1995 Brazilian Grand Prix
Encyclopedia
The 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the XXIV Grande Prêmio do Brasil) was a Formula One
motor race held on March 26, 1995 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace
, São Paulo
, Brazil
. It was the first round of the 1995 Formula One season
. The race, contested over 71 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher
for the Benetton
team after starting from second position. David Coulthard
finished second in a Williams
, with Gerhard Berger
third in a Ferrari
. Damon Hill
, who started the race from pole position
, spun out while leading on lap 30 with an apparent gearbox
problem, which was later found to be a suspension
failure. Schumacher's win came despite Benetton encountering steering problems with his car during Friday practice, leading to him crashing heavily and necessitating steering component changes for the rest of the event. Despite Schumacher's victory, Hill proved to be faster during the race, and seemed to be on course for a comfortable victory before his sudden retirement.
Other notable performances came from Berger, who took the final podium position despite being delayed during one of his routine pit stops due to a problem with a loose wheel nut; Mika Häkkinen
, who finished fourth for the McLaren
team despite its new car proving to be uncompetitive in pre-season testing; and Mika Salo
, who drove strongly in the first half of the race to run third in his first Grand Prix for the Tyrrell
team, only to suffer from a cramp and drop back to seventh place at the finish. Behind Häkkinen, the other points-scoring finishers were Jean Alesi
in the second Ferrari and Mark Blundell
, who drove the second McLaren. Blundell was standing in for regular driver Nigel Mansell
in the second McLaren until the team could produce a wider chassis in which to accommodate him, as the car's initial cockpit design had proved to be too narrow for him to drive comfortably.
Several hours after the conclusion of the race, Schumacher and Coulthard were from the race result as the chemical "fingerprint" of fuel samples from their cars taken after qualifying and the race did not match the specified sample lodged with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
(FIA) prior to the event. Berger was thus declared the winner, but the race stewards' decision to exclude them was overturned at an appeal hearing on April 13. Schumacher and Coulthard were reinstated in first and second places respectively, but the two teams did not receive their respective constructors' points. The Ferrari team was unhappy with the decision made at the appeal hearing; Berger called the sport "a joke". The rule concerning the legality of fuels had been changed for the 1995 season, as had the new standardised equipment used for refuelling during the race, the drivers' weighing-in procedure and the conditions of the drivers' racing licences
; all of these changes produced controversies which at times threatened to overshadow the race, as did the excessively bumpy condition of the track. The race also marked the first Brazilian Grand Prix to take place since the death of Brazilian triple World Champion Ayrton Senna
the previous year; his passing was commemorated in various ways throughout the event.
after a four month break since the last race of the 1994 season
in Australia
. Over the winter months, the Autódromo José Carlos Pace
race track was resurfaced in an attempt to reduce its bumpiness. The drivers were unhappy with the resurfacing work, though, as the track became more bumpy than in the previous year
. Williams
driver David Coulthard
described the track as "bumpy as hell, quite unbelievable". He was also concerned about his stamina for the duration of the 71-lap race, as he had suffered from a bout of tonsillitis
in the run-up to the event which had disrupted his physical training. Local Jordan
driver Rubens Barrichello
was even more vocal in his criticism of the track's condition, declaring that the circuit organisers were "a bunch of idiots. The track is three times bumpier than before. It is not by applying layer upon layer of tarmac that they will improve matters." Heinz-Harald Frentzen
claimed that the bumping was so bad that he was close to passing out; the Sauber
car handled badly over the bumps throughout the weekend.
The race marked the first Brazilian Grand Prix to be held since the death of three-time champion Ayrton Senna
the previous year in a racing accident at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix
. As such, various tributes were paid to him throughout the weekend, including a parade lap on the back of a truck with all the drivers waving Brazilian flags; a display from the Brazilian Air Force
which resulted in a large "S" trail in the sky; and the renaming of a local highway to Rodovia
Ayrton Senna. The São Paulo city authorities had planned to rename the circuit after Senna, but the family of Carlos Pace
, the existing dedicatee, objected. Barrichello also sported a special helmet design as a personal tribute to his compatriot. As a result of Senna's death, the event was lower-key than in recent years: fewer spectators turned out to watch practice and qualifying, but the race itself was watched by a capacity crowd.
The threat of a drivers' boycott over the terms of their 1995 FIA Super Licences
, which allowed the FIA to demand promotional appearances and forbade the drivers from criticising the championship, was defused by the governing body prior to the race, ensuring full driver participation in the championship. Although the Super License issue was resolved with 14 teams and 28 drivers on the official 1995 entry list, the Larrousse
team with drivers Éric Bernard
and Christophe Bouchut
did not make an appearance at the circuit for any of the on-track sessions. This was due to the team running short of money: in the period prior to the event, with French government aid not forthcoming and a 1995 chassis not yet built, team owner Gérard Larrousse
elected to miss the first two rounds of the season in the hope of competing from the San Marino Grand Prix
onwards.
The construction of some of the cars was only just completed prior to the beginning of the season; the Footwork FA16
and Simtek S951
chassis arrived at the event with virtually no testing, having been completed shortly beforehand. Of the initial 1995 drivers, Pedro Diniz
was the only "complete" , having not been officially entered in any other Formula One race meetings, while Andrea Montermini
started his first race after failing to qualify for the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix
due to injury. Mika Salo
and Domenico Schiattarella
had competed in two races, with Taki Inoue
competing in one race the previous season.
At the front of the field, Michael Schumacher
and Damon Hill
in the Benetton
and Williams cars respectively were the favourites to battle for the Drivers' Championship, with Schumacher anticipating a "struggle" for the championship. Bernard Dudot, Renault Sport's
Chief Engineer, said that he believed Benetton was less well-prepared than Williams, as the former team had changed its engine supplier to Renault, whereas Williams had been in partnership with the company since . Hill arrived at the event with the psychological advantage of having set the fastest time at the final pre-season testing session at the Autódromo do Estoril
, 0.35 seconds faster than Schumacher's best around the circuit. The Williams team had also completed 2,500 miles of testing with its FW17
chassis, significantly more than Benetton; the team had encountered some reliability problems with its own B195
chassis.
Heading into the new season, attention also focused on the McLaren team and its driver Nigel Mansell
. He was initially announced as the partner of Mika Häkkinen
; however, a week before the first race, McLaren announced that Mansell would not compete in the first two races of the new season, as he could not fit into the MP4/10
car. Mansell's arrival at McLaren was due to demand from the team's sponsors, including Philip Morris
, whose brand, Marlboro, was on the car, who wanted to enjoy the publicity associated with the World Champion's return even if it meant him performing worse than team-mate Häkkinen. His place at McLaren for the first two races was taken by the team's test driver
, Mark Blundell
, as McLaren worked to build a wider monocoque
to accommodate Mansell. McLaren were also concerned about the standard refuelling equipment provided for 1995 by suppliers Intertechnique, having suffered a major leak in a test of the new rig outside of its factory. Intertechnique had redesigned the fuel equipment, which was used by all of the teams, in the wake of a pit lane
fire suffered by driver Jos Verstappen
during the previous year's German Grand Prix
. The new fuel rigs, in addition to being half the size of the 1994, also featured longer nozzles, and were designed to lock onto the car before any fuel could begin to flow. Intertechnique traced the problem to a faulty valve within the equipment, which caused 10 kilograms (22 lb) of fuel to leak, and modified the parts accordingly. Intertechnique and the FIA advised the teams to refuel the cars slowly and carefully during pitstops to avoid any further leaks, a situation that was considered unsatisfactory by many of the team principals and mechanics. A new regulation for 1995 also mandated the teams' fuel suppliers to send samples of their fuel to the FIA prior to each Grand Prix, which the governing body would use as a reference when conducting fuel tests at the event itself. Thus only fuel approved by the FIA in advance was allowed; any deviations from the samples on file was not permitted. As before, all cars were subject to routine fuel tests as part of the scrutineering process throughout the weekend to ensure compliance with the sport's technical regulations. The rule change had been proposed by the Elf
oil company in 1993 and unanimously supported by the other F1 suppliers in order to speed up the fuel-testing process.
