time. He led 33 of the 210 races he competed in and retired from 95 of them. Berger also has the unique distinction of taking Benetton's first and last victories, with eleven years separating them. He is renowned for his sense of humour and aggressive driving style.

Gerhard Berger was born in Wörgl, Austria on 27th August 1959. His father Hans worked in his own truck company with Gerhard later working for his father and before being promoted to a driver. Berger, a multiple race winner in European Formula Three, moved up to Formula One in 1984 driving for the ATS team. He was fortunate to be alive after a serious road accident shortly after entering Formula One. A full season for Arrows followed in 1985, but it was not until joining Benetton-BMW in 1986 that his F1 career took off. Exploiting the exceptional power of the BMW turbo engine coupled with a clever Pirelli tire strategy, Berger won his first Grand Prix in Mexico using the Benetton B186. Berger was also on course for an easy victory at his home race, the 1986 Austrian Grand Prix before being forced into the pits from a comfortable lead with mechanical problems. Berger out-qualified team-mate Teo Fabi 12–4 in 1986. He established himself as a very fast driver in Formula One that year.

Mika Pauli Häkkinen ( pronunciation (help·info)) (born 28 September 1968 in Vantaa in the Helsinki metropolitan area) is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. Seven-time world champion and rival Michael Schumacher said Häkkinen is the man he respected the most during his Formula One career.

Mika Häkkinen was born in Helsingin maalaiskunta (now Vantaa), Finland on September 28, 1968 to Harri, a shortwave radio operator and part-time taxi driver, and Aila Häkkinen, who worked as a secretary. Häkkinen grew up with one sister, Nina, who ran a fan site for her brother until its closure in 1998.

Since 1991, Häkkinen has resided in Monte Carlo although he also has houses in France and Finland. On 18 May 2008, his newly completed mansion in France burned down after a light in one of his trophy cabinets short circuited. Nobody was injured in the conflagration, but his pet tortoise perished in the fire along with his collection of F1 trophies.

Häkkinen married Erja Honkanen in 1998. The couple have one son, Hugo Ronan (born 11 December 2000) and one daughter, Aina Julia (born 12 May 2005). The couple applied for divorce in 2008. Häkkinen's third child, daughter Ella, was born on 30 November 2010 to his girlfriend Marketa Remesova.

Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985 in Wiesbaden, West Germany) is a racing driver for the Mercedes GP Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, although he competed for Finland earlier in his career. He holds dual nationality of these two countries.

Rosberg won the 2005 GP2 Series for the ART team, having raced in Formula 3 Euro Series previously for his father's team.

For the 2010 Formula One season, Rosberg joined the re-branded Mercedes team, formed by Mercedes' takeover of 2009 constructors' champions Brawn GP.

The son of Finnish 1982 Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg and his German wife Sina, Nico spent much of his youth in Monaco with his family, and still lives in the principality. Rosberg speaks fluent German, English, Italian, Spanish and French but only a little Finnish, though he is learning the language. Rosberg competed under the Finnish and German flags at different times during his early career. In Formula One, as for all FIA world championships, a driver's nationality is defined by his passport. Rosberg races under the German flag in Formula One.