1994 Spanish Grand Prix

Spain  1994 Spanish Grand Prix
Race details
Race 5 of 16 in the 1994 Formula One season
Date 29 May 1994
Official name XXXVI Gran Premio Marlboro de España
Location Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.747 km (2.950 mi)
Distance 65 laps, 308.414 km (191.639 mi)
Weather Sunny
Attendance 40,000
Pole position
Driver Benetton-Ford
Time 1:21.908
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford
Time 1:25.155 on lap 18
Podium
First Williams-Renault
Second Benetton-Ford
Third Tyrrell-Yamaha

The 1994 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 29 May 1994 at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. It was the 36th Spanish Grand Prix to be held since the first was held at Guadarrama in 1913. It was the fourth to be held at Circuit de Catalunya. It was the fifth race of the 1994 Formula One season.

The race was won by British driver Damon Hill driving a Williams FW16 taking his first win of the season. It was also Williams first win of the season, and a cathartic win for the team still shocked from the death of Ayrton Senna a few weeks earlier at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Hill won by 24 seconds over German driver Michael Schumacher, who for most of the race was stuck in fifth gear in his Benetton B194. Third was British driver Mark Blundell driving a Tyrrell 022. It would be the third and final podium of Blundell's career and would be the season highlight for the Tyrrell team.

The Grand Prix was additionally notable for the season-ending crash of debutant Italian driver Andrea Montermini in his Simtek S941 on the front straight. Montermini, elevated from test driver status after the death of Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix crashed heavily into the pit wall. It also marked the Formula 1 debut of British Driver David Coulthard, replacing Senna for Williams.[1]

Report

Pre-Race

This was the first race for the newly formed Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA). Several top level names, including Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill, and Gerhard Berger, were instrumental in the setup and running of the GPDA, and they took the decision to install a temporary chicane at the Nissan corner, to attempt to slow the cars down before the La Caixa Hairpin. This was an attempt to improve safety, as well as limit speeds around the track, as the Nissan corner was generally taken at near flat-out speeds[2]

Qualifying

Michael Schumacher took the second pole position in succession and the second of his career. Damon Hill also lined up on the front row, his time had been beaten by Schumacher's by over half a second, and he was only one thousandth of a second ahead of Mika Häkkinen. The pair's respective Williams and McLaren teammates lined up eighth and ninth, McLaren's Martin Brundle on the fourth row in front of a disappointed David Coulthard for Williams. Schumacher's Benetton teammate – JJ Lehto – had done a bit better for himself and lined up fourth. Rubens Barrichello's Jordan qualified in fifth, followed by the two Ferraris. Tyrrell driver Ukyo Katayama was the other driver in the top ten, while at the back Andrea Montermini crashed heavily on the Simtek previously driven by Roland Ratzenberger and broke his ankles. Obviously he failed to set a timed lap in the second session and failed to qualify.

Race

Schumacher led from pole position at the start of the race whilst Barrichello and Berger collided at the first corner. Neither driver retired as a direct result of the collision, although both did eventually, but Berger was forced to run across the grass and lost places. Coulthard climbed up to fifth place from his ninth place starting spot, but his car stalled in the pits on lap 16. Despite retiring from twelfth place on lap 32, he described his race as a "good debut overall".[3] While Williams notched up their first victory of the season, and first after the death of Ayrton Senna, championship leader Michael Schumacher finished a strong second, despite being stuck in fifth gear for most of the race.[3] Knowing that he had a major problem, he managed to make a pitstop (and get away from the pit stop in 5th gear), and as the race unfolded gave nothing to the leading Hill's pace. He had to change his driving style to find new trajectories and corner apexes, and his past experience as a World Sports Car driver helped him to do so.[4] After the pit stops, Mika Häkkinen was in third place for McLaren behind Hill and Schumacher, having temporarily been in front of Schumacher earlier in the race. Häkkinen's engine failed, though granting the place to his team-mate Martin Brundle. Brundle then retired himself after an explosion from the back of his car at the first corner. Mark Blundell, for Tyrrell, completed the podium celebrations.

Post-Race

After the race, the Williams team were very emotional with Hill's win.