Controversy also surrounded the new Ligier JS41
car, with rival team owners comparing it to the Benetton B195 car because of their similar design, the only apparent difference being the engine in each car. The Ligier team was being run in 1995 by Tom Walkinshaw
, who had been Benetton's Engineering Director the previous season. Commenting on the design similarities, Walkinshaw said:
One of the rule revisions stated that the minimum weight limit of 595 kilograms (1,311.8 lb) applied to both car and driver together. Prior to the first session of the season, all of the drivers were weighed to establish a reference weight to be used on occasions when the two were weighed separately, or if the driver was unavailable to be weighed. As such, a small competitive advantage could be established if the driver attempted to register a weight as heavy as possible, so their actual weight when driving the car would be lower. Williams Technical Director Patrick Head
estimated that a weight penalty of 7 kilograms (15.4 lb) could cost 14 seconds over the course of 70 laps of the circuit. In the drivers' weigh-in, Schumacher weighed in at 77 kilograms (169.8 lb), compared to 69 kilograms (152.1 lb) at the beginning of the 1994 season. Sauber driver Karl Wendlinger
gained the most weight compared to 1994, gaining 22 pounds (10 kg). Wendlinger's team-mate Frentzen and Tyrrell
driver Ukyo Katayama
added the least amount of weight, gaining 3 pounds (1.4 kg). When Schumacher was weighed after the race, his weight had decreased to 71.5 kilograms (157.6 lb), although this weight, when combined with that of his car, still left it above the limit, at 599 kilograms (1,320.6 lb). Schumacher explained the weight gain as a consequence of a fitness regime over the winter that had converted excess fat to muscle, and also admitted to eating and drinking heavily, in addition to refraining from using the toilet, prior to the weigh-in.
.
In the first practice session, Hill was fastest with a time of 1:21.664, two thousands of a second ahead of team-mate Coulthard. Schumacher was third, with the Ferrari
cars of Jean Alesi
and Gerhard Berger
, who had been the leading two for most session, close behind. Blundell in the McLaren was sixth, with team-mate Häkkinen finishing the session in 14th position, the Finnish driver complaining of steering
problems with the car. The two Ferrari drivers used different pedal layouts in the 412T2
chassis: Berger's car was equipped with two pedals and a hand-operated clutch, whereas Alesi preferred the traditional three-pedal system.
Hill set a provisional pole position
time of 1:20.081 during the first qualifying session, ahead of Berger, Coulthard, Alesi, Häkkinen and Schumacher. The session was disrupted after Schumacher crashed heavily into the tyre barrier at turn eight, a corner normally taken at a speed of 140 miles per hour (225.3 km/h). As a precaution, Benetton opted to keep Schumacher's team-mate, Johnny Herbert
, in the garage while the team found out what was wrong with the car. This meant that Herbert did not set a time in the session, while Schumacher completed only two of his twelve allotted laps. Speaking of the incident, Schumacher said that "there was a little movement in the steering wheel at the previous corner and at the next it went completely. I spun the car backwards into the tyre barrier and the safety structure behind my head did a good job of protecting me. For sure I am not very happy about this, but I believe that the team will spend a lot of time investigating the situation for tomorrow and they will find the problem." The problem was determined to be a steering failure, specifically a joint in the car's steering column
. Replacement steering components were sourced from São Paulo by Benetton engineer Tim Wright
, and the team did not encounter any problems over the remainder of the weekend.
The second practice session was held in wet but drying weather conditions. During the session, Schumacher went off the track at the exit of turn five, damaging his car's front wing in the process. However, he still set the fastest time of the session (1:23.607) after a change to his car's ride height
proved beneficial to its performance. The top six was completed by Berger, Hill, Häkkinen, Alesi, and Olivier Panis
' Ligier.
Schumacher also set the fastest time in the second qualifying session with a lap of 1:20.382, but it was not good enough to beat Hill's fastest time overall set in the first session. Hill made a set-up change that he turned out not to be happy with, but maintained his pole position, his first since the 1994 British Grand Prix
. The Williams and Benetton formation continued on the second row, as Coulthard was third, with Herbert qualifying fourth after a late flying lap, equalling his best-ever qualifying position, achieved at the 1994 Italian Grand Prix
for the Lotus team. However, a hole was punched in the bottom of Herbert's monocoque chassis during the session as a result of damage, leading to a night of repairs in order for him to be able to take the start in his designated race car. The work required to repair both Benetton cars caused Schumacher's race engineer, Pat Symonds
, to describe the weekend as "one of the hardest [...] I can remember for many years". It also meant that three British drivers started in the top four, leading Hill to joke that "the English [sic] have got Michael surrounded". Behind the leading four, the two Ferrari cars were fifth and sixth, Berger qualifying in front of Alesi. Both were optimistic on their race prospects, despite the fact that the former suffered an engine failure during the session. The two McLaren cars of Häkkinen and Blundell were seventh and ninth, the two split by Eddie Irvine
in a Jordan car. Irvine set his time despite spinning off during the session; his team-mate Barrichello suffered the season's first engine failure during a timed session on Friday and then gearbox
problems on Saturday, before also spinning off during that day's qualifying session, restricting his to a disappointing 16th position on the grid at his home race. Katayama and Salo proved evenly-matched for Tyrrell, qualifying in 11th and 12th respectively, behind Panis. The Minardi
drivers were also close, with Pierluigi Martini
and Luca Badoer
taking 17th and 18th positions on the grid respectively, separated from the Tyrrells by Gianni Morbidelli
(Footwork
), Frentzen, Aguri Suzuki
(Ligier) and Barrichello. Wendlinger took 19th position, the Sauber cars handling particularly badly on the bumpy track, ahead of Bertrand Gachot
and Montermini (both Pacific
drivers), who sandwiched Inoue in the second Footwork. At the back of the grid, the two Forti
and Simtek
cars covered positions 23 to 26. Schiattarella, in a Simtek, was last out of the four positions, having caused one of the two red flags in qualifying, crashing on the exit of turn three at the beginning of the second qualifying session. The Simtek team's testing time was limited on Friday as the mandatory onboard fire extinguisher
s for its cars failed to arrive in time; a similar problem with the late arrival of parts affecting Martini's Minardi. The times in the second session were generally quicker, with only Hill, Badoer and Wendlinger setting their quickest lap times during the first session.
from the FIA was given to all media and team personnel, notifying them that the chromatographic
analysis of the Elf fuel samples taken from Schumacher's Benetton and the Coulthard's Williams during qualifying did not match the sample provided by the fuel company before the start of the season for reference purposes, thus rendering both cars illegal. Both teams were fined $
30,000 and raced under appeal
, as the standard penalty for the offence was disqualification from the event. Neither Schumacher nor Coulthard were informed of the situation, as the teams did not want to unsettle their drivers before the race start. Hill and Herbert's races were not affected by the judgement, despite using the same type of fuel. Samples from Ferrari's Agip
and McLaren's Mobil
fuel were also tested; both were in accordance with the regulations. Though 26 cars qualified for the race, only 25 took the start: Martini retired on the parade lap
, his Minardi car suffering a gearbox problem.
