The 1996 Formula Nippon Championship was the first season under the name Formula Nippon; before 1996, the category was named Japanese Formula 3000. This season was contested over 10 rounds. Fifteen different teams, 28 different drivers, three different chassis and three different engines competed. Ralf Schumacher won the championship, winning three races.

This was the final season for six-time Top Formula Champion Kazuyoshi Hoshino, who announced his retirement from the series prior to the start of the 1997 season.

For every race points were awarded: 10 points to the winner, 6 for runner-up, 4 for third place, 3 for fourth place, 2 for fifth place and 1 for sixth place. No additional points were awarded. No driver had a point deduction.

Driver's championship

More information Rank, Driver ...

Rank Driver SUZ MIN FUJ TOK SUZ SUG FUJ MIN SUZ FUJ Points 1 Ralf Schumacher 3 1 19 1 4 Ret Ret 1 4 Ret 40 2 Naoki Hattori 8 Ret 2 3 3 8 1 3 1 Ret 38 3 Kazuyoshi Hoshino 1 Ret 3 4 5 2 Ret Ret 2 Ret 31 4 Toranosuke Takagi Ret 3 Ret Ret 1 1 Ret Ret 6 Ret 25 5 Norberto Fontana 14 2 1 Ret 8 Ret 2 Ret 11 Ret 22 6 Shinji Nakano 2 13 Ret 9 6 7 3 2 9 4 20 7 Katsutomo Kaneishi 6 Ret 4 5 7 Ret 4 Ret Ret 1 19 8 Pedro de la Rosa 5 7 6 6 Ret 11 6 Ret 5 2 13 9 Takuya Kurosawa Ret 8 15 7 2 5 8 5 8 Ret 10 10 Satoshi Motoyama 7 Ret 5 17 12 3 5 6 Ret DNS 9 11 Masami Kageyama 10 5 Ret 2 17 15 9 11 Ret Ret 8 12 Toshio Suzuki 18 Ret 12 11 9 10 7 4 3 Ret 7 13 Andrew Gilbert Scott Ret Ret 7 14 Ret 4 Ret 7 Ret 5 5 14 Masahiko Kageyama Ret Ret Ret Ret 16 12 Ret 9 7 3 4 14 Michael Krumm 4 6 11 16 11 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret 4 16 Marco Apicella 12 4 8 8 14 13 12 Ret 10 Ret 3 17 Katsumi Yamamoto 9 Ret 10 Ret Ret 6 Ret 10 Ret Ret 1 17 Masahiko Kondo Ret 9 16 13 Ret Ret 14 Ret 6 1  – Atsushi Kawamoto Ret 11 Ret 15 19 16 13 Ret Ret 7 0  – Tom Kristensen 8 0  – Hidetoshi Mitsusada Ret Ret 9 Ret 10 14 10 12 Ret Ret 0  – Hideki Okada 11 Ret 17 10 20 Ret 11 10 Ret DNS 0  – Taichiro Ohnishi 15 10 14 Ret 15 Ret Ret Ret 14 Ret 0  – Eiichi Tajima 13 12 13 12 18 Ret Ret Ret Ret DNS 0  – Yukihiro Hane 16 Ret Ret Ret 13 Ret 16 13 12 Ret 0  – Tetsuya Tanaka Ret 13 0  – Tetsuji Tamanaka 17 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 15 Ret NC 0  – Masao Yamada DNQ DNQ 18 DNQ DNQ 15 DNQ Ret 0

Scoring system Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 10 6 4 3 2 1 Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Close