I don't think I have known such a difficult month. Everyone at Williams has been through a terrible time. This victory must go to them and to all the fans of Ayrton Senna who I met in Brazil. They wanted Williams to be successful. It was important to do well in this race and to win it is better than I expected to do.
Damon Hill speaking about Senna, Transcript of recording from Grand Prix Racing.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap
1 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:23.426 1:21.908
2 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:24.716 1:22.559 +0.651
3 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 1:24.580 1:22.660 +0.752
4 6 Finland JJ Lehto Benetton-Ford 1:25.587 1:22.983 +1.075
5 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:25.990 1:23.594 +1.686
6 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:24.997 1:23.700 +1.792
7 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:26.121 1:23.715 +1.807
8 8 United Kingdom Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 1:26.614 1:23.763 +1.855
9 2 United Kingdom David Coulthard Williams-Renault 1:27.428 1:23.782 +1.874
10 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:27.017 1:23.969 +2.061
11 4 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:25.863 1:23.981 +2.073
12 30 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 1:25.115 1:24.254 +2.346
13 15 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 1:26.368 1:24.930 +3.022
14 24 Italy Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 1:26.595 1:24.996 +3.088
15 10 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 1:27.459 1:25.018 +3.110
16 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 1:26.097 1:25.050 +3.142
17 19 Monaco Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 1:28.011 1:25.161 +3.253
18 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:25.502 1:25.247 +3.339
19 26 France Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 1:27.872 1:25.577 +3.669
20 25 France Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 1:28.289 1:25.766 +3.858
21 9 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 1:27.631 1:26.084 +4.176
22 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 28:05.683 1:26.397 +4.489
23 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:30.379 1:27.685 +5.777
24 31 Australia David Brabham Simtek-Ford 1:30.797 1:28.151 +6.243
25 34 France Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 1:34.318 1:28.873 +6.965
26 33 France Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 1:31.750 1:30.657 +8.749
DNQ 32 Italy Andrea Montermini Simtek-Ford 1:31.111 no time +9.203

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 65 1:36:14.374 2 10
2 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 65 +24.166 1 6
3 4 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 65 +1:26.969 11 4
4 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 64 +1 Lap 6 3
5 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 64 +1 Lap 18 2
6 15 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 64 +1 Lap 13 1
7 26 France Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 63 +2 Laps 19  
8 25 France Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 62 +3 Laps 20  
9 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 62 +3 Laps 23  
10 31 Australia David Brabham Simtek-Ford 61 +4 Laps 24  
11 8 United Kingdom Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 59 Engine 8  
Ret 6 Finland JJ Lehto Benetton-Ford 53 Engine 4  
Ret 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 48 Engine 3  
Ret 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 41 Spun off 22  
Ret 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 39 Spun off 5  
Ret 9 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 35 Engine 21  
Ret 2 United Kingdom David Coulthard Williams-Renault 32 Electrical 9  
Ret 34 France Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 32 Broken Wing 25  
Ret 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 27 Gearbox 7  
Ret 10 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 24 Fuel system 15  
Ret 30 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 21 Gearbox 12  
Ret 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 19 Radiator 16  
Ret 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 16 Engine 10  
Ret 24 Italy Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 4 Engine 14  
Ret 33 France Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 2 Spun off 26  
Ret 19 Monaco Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 0 Engine 17  
DNQ 32 Italy Andrea Montermini Simtek-Ford        
Source:[5]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Germany Michael Schumacher 46
2 United Kingdom Damon Hill 17
3 Austria Gerhard Berger 10
4 France Jean Alesi 9
5 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 7

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 United Kingdom Benetton-Ford 46
2 Italy Ferrari 25
3 United Kingdom Williams-Renault 17
4 Republic of Ireland Jordan-Hart 11
5 United Kingdom McLaren-Peugeot 10

References

  1. "Ayrton Senna death: David Coulthard - I owe him my career". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  2. "F1 – 1994 FIA Review – 05 Spain". YouTube. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 "At last - Hill challenges the Schumacher monopoly". Grand Prix Racing. Archived from the original on 30 January 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. "1994 Spanish Grand Prix flashback". F1 Fanatic. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  5. "1994 Spanish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
Previous race:
1994 Monaco Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1994 season
Next race:
1994 Canadian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1993 Spanish Grand Prix
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1995 Spanish Grand Prix
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