1994 French Grand Prix

1994 French Grand Prix
Race 7 of 16 in the 1994 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 3 July 1994
Official name 80e Grand Prix de France[1]
Location Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.250 km (2.641 miles)
Distance 72 laps, 306.000 km (191.140 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Williams-Renault
Time 1:16.282
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault
Time 1:19.678 on lap 4
Podium
First Benetton-Ford
Second Williams-Renault
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1994 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 3 July 1994 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours near Magny-Cours in France. It was the seventh race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.

The 72-lap race was won by Michael Schumacher, driving a Benetton-Ford. It was Schumacher's sixth victory in seven races. Damon Hill finished second in a Williams-Renault, having started from pole position and led the race, while Gerhard Berger finished third in a Ferrari.

Schumacher now led the Drivers' Championship by 37 points from Hill.

Report

Background

Nigel Mansell made his return to Formula One, driving for Williams-Renault in place of David Coulthard. He had left F1 at the end of 1992 to race in IndyCar. JJ Lehto was rested by Benetton-Ford and was replaced by the test driver Jos Verstappen who had previously deputised for Lehto earlier in the season. Jean-Marc Gounon would drive the second Simtek-Ford following Andrea Montermini's accident at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Race

Olivier Panis and Gianni Morbidelli collided on lap 29. This was the only retirement of the season for Panis. Michael Schumacher won the race ahead of Damon Hill and Gerhard Berger. Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished fourth, his best Formula One finish up to this point. Pierluigi Martini was fifth and Andrea de Cesaris finished sixth. These would prove to be the last world championship points that Martini and de Cesaris scored in their careers, with de Cesaris failing to finish another race in his Formula One career.[2] The ninth place of Jean-Marc Gounon, four laps behind, would be the best result for the Simtek Team, a feat they would only reach once again.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap
1 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:17.539 1:16.282
2 2 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:18.340 1:16.359 +0.077
3 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:17.085 1:16.707 +0.425
4 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:17.855 1:16.954 +0.672
5 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:17.441 1:16.959 +0.677
6 15 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 1:19.463 1:17.441 +1.159
7 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:18.326 1:17.482 +1.200
8 6 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Benetton-Ford 1:18.669 1:17.645 +1.363
9 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 1:19.041 1:17.768 +1.486
10 30 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 1:19.318 1:17.830 +1.548
11 29 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes 1:20.145 1:17.866 +1.584
12 8 United Kingdom Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 1:18.112 1:18.031 +1.749
13 26 France Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 1:19.697 1:18.044 +1.762
14 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:19.969 1:18.192 +1.910
15 25 France Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 1:19.292 1:18.236 +1.954
16 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:20.084 1:18.248 +1.966
17 4 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:20.001 1:18.381 +2.099
18 9 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 1:20.801 1:18.568 +2.286
19 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:20.108 1:18.715 +2.433
20 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 1:20.576 1:18.811 +2.529
21 24 Italy Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 1:20.097 1:18.890 +2.608
22 10 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 1:20.707 1:18.936 +2.654
23 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:20.122 1:19.066 +2.784
24 31 Australia David Brabham Simtek-Ford 1:22.527 1:19.771 +3.489
25 19 Monaco Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 1:21.964 1:19.863 +3.581
26 32 France Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Ford 1:23.264 1:21.829 +5.547
DNQ 34 France Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 1:24.048 1:21.952 +5.670
DNQ 33 France Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 1:24.637 1:23.004 +6.722
Sources:[3][4][5]

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 72 1:38:35.704 3 10
2 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 72 + 12.642 1 6
3 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 72 + 52.765 5 4
4 30 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 71 + 1 Lap 10 3
5 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 70 + 2 Laps 16 2
6 29 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes 70 + 2 Laps 11 1
7 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 70 + 2 Laps 19  
8 9 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 70 + 2 Laps 18  
9 32 France Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Ford 68 + 4 Laps 26  
10 4 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 67 + 5 Laps 17  
11 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 66 Engine 20  
Ret 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 53 Spun Off 14  
Ret 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 48 Engine 9  
Ret 2 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 45 Gearbox 2  
Ret 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 41 Collision 4  
Ret 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 41 Collision 7  
Ret 25 France Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 40 Gearbox 15  
Ret 19 Monaco Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 36 Engine 25  
Ret 8 United Kingdom Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 29 Engine 12  
Ret 10 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 28 Collision 22  
Ret 26 France Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 28 Collision 13  
Ret 31 Australia David Brabham Simtek-Ford 28 Transmission 24  
Ret 6 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Benetton-Ford 25 Spun Off 8  
Ret 15 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 24 Gearbox 6  
Ret 24 Italy Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 21 Engine 21  
Ret 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 20 Engine 23  
Source:[6]

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. ^ "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1994". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  2. ^ Walker, Murray (1994). Murray Walker's 1994 Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. p. 67. ISBN 1-874557-01-2.
  3. ^ "Grand Prix de France – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Grand Prix de France – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  5. ^ "1994 French GP – Qualification". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  6. ^ "1994 French Grand Prix - Race Result". Formula1.com. 2020-02-08. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  7. ^ a b "France 1994 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.


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1994 Canadian Grand Prix
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