R=retired NC=not classified NS=did not start NQ=did not qualify

Place	Name	Country	Team	Chassis	Engine
1	Ralf Schumacher	Germany	Team LeMans	Reynard	Mugen Honda	10	3	8	1	1	19	4	1	8	4	8	R	8	R	3	1	1	4	9	R
2	Naoki Hattori	Japan	Team LeMans	Reynard	Mugen Honda	9	8	10	R	2	2	5	3	2	3	16	8	1	1	7	3	2	1	3	R
3	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Japan	Team Impul	Lola	Mugen Honda	2	1	4	R	5	3	18	4	4	5	3	2	4	R	6	R	4	2	1	R
4	Toranosuke Takagi	Japan	Nakajima Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	1	R	5	3	10	R	1	R	1	1	1	1	2	R	19	R	3	6	4	R
5	Norberto Fontana	Argentina	Team Nova	Lola	Mugen Honda	16	14	11	2	4	1	8	R	22	8	15	R	6	2	8	R	17	11	11	R
6	Shinji Nakano	Japan	Dome Mugen	Dome	Mugen	4	2	22	13	3	R	10	9	13	6	14	7	3	3	4	2	21	9	5	4
7	Katsutomo Kaneishi	Japan	Super Aguri	Reynard	Mugen Honda	13	6	17	R	8	4	11	5	12	7	6	R	14	4	5	R	11	R	7	1
8	Pedro de la Rosa	Spain	Team Nova	Lola	Mugen Honda	11	5	3	7	7	6	9	6	7	R	9	11	5	6	2	R	6	5	14	2
9	Takuya Kurosawa	Japan	Nakajima Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	18	R	18	8	15	15	2	7	3	2	7	5	10	8	12	5	7	8	8	R
10	Satoshi Motoyama	Japan	Super Aguri	Reynard	Mugen Honda	15	7	9	R	14	5	19	17	10	12	4	3	7	5	9	6	12	R	2	NS
11	Masami Kageyama	Japan	Advan Sport Pal	Lola	Mugen Honda	14	10	12	5	11	R	7	2	16	17	11	15	20	9	15	11	13	R	18	R
12	Toshio Suzuki	Japan	Team Impul	Lola	Mugen Honda	5	18	2	R	18	12	3	11	6	9	12	10	13	7	1	4	5	3	13	R
13	Andrew Gilbert Scott	United Kingdom	Stellar International	Reynard	Mugen Honda	21	R	19	R	17	7	13	14	9	R	2	4	23	R	13	7	15	R	15	5
14	Michael Krumm	Germany	Stellar International	Reynard	Mugen Honda	3	4	1	6	19	11	6	16	17	11	10	9	16	R	18	R	14	R	17	R
	Masahiko Kageyama	Japan	Navi Connection Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	8	R	15	R	12	R	16	R	5	16	13	12	9	R	16	9	8	7	12	3
16	Marco Apicella	Italy	Team 5Zigen	Reynard	Judd	12	12	6	4	6	8	17	8	24	14	26	13	11	12	11	R	9	10	10	R
17	Katsumi Yamamoto	Japan	Dome Mugen	Dome	Mugen	7	9	13	R	13	10	15	R	15	R	5	6	12	R	20	14	10	R	16	R
	Masahiko Kondo	Japan	Navi Connection Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	20	R	21	9	22	16	22	13	20	R	17	R	19	14	-	-	20	R	19	6
-	Atsushi Kawamoto	Japan	Asahi Kiko Sports	Lola	Cosworth	22	R	20	11	24	R	21	15	19	19	21	16	22	13	24	R	19	R	20	7
-	Tom Kristensen	Denmark	Navi Connection Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	8	-	-	-	-
-	Hidetoshi Mitsusada	Japan	Team 5Zigen	Lola	Judd	6	R	16	R	9	9	14	R	11	10
			Team 5Zigen	Reynard	Judd											22	14	15	10	17	12	16	R	6	R
-	Hideki Okada	Japan	Team Gullwing	Lola	Mugen Honda	17	11	7	R	16	17	12	10	14	20	18	R	18	11	21	10	24	R	21	NS
-	Taichiro Oonishi	Japan	Advan Sport Pal	Lola	Mugen Honda	23	15	24	10	21	14	23	R	21	15	24	R	24	R	23	R	23	14	24	R
-	Eiichi Tajima	Japan	Team Gullwing	Lola	Mugen Honda	19	13	14	12	20	13	20	12	18	18	20	R	21	R	22	R	26	R	22	NS
-	Yukihiro Hane	Japan	Team Cerumo	Lola	Mugen Honda	24	16	23	R	23	R	24	R	23	13	19	R	17	16	14	13	18	12	23	R
-	Tetsuya Tanaka	Japan	Nihon Lead Yamada	Lola	Mugen Honda	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	23	R	-	-	-	-	22	13	-	-
-	Tetsuji Tamanaka	Japan	Asahi Kiko Sports	Lola	Cosworth	25	17	25	R	25	R	25	R	25	R	25	R	25	R	25	15	25	R	25	NC
-	Masao Yamada	Japan	Nihon Lead Yamada	Lola	Mugen Honda	26	NQ	26	NQ	26	18	26	NQ	26	NQ	-	-	26	15	26	NQ	-	-	26	R

• 1996 Japanese Championship Formula Nippon