Hill had a bad start from pole position, allowing Schumacher to overtake him into turn one. Panis, who started from tenth position in a Ligier, spun at the first corner after a nudge from Katayama, hitting the wall in the process and retiring from the race. Herbert, racing the spare Benetton chassis, dropped three places by the end of lap one, dropping behind Häkkinen and the two Ferrari cars. Blundell also made a poor start, dropping to fourteenth position after his gearbox changed from first to third gear as he accelerated away from the grid. At the end of the first lap, the race order was Schumacher leading Hill, from Coulthard, Häkkinen, Berger, Alesi, Herbert, Irvine, Katayama and Salo, with the two Tyrrells switching places on the next lap. At the start of lap three, Hill attempted to overtake Schumacher heading into turn five, but Schumacher closed the door on Hill. Hill lost the advantage for a moment, with team-mate Coulthard drawing alongside, but unable to get past with Hill on the inside line into turn six. Henceforth, Schumacher and Hill began to gradually pull away from Coulthard, who realised that he could not match the pace of the leaders and settled into his own rhythm, albeit one that was still comfortably faster than the cars behind him. By lap five, Herbert had dropped down to tenth position, unhappy with the handling of the spare car and having been overtaken by Irvine, Salo and Katayama. On lap ten, Schumacher lapped last-placed Diniz for the first time; the presence of slower cars a constant factor for the front-runners thereafter. On the same lap Frentzen retired from 12th position with electrical failure. He was joined by Schiattarella two laps later after his Simtek car developed a steering problem. Irvine made a pit stop
earlier than expected on lap fifteen, retiring from the race with a gearbox actuator problem. On the same lap, Katayama spun at the fourth corner, stalled
his car in the process and retired from the race. The two retirements meant Herbert moved back up to eighth position. Alesi was the first of the leading drivers to make a scheduled pit stop on lap 17, rejoining the track in eleventh place. Barrichello, Irvine's team-mate, retired a lap later, driving into the pit lane slowly with a gearbox problem. On the same lap, Verstappen retired his Simtek car with a clutch problem.
The Benetton and Williams teams were employing different pit stop strategies – the Benetton team were planning a three stop strategy whereas the Williams team were only planning for two stops. Schumacher pitted on lap 18, but was momentarily baulked by the slowing Jordan car of Barrichello as he was entering the pitlane. Schumacher exited the stop behind Berger, but overtook the Austrian driver at the beginning of the next lap. Hill, who had remained close behind Schumacher before the German pitted, made his own stop on lap 21, exiting the pitlane in front of Schumacher. Coulthard took the lead of the race for one lap, before pitting and dropping behind the two leaders and the yet-to-stop Häkkinen and Berger. Häkkinen and Berger were the final drivers of the leading teams to pit, however, the McLaren mechanics had trouble getting the fuel hose off the Finn's car when he stopped on lap 23, losing him ten seconds. Several other teams experienced problems with attaching and detaching the refuelling nozzles, and occasional small sprays of fuel were observed, reinforcing the problem experienced by McLaren with the equipment before the race meeting. Berger, adopting a strategy of pitting late, was the only driver not to have stopped by lap 24 and thus was third, with Hill, Schumacher, Coulthard, Alesi and Salo the other drivers in the top six places. Salo's stop had been faultless, gaining him significant time on those drivers who had been running in front of him. By this stage Gachot had retired his Pacific car after it got stuck in fifth gear. Berger made his stop on lap 27, but had problems leaving the pits after a communication problem between him and his mechanics nearly led to him leaving the pit lane with a loose wheel nut
on the front right-hand wheel. The pit "lollipop", signalling the driver when to leave, was raised and lowered again in quick succession, preventing Berger from leaving until the wheel nut was sufficiently tightened. The miscommunication cost Berger 13 seconds, dropping him back to seventh position. Alesi fell behind Salo and Häkkinen after the first set of pit stops, Salo overtaking him on lap 25, with Häkkinen moving past three laps later as Alesi was held up behind the lapped Montermini.
Once in front of Schumacher, Hill was able to gradually extend his lead to 3.4 seconds by lap 30 despite carrying a heavier fuel load for one fewer planned pit stop. However, he lost second gear during the course of that lap, and then spun off at turn two on lap 31, retiring from the race with a suspected gearbox seizure. On the same lap, Herbert also retired from the race after suffering damage in a collision with Suzuki, who himself had to make an unscheduled pit stop to replace his car's damaged nosecone. Schumacher thus assumed the lead as a result of Hill's retirement, leading by 11.5 seconds from Coulthard. Salo was third in the remaining Tyrrell, 39.4 seconds behind Coulthard. Häkkinen and the two Ferrari cars completed the top six positions. Schumacher made his second pit stop on lap 37, exiting in second position behind Coulthard. Salo and Häkkinen, both performing much better than had been expected prior to the race, battled over third position until lap 39, when Salo, suffering from cramp and driving with one hand, spun at the final bend. He pitted soon after for fresh tyres, dropping down to eighth position. Häkkinen, having moved up to third, made his second stop on lap 43, exiting behind the two Ferrari cars, Berger moving in front of Alesi as the latter made his stop on the following lap, rejoining in seventh. Coulthard pitted from the lead on lap 47, the gap between him and Schumacher not big enough to allow him to maintain the lead. Schumacher set the fastest lap of the race, 1:30.921, extending his lead to such an extent that when he made his own final stop on lap 52, he maintained the lead. After his final stop, Schumacher gradually opened his leading margin 11 seconds, winning the race after 71 laps in a time of 1:48:49.972s, with Coulthard finishing second in his Williams. The Ferraris of Berger – who made his final stop on lap 49 without losing a place – and Alesi were third and fifth respectively, but off the pace as Schumacher lapped them both in the closing stages. Häkkinen, despite losing part of his rear wing after his car was struck by a bird, split them both to take fourth position. In the closing stages, Morbidelli and Blundell both overtook Salo, only for the Footwork driver to retire on lap 62 with a blocked fuel line. Blundell, who had earlier changed his steering wheel and was driving without the use of third gear, thus took the final point in sixth place, ahead of Salo, Suzuki, Montermini – who completed the race distance despite struggling with a broken floor on his chassis, taking the Pacific team's first race finish – and Diniz. The race saw a high attrition rate; only ten out of the 25 starters finished the race. Of the other late retirents, Wendlinger suffered a broken battery cable on lap 41, Roberto Moreno
and Badoer retired on lap 47 due to a spin and gearbox problem respectively, and Inoue's car caught fire on lap 48. The Japanese driver was in any case due to receive the black flag for receiving an illegal push-start from the marshals following a spin on the circuit.
, revealing that his spin was due to a gearbox problem; the Williams car losing second gear before apparently seizing completely. Hill also said that he was "very, very disappointed" with the result, and that "we could have beaten him [Schumacher] today". Further post-race analysis conducted by the Williams team, however, found that the problem was actually a broken left-rear suspension
pushrod
.
During the podium ceremony, Schumacher, Coulthard and Berger did not spray the traditional champagne as a mark of respect to Senna. Schumacher felt lucky to win the race, conceding that "Damon was a little bit quicker than me...he ended up going off and that's racing, but I don't think I could have caught him." He also believed that his good start was fortunate, as it was the first one he had made in the new Benetton car; the team had not practised starts previously due to being short of time. He also specified his evasion of Barrichello's slowing car in the pit-lane entry while making his first stop as a crucial moment of the race. Coulthard admitted that he had been affected by his tonsillitis: "I wasn't able to match Michael and Damon's pace so I settled for running my own race". Berger, meanwhile, was frustrated to finish a lap down on Schumacher, saying that "He was faster everywhere: down the straights, going in and out of the corners. What can you do in these conditions? Okay, the car's roadholding is not bad. We must work very hard now. But at least I finished, that's something."
