1994 British Grand Prix

The 1994 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 10 July 1994. It was the eighth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.

1994 British Grand Prix
Race 8 of 16 in the 1994 Formula One World Championship
Silverstone Circuit (as modified in 1994)
Silverstone Circuit (as modified in 1994)
Race details
Date 10 July 1994
Official name XLVII British Grand Prix
Location Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.057 km (3.160 miles)
Distance 60 laps, 303.420 km (189.637 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Williams-Renault
Time 1:24.960
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault
Time 1:27.100 on lap 11
Podium
First Williams-Renault
Second Ferrari
Third McLaren-Peugeot
Lap leaders

The 60-lap race was won from pole position by local driver Damon Hill, driving a Williams-Renault. Drivers' Championship leader, German Michael Schumacher, crossed the line second in his Benetton-Ford, but was subsequently disqualified for overtaking Hill on the formation lap and failing to serve a stop-go penalty in time; he was also given a two-race ban. Frenchman Jean Alesi was thus classified second in his Ferrari, with Finn Mika Häkkinen third in a McLaren-Peugeot.

Report

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Pre-race

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Going into this race, Benetton's Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 66 points out of a possible 70. Williams' Damon Hill was second on 29 points, followed by Ferrari drivers Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi on 17 and 13 respectively. Benetton led the Constructors' Championship with 67 points, followed by Ferrari on 36 and Williams on 31.

Following his appearance at the previous round in France, Nigel Mansell had returned to his CART commitments in America, so David Coulthard returned in the second Williams to partner Hill.

Qualifying

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Qualifying was extremely close with Hill, Schumacher and Berger in competition for pole position. Berger collided with the barrier at the end of the pitlane as he attempted to have another lap. Hill took pole position with a time of 1:24.960. Schumacher took second position on the grid, three thousandths of a second slower than Hill and Berger third, two hundredths of a second behind Hill.

Race

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On the formation lap, Schumacher overtook Hill twice (once when leaving the dummy grid, and then once more further round the lap), before dropping back to take his second place on the grid for the start.

 
Mika Häkkinen finished third in a McLaren-Peugeot.

David Coulthard stalled on the grid at the start, forcing him to start from the back of the grid – he fought back to finish 5th. This prompted another formation lap, on which Eddie Irvine's car broke down. Again on this second formation lap, Schumacher overtook Hill twice. The Peugeot V10 engine in Martin Brundle's McLaren MP4/9 failed on the second start in a huge fireball.

On lap 14, Michael Schumacher was handed a five-second stop-go penalty for overtaking Hill on the first formation lap. He failed to serve the penalty by lap 21, and as a result was shown the black flag, requiring him to stop immediately at the pits. Schumacher did not acknowledge the black flag and was shown it again on both of the next two laps, he later claimed that he had not seen it. Benetton told the race officials that there had been a misunderstanding over the 5-second stop-go penalty, and after discussing the issue with the team the officials withdrew the black flag and Schumacher finally served the stop-go penalty at the end of lap 27.[1][2]

Mika Häkkinen and Rubens Barrichello collided while battling for 4th place at the final corner. Barrichello pulled his damaged car into the pits, without realising that he was on the final lap. This allowed Häkkinen to limp over the finish line before Barrichello reached it, despite his car being more severely damaged.

Behind them, Ukyo Katayama scored what proved to be his final point.

 
David Coulthard, in only his third Grand Prix, finished fifth in a Williams-Renault.

