1996 Superlicense automatic holders

Drivers Automatically Eligible for F1 Superlicense in 1996.

A total of 49 drivers are automatically eligible for 1996 Superlicenses as of January 1st, 1996.

F1 (at least started for 5 events in 1995) Superlicense & Grade A license required in order to compete

29 drivers:

*Jean Alesi (F) 17 starts *Luca Badoer (I) 17 *Rubens Barrichello (BR) 17 *Gerhard Berger (A) 17 #Mark Blundell (GB) 15 #Jean-Christophe Bouillon (F) 11 *Martin Brundle (GB) 11 *David Coulthard (GB) 17 *Pedro Diniz (BR) 17 *Heinz-Harld Frentzen (D) 17 #Bertrand Gachot (B) 11 *Mika Haekinnen (SF) 15 *Johnny Herbert (GB) 17 *Damon Hill (GB) 17 +Taki Inoue (J) 17 *Eddie Irvine (GB) 17 *Ukyo Katayama (J) 16 *Pedro Lamy (P) 8 #PierLuigi Martini (I) 9 *Andrea Montermini (I) 17 #Gianni Morbidelli (I) 10 #Roberto Moreno (BR) 17 *Olivier Panis (F) 17 *Mika Salo (SF) 17 #Mimmo Schiattarella (I) 5 %*Michael Shumacher (D) 17 #Aguri Suzuki (J) 5 *Jos Verstappen (NL) 5 #Karl Wendlinger (A) 6

Indycar (Top 3 in at least 5 events or top 6 in at least 10 events, 1994-5) Grade A licenses required in order to compete

8 drivers:

#Michael Andretti (USA) 7 top 3s, 16 top 10s in total #Raul Boesel (BR) 1, 10 #Emmerson Fittipaldi (BR) 13, 15 Robby Gordon (USA) 6, 16 #Bobby Rahal (USA) 7, 13 Paul Tracy (CDN) 13, 15 ^Al Unser Jr (USA) 15, 18 %*Jacques Villeneuve Jr. (CDN) 9, 15

International F3000 (Top 3 in at least 5 events or top 6 in at least 10 events, 1994-5) Grade A licenses required in order to compete

1 driver:

%Vincenzo Sospiri (I) 9 top 3s, 12 top 10s in total

Japanese F3000 (Top 3 in at least 5 events or top 6 in at least 10 events, 1994-5) Grade B licenses required in order to compete

6 drivers:

^#Marco Apicella (I) 6 top 3s, 9 top 10s in total Andrew Gilbert-Scott (GB) 7, 11 $Naoki Hattori (J) 5, 9 Takuya Kurosawa (J) 6, 11 Mauro Martini (I) 6, 14 %#Toshio Suzuki (J) 5, 8

Major National F3 champions (Britain, France, Italy, German & Japanese F3 in 1995)

5 drivers:

%Pedro de la Rosa (E) JF3 %Noberto Fontana (RA) DF3 %Oliver Gavin (GB) GBF3 %Luca Rangoni (I) IF3 %Laurent Redon (F) FF3

* 1996 F1 drivers + Entered in 1996 F1 Championship # ex-F1 drivers $ failed to qualify in previous attempts in F1 race meetings % 1995 Champion ^ 1994 Champion

All have to have a Grade A license in the first place in order to apply for Superlicenses. Grade A licenses are required in order to compete in F1, International F3000 and IndyCar championships. Hence all eligible drivers from these three categories obviously are already holders of the Grade A licenses. The Japanese F3000 & National F3 eligible drivers have Grade A licenses because they have at least 5 top 5 finishes in 1994-5 in various national and international races.

The following drivers appeared in the 1996 F1 championship (as of the 3rd round) without automatic eligibilities:

Giancarlo Fisichella (I) 1994 IF3 Champ (a Grade A license holder due to at least 5 top 5 finishes in 1994 I F3 championship). Tarso Marquez (BR) 1994-5 International F3000 2 top 3s & 4 top 6s overall Riccardo Rosset (BR) 1994-5 International F3000 3 top 3s & 5 top 6s overall

Automatic Eligibible Superlicense Drivers by Nations (I) 9 (GB) 8 (J) 6 (BR) 5 (F) 4 (USA) 4 (A) 2 (CDN) 2 (D) 2 (SF) 2 (B) 1 (E) 1 (NL) 1 (P) 1 (RA) 1

Superlicenses can be gained by past racing records AND 300km in a maximum of 2 days testing a current F1 machine under racing speed. It is, however, a purely judgemental decisions by the FIA in regarding the applicant's past racing records. While drivers like Alain Prost who is a four time World Champion and also a current McLaren test driver can have no problem in applying for a Superlicense, other drivers' applications such as Giovanni Lavaggi (who drove more than 300km combined practice, qualifying and race from Saturday to Sunday in the 1995 D GP) may not be as automatic. Hence for this purpose I have omitted drivers who can get Superlicenses under this rule.

Finally, both Jimmy Vasser (USA) and Scott Pruett (USA) may have been eligible for Superlicenses as of the 3rd round of the CART championships. Vasser now has 5 top 3 placings and 9 top 6 placings from 1994 to the 3rd round of the 1996 CART championship, while Pruett has 5 top 3 placings and 8 top 6 placings in total (actually achieved from 1995 to the 3rd round of the 1996 CART championship). However, it is not sure whether they are really automatically eligible because it is not known if CART is counted as the USA championship, or IRL as the legitimate championship. Under the rule, the USA championship is listed as "USAC IndyCar championship", which has since split into CART IndyCar World Series and the USAC IRL. Also, it is not sure whether if both drivers are required to drop their 1994 results. Before 1996, Vasser has 4 top 3 placings and 8 top 6 placings in total, while Pruett has 3 top 3 placings and 6 top 6 placings in total.

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