After the Grand Prix, Schumacher's Benetton and Coulthard's Williams cars were from the race classification as a result of the illegal fuel sample "fingerprints", and Berger declared the new victor. Further samples of both cars' fuel were taken after the race; these also did not match the specified sample. Patrick Head was surprised by this outcome as he believed that "there was no question of disqualification until the fuel samples had been returned to Europe for further analysis". In addition to Benetton and Williams, fuel samples were taken from the Ferrari (Agip
) and McLaren (Mobil
) cars during the event, all of were declared legal after FIA analsis. After an appeal was made by the two teams, the drivers were reinstated into the race classification at the hearing on April 13 (after the Argentine Grand Prix
had taken place); however, the teams did not receive Constructors' points. The two teams were fined a further $200,000 during the hearing. It was generally agreed that the illegal fuel did not offer a performance advantage or break any of the regulations relating to chemical composition, only that it did not precisely match the sample that had previously been lodged with the FIA. Niki Lauda
, an advisor to Ferrari, was not happy with the decision made at the appeal:
Berger also commented on the situation, saying "I no longer understand anything. Formula One has become a joke." In the lead-up to the San Marino Grand Prix, Schumacher was quoted saying that Berger should "concentrate on racing instead of thinking how he can criticise me. I have never understood how someone can celebrate a victory like that [Brazil] one lap down and winning after someone else has been disqualified." Berger responded to Schumacher's comments by saying:
Max Mosley
, the president of the FIA, also responded to Schumacher's comments saying that his comments "reflect poorly on the sport and show a lack of adult attitude". Mosley also commented on the weight issue surrounding Schumacher saying that "it is a pity that it became a matter for public discussion, whether he drank a huge amount of water, didn't go to the loo or had a heavy helmet. It is just a pity he didn't take care that it didn't happen". Elf was also unhappy with the way in which the episode had been handled, the company's Commercial Director Michel Bonnet declaring that "We believe the FIA acted in a high-handed manner in disqualifying our two cars so quickly. It should have declared the results provisional and waited for the results of further analysis. Acting the way it did, the FIA has affected the image of large industrial companies, of top F1 teams and of famous drivers. The fact that we have been treated as cheats by a red team – probably red with embarassment at having finished one lap behind our cars – and by Gerhard Berger is a serious slur against us." Elf also threatened to take the matter to a tribunal if the cars were not reinstated. Company representative Valerie Jorquera also highlighted the need for a consistent chromatographic analysis of fuel samples, drawing attention to the fact that the samples provided during the event had been analysed by a different company than the reference sample, and that the differences may have been caused by the use of different analytical machines and methods. The incident was seen as unfortunate for the sport, which was trying to make a fresh start after several controversies the previous year
. From the San Marino Grand Prix onwards, an FIA mobile fuel laboratory accompanied the teams to each event to permit more detailed testing at the track, in addition to ensuring consistency between events.
Constructors' Championship standings
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
motor race held on March 26, 1995 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Autódromo José Carlos Pace, also known by its former name Interlagos, is a motor racing circuit located in the city of São Paulo, and named after Carlos Pace, a Brazilian Formula One driver, who had died prior to its naming...
, São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. It was the first round of the 1995 Formula One season
1995 Formula One season
The 1995 Formula One season was the 46th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship, which was contested over 17 races from March 26 to November 12, 1995. For the second year in succession, the Drivers' Championship was won by Michael Schumacher,...
. The race, contested over 71 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
for the Benetton
Benetton Formula
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for...
team after starting from second position. David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
finished second in a Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
, with Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger, is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver, who previously owned 50% of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team until he sold his share back to energy drink owner Dietrich Mateschitz in November 2008....
third in a Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
. Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...
, who started the race from pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
, spun out while leading on lap 30 with an apparent gearbox
Transmission (mechanics)
A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...
problem, which was later found to be a suspension
Suspension (vehicle)
Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...
failure. Schumacher's win came despite Benetton encountering steering problems with his car during Friday practice, leading to him crashing heavily and necessitating steering component changes for the rest of the event. Despite Schumacher's victory, Hill proved to be faster during the race, and seemed to be on course for a comfortable victory before his sudden retirement.
Other notable performances came from Berger, who took the final podium position despite being delayed during one of his routine pit stops due to a problem with a loose wheel nut; Mika Häkkinen
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion...
, who finished fourth for the McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
team despite its new car proving to be uncompetitive in pre-season testing; and Mika Salo
Mika Salo
Mika Juhani Salo is a Finnish racing driver. He competed in Formula One between and . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans....
, who drove strongly in the first half of the race to run third in his first Grand Prix for the Tyrrell
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...
team, only to suffer from a cramp and drop back to seventh place at the finish. Behind Häkkinen, the other points-scoring finishers were Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi...
in the second Ferrari and Mark Blundell
Mark Blundell
Mark Blundell is a Formula One, sports car, and CART racing driver. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to the BBC....
, who drove the second McLaren. Blundell was standing in for regular driver Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
in the second McLaren until the team could produce a wider chassis in which to accommodate him, as the car's initial cockpit design had proved to be too narrow for him to drive comfortably.
Several hours after the conclusion of the race, Schumacher and Coulthard were from the race result as the chemical "fingerprint" of fuel samples from their cars taken after qualifying and the race did not match the specified sample lodged with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
(FIA) prior to the event. Berger was thus declared the winner, but the race stewards' decision to exclude them was overturned at an appeal hearing on April 13. Schumacher and Coulthard were reinstated in first and second places respectively, but the two teams did not receive their respective constructors' points. The Ferrari team was unhappy with the decision made at the appeal hearing; Berger called the sport "a joke". The rule concerning the legality of fuels had been changed for the 1995 season, as had the new standardised equipment used for refuelling during the race, the drivers' weighing-in procedure and the conditions of the drivers' racing licences
FIA Super Licence
The FIA Super Licence is a qualification allowing the licence holder to take part in Formula One Grands Prix as a driver. The licence is issued by the FIA upon request....
; all of these changes produced controversies which at times threatened to overshadow the race, as did the excessively bumpy condition of the track. The race also marked the first Brazilian Grand Prix to take place since the death of Brazilian triple World Champion Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
the previous year; his passing was commemorated in various ways throughout the event.
Background
The race was the first round of the 1995 Formula One season1995 Formula One season
The 1995 Formula One season was the 46th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship, which was contested over 17 races from March 26 to November 12, 1995. For the second year in succession, the Drivers' Championship was won by Michael Schumacher,...
after a four month break since the last race of the 1994 season
1994 Formula One season
The 1994 Formula One season was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 27, 1994, and ended on November 13 after sixteen races. The season is remembered as one of the most tragic and controversial seasons in...
in Australia
1994 Australian Grand Prix
The 1994 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on November 13, 1994 at the Adelaide Street Circuit. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1994 Formula One season. The race is remembered for an incident involving the two title contenders Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher which...
. Over the winter months, the Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Autódromo José Carlos Pace, also known by its former name Interlagos, is a motor racing circuit located in the city of São Paulo, and named after Carlos Pace, a Brazilian Formula One driver, who had died prior to its naming...
race track was resurfaced in an attempt to reduce its bumpiness. The drivers were unhappy with the resurfacing work, though, as the track became more bumpy than in the previous year
1994 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on March 27, 1994 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo. It was the first race of the 1994 Formula One season.- Pre-Race :...
. Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
driver David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
described the track as "bumpy as hell, quite unbelievable". He was also concerned about his stamina for the duration of the 71-lap race, as he had suffered from a bout of tonsillitis
Tonsillitis
Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils most commonly caused by viral or bacterial infection. Symptoms of tonsillitis include sore throat and fever. While no treatment has been found to shorten the duration of viral tonsillitis, bacterial causes are treatable with antibiotics...
in the run-up to the event which had disrupted his physical training. Local Jordan
Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan...
driver Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...
was even more vocal in his criticism of the track's condition, declaring that the circuit organisers were "a bunch of idiots. The track is three times bumpier than before. It is not by applying layer upon layer of tarmac that they will improve matters." Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Heinz-Harald Frentzen is a German racing driver most famous for his career in Formula One. At various times driving for Williams, Jordan, Sauber, Prost, and Arrows, he achieved three race wins before his retirement from F1 in 2003.-Early career:He was born in the West German city of...
claimed that the bumping was so bad that he was close to passing out; the Sauber
Sauber
Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993....
car handled badly over the bumps throughout the weekend.
The race marked the first Brazilian Grand Prix to be held since the death of three-time champion Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
the previous year in a racing accident at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix
1994 San Marino Grand Prix
The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 1, 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One season...
. As such, various tributes were paid to him throughout the weekend, including a parade lap on the back of a truck with all the drivers waving Brazilian flags; a display from the Brazilian Air Force
Brazilian Air Force
The Brazilian Air Force is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces"...
which resulted in a large "S" trail in the sky; and the renaming of a local highway to Rodovia
Brazilian Highway System
The Brazilian Highway System is the highway system of Brazil, the fourth largest in the World. As of 2010, the system consists of almost 2 million kilometers of roads, of which approximately 200,000 km are paved.As it is in the United States, Canada or most countries in Europe, larger/wider...