Post-race

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The stewards fined Benetton $25,000 and gave the team and their driver Michael Schumacher a severe reprimand for ignoring Schumacher's five-second stop-go penalty and the subsequent black flag. On 26 July, the FIA World Motorsport Council increased the penalty to a $500,000 fine for the team and a two race ban for Schumacher. The WMSC also disqualified Schumacher from his second place at the British Grand Prix. The penalty was upheld on appeal on 30 August.[3]

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap
1 0   Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:26.894 1:24.960
2 5   Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:26.323 1:24.963 +0.003
3 28   Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:26.738 1:24.980 +0.020
4 27   Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:26.891 1:25.541 +0.581
5 7   Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 1:27.983 1:26.268 +1.308
6 14   Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:27.890 1:26.271 +1.311
7 2   David Coulthard Williams-Renault 1:27.698 1:26.337 +1.377
8 3   Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:27.936 1:26.414 +1.454
9 8   Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 1:28.224 1:26.768 +1.808
10 6   Jos Verstappen Benetton-Ford 1:29.142 1:26.841 +1.881
11 4   Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:28.510 1:26.920 +1.960
12 15   Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 1:27.890 1:27.065 +2.105
13 30   Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 1:27.284 1:28.231 +2.324
14 23   Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:28.517 1:27.522 +2.562
15 26   Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 1:29.381 1:27.785 +2.825
16 10   Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 1:28.159 1:27.886 +2.926
17 24   Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 1:29.403 1:28.100 +3.140
18 29   Andrea de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes 1:30.034 1:28.212 +3.252
19 11   Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:29.240 1:28.225 +3.265
20 9   Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 1:28.816 1:28.231 +3.271
21 12   Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:29.268 1:28.340 +3.380
22 20   Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 1:30.274 1:28.519 +3.559
23 25   Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 1:30.058 1:28.955 +3.995
24 19   Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 1:29.971 1:29.299 +4.339
25 31   David Brabham Simtek-Ford 1:31.437 1:30.690 +5.730
26 32   Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Ford 1:31.225 1:30.722 +5.762
DNQ 34   Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 1:31.496 1:31.877 +6.536
DNQ 33   Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 1:34.631 1:32.507 +7.547
Source:[4][5][6]

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 0   Damon Hill Williams-Renault 60 1:30:03.640 1 10
2 27   Jean Alesi Ferrari 60 + 1:08.128 4 6
3 7   Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 60 + 1:40.659 5 4
4 14   Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 60 + 1:41.751 6 3
5 2   David Coulthard Williams-Renault 59 + 1 lap 7 2
6 3   Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 59 + 1 lap 8 1
7 30   Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 59 + 1 lap 13  
8 6   Jos Verstappen Benetton-Ford 59 + 1 lap 10  
9 9   Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 58 + 2 laps 20  
10 23   Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 58 + 2 laps 14  
11 12   Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 58 + 2 laps 21  
12 26   Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 58 + 2 laps 15  
13 25   Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 58 + 2 laps 23  
14 19   Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 58 + 2 laps 24  
15 31   David Brabham Simtek-Ford 57 + 3 laps 25  
16 32   Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Ford 57 + 3 laps 26  
Ret 24   Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 48 Engine 17  
Ret 28   Gerhard Berger Ferrari 32 Engine 3  
Ret 4   Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 20 Gearbox 11  
Ret 20   Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 12 Engine 22  
Ret 29   Andrea de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes 11 Engine 18  
Ret 10   Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 5 Engine 16  
Ret 11   Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 4 Engine PL  
Ret 8   Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 0 Engine 9  
DNS 15   Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 0 Engine 12  
DSQ 5   Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 60 Ignored black flag 2  
Source:[7]

Championship standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ Matchett, Steve (1995). Life in the Fast Lane. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p. 102. ISBN 0-297-83575-0.
  2. ^ Formula 1 Grand Prix: 1994 Season Review (video)
  3. ^ "Schumacher ban upheld on appeal". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  4. ^ "1994 British Grand Prix - Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  5. ^ "1994 British Grand Prix - Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  6. ^ "1994 British GP – Qualification". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  7. ^ "1994 British Grand Prix - Race Result". Formula1.com. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Britain 1994 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.


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1994 French Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1994 season
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1994 German Grand Prix
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1993 British Grand Prix
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1995 British Grand Prix