Ayrton Senna. The São Paulo city authorities had planned to rename the circuit after Senna, but the family of Carlos Pace
José Carlos Pace
José Carlos Pace was a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 73 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on March 4, 1972. He won one race, achieved six podiums, and scored a total of 58 championship points...
, the existing dedicatee, objected. Barrichello also sported a special helmet design as a personal tribute to his compatriot. As a result of Senna's death, the event was lower-key than in recent years: fewer spectators turned out to watch practice and qualifying, but the race itself was watched by a capacity crowd.
The threat of a drivers' boycott over the terms of their 1995 FIA Super Licences
FIA Super Licence
The FIA Super Licence is a qualification allowing the licence holder to take part in Formula One Grands Prix as a driver. The licence is issued by the FIA upon request....
, which allowed the FIA to demand promotional appearances and forbade the drivers from criticising the championship, was defused by the governing body prior to the race, ensuring full driver participation in the championship. Although the Super License issue was resolved with 14 teams and 28 drivers on the official 1995 entry list, the Larrousse
Larrousse
Larrousse Formula One was a motorsports racing team founded in 1987 by Didier Calmels and former racer Gérard Larrousse, originally under the name Larrousse & Calmels. It was based in Antony, in the southern suburbs of Paris. It was renamed Larrousse after the departure of Calmels for legal reasons...
team with drivers Éric Bernard
Éric Bernard
Éric Bernard is a retired Formula One racing driver, who drove for the Ligier, Larrousse and Lotus teams....
and Christophe Bouchut
Christophe Bouchut
Christophe Bouchut is a French race driver. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1993. He currently drives in the FIA GT1 World Championship...
did not make an appearance at the circuit for any of the on-track sessions. This was due to the team running short of money: in the period prior to the event, with French government aid not forthcoming and a 1995 chassis not yet built, team owner Gérard Larrousse
Gérard Larrousse
Gérard Larrousse is a former sports car racing, rallying and Formula One driver from France.He participated in two Grands Prix, debuting on 12 May 1974, scoring no championship points. He drove Brabham BT42s for Scuderia Finotto....
elected to miss the first two rounds of the season in the hope of competing from the San Marino Grand Prix
1995 San Marino Grand Prix
The 1995 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on April 30, 1995 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola. It was the third race of the 1995 Formula One season....
onwards.
Footwork FA16
The Footwork FA16 was a Formula One car designed by Alan Jenkins with which the Footwork team competed in the 1995 Formula One season. The car was powered by a Hart V8 engine and ran on Goodyear tyres. It was driven initially by Gianni Morbidelli, who was in his second season with the team, and...
and Simtek S951
Simtek S951
The Simtek S951 was a Formula One car for the 1995 season. The number 11 seat was taken by Domenico Schiattarella and the number 12 seat was taken by Jos Verstappen. The teams test driver was Hideki Noda. Noda was set to take the number 11 seat for the second half of the season, but the team closed...
chassis arrived at the event with virtually no testing, having been completed shortly beforehand. Of the initial 1995 drivers, Pedro Diniz
Pedro Diniz
Pedro Paulo Diniz is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 99 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 26, 1995...
was the only "complete" , having not been officially entered in any other Formula One race meetings, while Andrea Montermini
Andrea Montermini
-Career:Montermini raced in Formula 3 in 1989, taking second place in the Monaco GP support race and 4th in the Italian F3 Championship. He then moved up to Formula 3000, racing for three season before finally taking second place in the 1992 season, winning three rounds while driving for the Il...
started his first race after failing to qualify for the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix
1994 Spanish Grand Prix
The 1994 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 29, 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...
due to injury. Mika Salo
Mika Salo
Mika Juhani Salo is a Finnish racing driver. He competed in Formula One between and . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans....
and Domenico Schiattarella
Domenico Schiattarella
Domenico Schiattarella , known as Mimmo, is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 7 Formula One Grands Prix for Simtek, debuting on October 16, 1994, and finishing when the team folded the next year. He scored no championship points, with a best finish of 9th in the 1995 Argentine...
had competed in two races, with Taki Inoue
Taki Inoue
Takachiho "Taki" Inoue is a retired motor racing driver from Japan.Inoue competed in the British Formula Ford Championship in 1988, followed by a spell in All-Japan Formula Three from 1989 to 1993 and a season in the International Formula 3000 championship in 1994.He participated in 18 Formula One...
competing in one race the previous season.
At the front of the field, Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
and Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...
in the Benetton
Benetton Formula
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for...
and Williams cars respectively were the favourites to battle for the Drivers' Championship, with Schumacher anticipating a "struggle" for the championship. Bernard Dudot, Renault Sport's
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
Chief Engineer, said that he believed Benetton was less well-prepared than Williams, as the former team had changed its engine supplier to Renault, whereas Williams had been in partnership with the company since . Hill arrived at the event with the psychological advantage of having set the fastest time at the final pre-season testing session at the Autódromo do Estoril
Autódromo do Estoril
The Autódromo do Estoril is a race course in Portugal, owned by state-run holding management company Parpública. Its length is . It was the home of the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix from 1984 to 1996....
, 0.35 seconds faster than Schumacher's best around the circuit. The Williams team had also completed 2,500 miles of testing with its FW17
Williams FW17
The Williams FW17 was a Formula One car designed by Adrian Newey with which the Williams team competed in the 1995 Formula One season. It was driven by Damon Hill, who was in his third year with the team, and David Coulthard, who was in his first full season after a part-time role in .With what...
chassis, significantly more than Benetton; the team had encountered some reliability problems with its own B195
Benetton B195
The Benetton B195 was a Formula One car designed by Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn for use by Benetton in the 1995 Formula One season. The B195 was almost identical to the Benetton B194 but a change of engine supplier from Ford to Renault caused a redesign of the engine installation, gearbox and rear...
chassis.
Heading into the new season, attention also focused on the McLaren team and its driver Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
. He was initially announced as the partner of Mika Häkkinen
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion...
; however, a week before the first race, McLaren announced that Mansell would not compete in the first two races of the new season, as he could not fit into the MP4/10
McLaren MP4/10
The McLaren MP4/10 was the car with which the McLaren team competed in the Formula One season. It was driven mainly by Mark Blundell, who started the year without a drive, and Mika Häkkinen, who was in his second full season with the team. The car was also driven by champion Nigel Mansell and...
car. Mansell's arrival at McLaren was due to demand from the team's sponsors, including Philip Morris
Philip Morris USA
Philip Morris USA is the United States tobacco division of Altria Group, Inc. Philip Morris USA brands include Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Benson and Hedges, Merit, Parliament, Alpine, Basic, Cambridge, Bucks, Dave's, Chesterfield, Collector's Choice, Commander, English Ovals, Lark, L&M, Players and...
, whose brand, Marlboro, was on the car, who wanted to enjoy the publicity associated with the World Champion's return even if it meant him performing worse than team-mate Häkkinen. His place at McLaren for the first two races was taken by the team's test driver
Test driver
In motor sports it is common to have one or more test drivers that work with the mechanics to help develop the vehicle by testing new systems on the track.-NASCAR:...
, Mark Blundell
Mark Blundell
Mark Blundell is a Formula One, sports car, and CART racing driver. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to the BBC....
, as McLaren worked to build a wider monocoque
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...
to accommodate Mansell. McLaren were also concerned about the standard refuelling equipment provided for 1995 by suppliers Intertechnique, having suffered a major leak in a test of the new rig outside of its factory. Intertechnique had redesigned the fuel equipment, which was used by all of the teams, in the wake of a pit lane
Pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...
fire suffered by driver Jos Verstappen
Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen nicknamed "Jos the Boss" is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races...
during the previous year's German Grand Prix
1994 German Grand Prix
The 1994 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 31, 1994 at the Hockenheimring, Hockenheim. It was the ninth race of the 1994 Formula One season....
. The new fuel rigs, in addition to being half the size of the 1994, also featured longer nozzles, and were designed to lock onto the car before any fuel could begin to flow. Intertechnique traced the problem to a faulty valve within the equipment, which caused 10 kilograms (22 lb) of fuel to leak, and modified the parts accordingly. Intertechnique and the FIA advised the teams to refuel the cars slowly and carefully during pitstops to avoid any further leaks, a situation that was considered unsatisfactory by many of the team principals and mechanics. A new regulation for 1995 also mandated the teams' fuel suppliers to send samples of their fuel to the FIA prior to each Grand Prix, which the governing body would use as a reference when conducting fuel tests at the event itself. Thus only fuel approved by the FIA in advance was allowed; any deviations from the samples on file was not permitted. As before, all cars were subject to routine fuel tests as part of the scrutineering process throughout the weekend to ensure compliance with the sport's technical regulations. The rule change had been proposed by the Elf
Elf Aquitaine
Elf Aquitaine was a French oil company which merged with TotalFina to form TotalFinaElf. The new company changed its name to Total in 2003...
oil company in 1993 and unanimously supported by the other F1 suppliers in order to speed up the fuel-testing process.
Controversy also surrounded the new Ligier JS41
Ligier JS41
The Ligier JS41 was a Formula One car designed by former Lotus designer Frank Dernie for use by the Ligier team in the 1995 Formula One season. The number 26 seat was taken by Olivier Panis and the number 25 seat was shared by Martin Brundle and Aguri Suzuki. The teams test driver was Franck...
car, with rival team owners comparing it to the Benetton B195 car because of their similar design, the only apparent difference being the engine in each car. The Ligier team was being run in 1995 by Tom Walkinshaw
Tom Walkinshaw
Tom Walkinshaw was a Scottish racing car driver and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing...
, who had been Benetton's Engineering Director the previous season. Commenting on the design similarities, Walkinshaw said:
One of the rule revisions stated that the minimum weight limit of 595 kilograms (1,311.8 lb) applied to both car and driver together. Prior to the first session of the season, all of the drivers were weighed to establish a reference weight to be used on occasions when the two were weighed separately, or if the driver was unavailable to be weighed. As such, a small competitive advantage could be established if the driver attempted to register a weight as heavy as possible, so their actual weight when driving the car would be lower. Williams Technical Director Patrick Head
Patrick Head
Patrick Head , is co-founder and Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team.For 25 years from Head was technical director at Williams Grand Prix Engineering, and responsible for many innovations within Formula One. Head oversaw the design and construction of Williams cars until May 2004...
estimated that a weight penalty of 7 kilograms (15.4 lb) could cost 14 seconds over the course of 70 laps of the circuit. In the drivers' weigh-in, Schumacher weighed in at 77 kilograms (169.8 lb), compared to 69 kilograms (152.1 lb) at the beginning of the 1994 season. Sauber driver Karl Wendlinger
Karl Wendlinger
Karl Wendlinger is an Austrian sportscar racing and former Formula One driver.- Mercedes Juniors :Wendlinger started his career in karting and in Formula Ford before entering the German Formula 3 Championship in 1988...
gained the most weight compared to 1994, gaining 22 pounds (10 kg). Wendlinger's team-mate Frentzen and Tyrrell
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...
driver Ukyo Katayama
Ukyo Katayama
is a Japanese racing driver, most notable for competing six years in Formula One. Despite struggling with under-funded teams throughout his career, Katayama's performances impressed on several occasions, and was popular in the F1 paddock for his unshakeably sunny disposition and self-deprecating...
added the least amount of weight, gaining 3 pounds (1.4 kg). When Schumacher was weighed after the race, his weight had decreased to 71.5 kilograms (157.6 lb), although this weight, when combined with that of his car, still left it above the limit, at 599 kilograms (1,320.6 lb). Schumacher explained the weight gain as a consequence of a fitness regime over the winter that had converted excess fat to muscle, and also admitted to eating and drinking heavily, in addition to refraining from using the toilet, prior to the weigh-in.
Practice and qualifying
Two practice sessions were held before the race; the first was held on Friday morning, with the second held on Saturday morning. Both were held in damp conditions due to overnight rain with the track drying towards the conclusion of the respective sessions. Both sessions lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes. Qualifying was split into two one-hour sessions; the first was held on Friday afternoon with the second held on Saturday afternoon. The fastest time from either of the two qualifying sessions counted towards their final grid positionStanding start
A standing start is a type of start in auto racing events, in which cars are stationary when the race begins. In a standing start, cars are completely still when a green signal is given to start the race, often preceded by a set of lights...
.
In the first practice session, Hill was fastest with a time of 1:21.664, two thousands of a second ahead of team-mate Coulthard. Schumacher was third, with the Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
cars of Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi...
and Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger, is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver, who previously owned 50% of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team until he sold his share back to energy drink owner Dietrich Mateschitz in November 2008....
, who had been the leading two for most session, close behind. Blundell in the McLaren was sixth, with team-mate Häkkinen finishing the session in 14th position, the Finnish driver complaining of steering
Steering
Steering is the term applied to the collection of components, linkages, etc. which will allow a vessel or vehicle to follow the desired course...
problems with the car. The two Ferrari drivers used different pedal layouts in the 412T2
Ferrari 412T
The Ferrari 412T was the type name for the cars used by Ferrari in the 1994 and 1995 Formula One Season. It was designed by John Barnard and Gustav Brunner....
chassis: Berger's car was equipped with two pedals and a hand-operated clutch, whereas Alesi preferred the traditional three-pedal system.
Hill set a provisional pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
time of 1:20.081 during the first qualifying session, ahead of Berger, Coulthard, Alesi, Häkkinen and Schumacher. The session was disrupted after Schumacher crashed heavily into the tyre barrier at turn eight, a corner normally taken at a speed of 140 miles per hour (225.3 km/h). As a precaution, Benetton opted to keep Schumacher's team-mate, Johnny Herbert
Johnny Herbert
John Paul Herbert is a British racing driver from England. He competed in Formula One, winning three races, and also in sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B...
, in the garage while the team found out what was wrong with the car. This meant that Herbert did not set a time in the session, while Schumacher completed only two of his twelve allotted laps. Speaking of the incident, Schumacher said that "there was a little movement in the steering wheel at the previous corner and at the next it went completely. I spun the car backwards into the tyre barrier and the safety structure behind my head did a good job of protecting me. For sure I am not very happy about this, but I believe that the team will spend a lot of time investigating the situation for tomorrow and they will find the problem." The problem was determined to be a steering failure, specifically a joint in the car's steering column
Steering column
The automotive steering column is a device intended primarily for connecting the steering wheel to the steering mechanism or transferring the driver's input torque from the steering wheel.-Secondary functions:...
. Replacement steering components were sourced from São Paulo by Benetton engineer Tim Wright
Tim Wright (engineer)
Tim Wright is a former Formula One engineer.Wright has a remarkable racing pedigree, dating back to the late 1970s when he worked at Bruce McLaren Motor Racing. His career then took him to Fittipaldi Automotive as a senior design draughtsman and then to the Spirit F1 team...
, and the team did not encounter any problems over the remainder of the weekend.
Ride height
Ride height is the amount of space between the base of an automobile tire and the underside of the chassis; or, more properly, to the shortest distance between a flat, level surface, and any part of a vehicle other than those parts designed to contact the ground...
proved beneficial to its performance. The top six was completed by Berger, Hill, Häkkinen, Alesi, and Olivier Panis
Olivier Panis
Olivier Panis is a French racing driver. Panis is best known in F1 not only as a test driver for the McLaren team but for his win at the eventful Monaco Grand Prix in 1996 for the Ligier team after starting 14th...
' Ligier.
Schumacher also set the fastest time in the second qualifying session with a lap of 1:20.382, but it was not good enough to beat Hill's fastest time overall set in the first session. Hill made a set-up change that he turned out not to be happy with, but maintained his pole position, his first since the 1994 British Grand Prix
1994 British Grand Prix
The 1994 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 July, 1994 at the Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone. It was the eighth race of the 1994 Formula One season. It marked the halfway stage of the season...
. The Williams and Benetton formation continued on the second row, as Coulthard was third, with Herbert qualifying fourth after a late flying lap, equalling his best-ever qualifying position, achieved at the 1994 Italian Grand Prix
1994 Italian Grand Prix
The 1994 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on September 11, 1994 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza. It was the twelfth race of the 1994 Formula One season....
for the Lotus team. However, a hole was punched in the bottom of Herbert's monocoque chassis during the session as a result of damage, leading to a night of repairs in order for him to be able to take the start in his designated race car. The work required to repair both Benetton cars caused Schumacher's race engineer, Pat Symonds
Pat Symonds
Patrick Bruce Reith Symonds is the former Executive Director of Engineering of the Renault Formula One team....
, to describe the weekend as "one of the hardest [...] I can remember for many years". It also meant that three British drivers started in the top four, leading Hill to joke that "the English [sic] have got Michael surrounded". Behind the leading four, the two Ferrari cars were fifth and sixth, Berger qualifying in front of Alesi. Both were optimistic on their race prospects, despite the fact that the former suffered an engine failure during the session. The two McLaren cars of Häkkinen and Blundell were seventh and ninth, the two split by Eddie Irvine
Eddie Irvine
Edmund "Eddie" Irvine, Jr. is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He grew up in Conlig, County Down, and was influenced by his parents, who were also involved in motor racing...
in a Jordan car. Irvine set his time despite spinning off during the session; his team-mate Barrichello suffered the season's first engine failure during a timed session on Friday and then gearbox
Transmission (mechanics)
A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...
problems on Saturday, before also spinning off during that day's qualifying session, restricting his to a disappointing 16th position on the grid at his home race. Katayama and Salo proved evenly-matched for Tyrrell, qualifying in 11th and 12th respectively, behind Panis. The Minardi
Minardi
Minardi was an automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans...
drivers were also close, with Pierluigi Martini
Pierluigi Martini
Pierluigi Martini is an Italian former racing driver.He participated in 124 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on September 9, 1984 substituting for Ayrton Senna at the Toleman team...
and Luca Badoer
Luca Badoer
Luca Badoer is an Italian Formula One driver who has raced for the Scuderia Italia, Minardi, Forti Corse and most recently, Ferrari teams...
taking 17th and 18th positions on the grid respectively, separated from the Tyrrells by Gianni Morbidelli
Gianni Morbidelli
Gianni Morbidelli is a racing driver from Italy. He is the son of Giancarlo Morbidelli, the founder of Morbidelli motorcycle company which had success in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Morbidelli participated in 70 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 11, 1990. He achieved one podium, and...
(Footwork
Footwork Arrows
Footwork Arrows was the name of a Formula One motor racing team, competing during the mid-1990s. Japanese businessman Wataru Ohashi, who was the president of Footwork Express Co., Ltd., a Japanese logistics company, began investing heavily in the Arrows team in 1990, the deal including requiring...
), Frentzen, Aguri Suzuki
Aguri Suzuki
is a former racing driver from Japan. He participated in 88 Formula One Grands Prix, and his most notable achievement in racing was 3rd place at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix. Suzuki then became involved in team ownership, with interests firstly in the Japanese Formula Nippon Championship and the...
(Ligier) and Barrichello. Wendlinger took 19th position, the Sauber cars handling particularly badly on the bumpy track, ahead of Bertrand Gachot
Bertrand Gachot
Bertrand Gachot is a French-Belgian former racing driver.-Career:Gachot is the son of a French European Commission official. He began karting at the age of 15. In 1983 he attended Winfield School, a well-known racing-driving school in France. After this, he focused on his racing career, competing...
and Montermini (both Pacific
Pacific Racing
Pacific Racing was a motor racing team from the United Kingdom...
drivers), who sandwiched Inoue in the second Footwork. At the back of the grid, the two Forti
Forti
Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief, and unsuccessful, involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the late 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades...
and Simtek
Simtek
Simtek was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The F1 engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved in many areas of Formula One, including wind tunnel construction and chassis building for third...
cars covered positions 23 to 26. Schiattarella, in a Simtek, was last out of the four positions, having caused one of the two red flags in qualifying, crashing on the exit of turn three at the beginning of the second qualifying session. The Simtek team's testing time was limited on Friday as the mandatory onboard fire extinguisher
Fire extinguisher
A fire extinguisher or extinguisher, flame entinguisher is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergency situations...
s for its cars failed to arrive in time; a similar problem with the late arrival of parts affecting Martini's Minardi. The times in the second session were generally quicker, with only Hill, Badoer and Wendlinger setting their quickest lap times during the first session.
Race
The conditions for the race were dry, with a capacity crowd of some 40,000 fans turning out to watch the race. The drivers took to the track on Sunday morning for a 30-minute warm-up session. Both Williams cars maintained their good performance from qualifying; Coulthard was fastest with team-mate Hill in second. Schumacher completed the top three positions. Herbert and Katayama both suffered from gearbox problems with their race cars, and elected to start the race with their teams' spare cars. The Simtek team did not take part in the session, as both drivers waited for stronger suspension components flown out from the United Kingdom to be fitted to the cars for the race. Minutes before the race started, a press releaseNews release
A press release, news release, media release, press statement or video release is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something ostensibly newsworthy...
from the FIA was given to all media and team personnel, notifying them that the chromatographic
Chromatography
Chromatography is the collective term for a set of laboratory techniques for the separation of mixtures....
analysis of the Elf fuel samples taken from Schumacher's Benetton and the Coulthard's Williams during qualifying did not match the sample provided by the fuel company before the start of the season for reference purposes, thus rendering both cars illegal. Both teams were fined $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
30,000 and raced under appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
, as the standard penalty for the offence was disqualification from the event. Neither Schumacher nor Coulthard were informed of the situation, as the teams did not want to unsettle their drivers before the race start. Hill and Herbert's races were not affected by the judgement, despite using the same type of fuel. Samples from Ferrari's Agip
Agip
Agip is an Italian automotive gasoline and diesel retailer established in 1926. It is a subsidiary of the multinational petroleum company Eni.In 2003, Eni S.p.A...
and McLaren's Mobil
Mobil
Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...
fuel were also tested; both were in accordance with the regulations. Though 26 cars qualified for the race, only 25 took the start: Martini retired on the parade lap
Parade lap
A parade lap, also known as a formation lap or warm-up lap, is a lap before a motorsport race begins, in which the drivers go around the track at a slow speed , and, in some cases, behind the safety car...
, his Minardi car suffering a gearbox problem.
Pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...
earlier than expected on lap fifteen, retiring from the race with a gearbox actuator problem. On the same lap, Katayama spun at the fourth corner, stalled
Stall (engine)
A stall is the slowing or stopping of a process, and in the case of an engine, refers to a sudden stopping of the engine turning, usually brought about accidentally....
his car in the process and retired from the race. The two retirements meant Herbert moved back up to eighth position. Alesi was the first of the leading drivers to make a scheduled pit stop on lap 17, rejoining the track in eleventh place. Barrichello, Irvine's team-mate, retired a lap later, driving into the pit lane slowly with a gearbox problem. On the same lap, Verstappen retired his Simtek car with a clutch problem.
The Benetton and Williams teams were employing different pit stop strategies – the Benetton team were planning a three stop strategy whereas the Williams team were only planning for two stops. Schumacher pitted on lap 18, but was momentarily baulked by the slowing Jordan car of Barrichello as he was entering the pitlane. Schumacher exited the stop behind Berger, but overtook the Austrian driver at the beginning of the next lap. Hill, who had remained close behind Schumacher before the German pitted, made his own stop on lap 21, exiting the pitlane in front of Schumacher. Coulthard took the lead of the race for one lap, before pitting and dropping behind the two leaders and the yet-to-stop Häkkinen and Berger. Häkkinen and Berger were the final drivers of the leading teams to pit, however, the McLaren mechanics had trouble getting the fuel hose off the Finn's car when he stopped on lap 23, losing him ten seconds. Several other teams experienced problems with attaching and detaching the refuelling nozzles, and occasional small sprays of fuel were observed, reinforcing the problem experienced by McLaren with the equipment before the race meeting. Berger, adopting a strategy of pitting late, was the only driver not to have stopped by lap 24 and thus was third, with Hill, Schumacher, Coulthard, Alesi and Salo the other drivers in the top six places. Salo's stop had been faultless, gaining him significant time on those drivers who had been running in front of him. By this stage Gachot had retired his Pacific car after it got stuck in fifth gear. Berger made his stop on lap 27, but had problems leaving the pits after a communication problem between him and his mechanics nearly led to him leaving the pit lane with a loose wheel nut
Lug nut
A lug nut is a fastener, specifically a nut, used to secure a wheel on a vehicle. Typically, lug nuts are found on automobiles, trucks , and other large vehicles utilizing rubber tires.-Design:...
on the front right-hand wheel. The pit "lollipop", signalling the driver when to leave, was raised and lowered again in quick succession, preventing Berger from leaving until the wheel nut was sufficiently tightened. The miscommunication cost Berger 13 seconds, dropping him back to seventh position. Alesi fell behind Salo and Häkkinen after the first set of pit stops, Salo overtaking him on lap 25, with Häkkinen moving past three laps later as Alesi was held up behind the lapped Montermini.
Roberto Moreno
Roberto Pupo Moreno , usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 championship points. He raced in CART in 1986, and was Formula 3000 champion before joining...
and Badoer retired on lap 47 due to a spin and gearbox problem respectively, and Inoue's car caught fire on lap 48. The Japanese driver was in any case due to receive the black flag for receiving an illegal push-start from the marshals following a spin on the circuit.
Post-race
Moments after his spin, Hill was interviewed by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, revealing that his spin was due to a gearbox problem; the Williams car losing second gear before apparently seizing completely. Hill also said that he was "very, very disappointed" with the result, and that "we could have beaten him [Schumacher] today". Further post-race analysis conducted by the Williams team, however, found that the problem was actually a broken left-rear suspension
Suspension (vehicle)
Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...
pushrod
Overhead valve
An overhead valve engine, also informally called pushrod engine or I-head engine, is a type of piston engine that places the camshaft within the cylinder block , and uses pushrods or rods to actuate rocker arms above the cylinder...
.
During the podium ceremony, Schumacher, Coulthard and Berger did not spray the traditional champagne as a mark of respect to Senna. Schumacher felt lucky to win the race, conceding that "Damon was a little bit quicker than me...he ended up going off and that's racing, but I don't think I could have caught him." He also believed that his good start was fortunate, as it was the first one he had made in the new Benetton car; the team had not practised starts previously due to being short of time. He also specified his evasion of Barrichello's slowing car in the pit-lane entry while making his first stop as a crucial moment of the race. Coulthard admitted that he had been affected by his tonsillitis: "I wasn't able to match Michael and Damon's pace so I settled for running my own race". Berger, meanwhile, was frustrated to finish a lap down on Schumacher, saying that "He was faster everywhere: down the straights, going in and out of the corners. What can you do in these conditions? Okay, the car's roadholding is not bad. We must work very hard now. But at least I finished, that's something."
After the Grand Prix, Schumacher's Benetton and Coulthard's Williams cars were from the race classification as a result of the illegal fuel sample "fingerprints", and Berger declared the new victor. Further samples of both cars' fuel were taken after the race; these also did not match the specified sample. Patrick Head was surprised by this outcome as he believed that "there was no question of disqualification until the fuel samples had been returned to Europe for further analysis". In addition to Benetton and Williams, fuel samples were taken from the Ferrari (Agip
Agip
Agip is an Italian automotive gasoline and diesel retailer established in 1926. It is a subsidiary of the multinational petroleum company Eni.In 2003, Eni S.p.A...
) and McLaren (Mobil
Mobil
Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...
) cars during the event, all of were declared legal after FIA analsis. After an appeal was made by the two teams, the drivers were reinstated into the race classification at the hearing on April 13 (after the Argentine Grand Prix
1995 Argentine Grand Prix
The 1995 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on April 9, 1995 at the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was the second round of the 1995 Formula One season and was the first Formula One race to take place in Argentina since...
had taken place); however, the teams did not receive Constructors' points. The two teams were fined a further $200,000 during the hearing. It was generally agreed that the illegal fuel did not offer a performance advantage or break any of the regulations relating to chemical composition, only that it did not precisely match the sample that had previously been lodged with the FIA. Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,...
, an advisor to Ferrari, was not happy with the decision made at the appeal:
Berger also commented on the situation, saying "I no longer understand anything. Formula One has become a joke." In the lead-up to the San Marino Grand Prix, Schumacher was quoted saying that Berger should "concentrate on racing instead of thinking how he can criticise me. I have never understood how someone can celebrate a victory like that [Brazil] one lap down and winning after someone else has been disqualified." Berger responded to Schumacher's comments by saying:
Max Mosley
Max Mosley
Max Rufus Mosley is the former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile , a non-profit association that represents the interests of motoring organisations and car users worldwide...
, the president of the FIA, also responded to Schumacher's comments saying that his comments "reflect poorly on the sport and show a lack of adult attitude". Mosley also commented on the weight issue surrounding Schumacher saying that "it is a pity that it became a matter for public discussion, whether he drank a huge amount of water, didn't go to the loo or had a heavy helmet. It is just a pity he didn't take care that it didn't happen". Elf was also unhappy with the way in which the episode had been handled, the company's Commercial Director Michel Bonnet declaring that "We believe the FIA acted in a high-handed manner in disqualifying our two cars so quickly. It should have declared the results provisional and waited for the results of further analysis. Acting the way it did, the FIA has affected the image of large industrial companies, of top F1 teams and of famous drivers. The fact that we have been treated as cheats by a red team – probably red with embarassment at having finished one lap behind our cars – and by Gerhard Berger is a serious slur against us." Elf also threatened to take the matter to a tribunal if the cars were not reinstated. Company representative Valerie Jorquera also highlighted the need for a consistent chromatographic analysis of fuel samples, drawing attention to the fact that the samples provided during the event had been analysed by a different company than the reference sample, and that the differences may have been caused by the use of different analytical machines and methods. The incident was seen as unfortunate for the sport, which was trying to make a fresh start after several controversies the previous year
Allegations of cheating in the 1994 Formula One season
The 1994 Formula One cheating controversy was a series of allegations of cheating in the 1994 Formula One season. The cheating allegation went on several Formula One team on that time; one of the main allegations surrounded the Benetton team. The team were alleged to have been using illegal...
. From the San Marino Grand Prix onwards, an FIA mobile fuel laboratory accompanied the teams to each event to permit more detailed testing at the track, in addition to ensuring consistency between events.
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Damon Hill Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title... |
Williams-Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
1:20.081 | 1:20.429 | |
| 2 | 1 |  Michael SchumacherMichael Schumacher Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time... |
Benetton Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
1:22.131 | 1:20.382 | +0.301 |
| 3 | 6 | David Coulthard David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons... |
Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
1:21.343 | 1:20.422 | +0.341 |
| 4 | 2 | Johnny Herbert Johnny Herbert John Paul Herbert is a British racing driver from England. He competed in Formula One, winning three races, and also in sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B... |
Benetton Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
no time | 1:20.888 | +0.807 |
| 5 | 28 |  Gerhard BergerGerhard Berger Gerhard Berger, is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver, who previously owned 50% of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team until he sold his share back to energy drink owner Dietrich Mateschitz in November 2008.... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:21.015 | 1:20.906 | +0.825 |
| 6 | 27 |  Jean AlesiJean Alesi Jean Alesi is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:21.655 | 1:21.041 | +0.960 |
| 7 | 8 |  Mika HäkkinenMika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:22.017 | 1:21.399 | +1.318 |
| 8 | 15 | Eddie Irvine Eddie Irvine Edmund "Eddie" Irvine, Jr. is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He grew up in Conlig, County Down, and was influenced by his parents, who were also involved in motor racing... |
Jordan Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan... -Peugeot Peugeot Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion... |
1:22.370 | 1:21.749 | +1.668 |
| 9 | 7 | Mark Blundell Mark Blundell Mark Blundell is a Formula One, sports car, and CART racing driver. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to the BBC.... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:22.821 | 1:21.779 | +1.698 |
| 10 | 26 | Olivier Panis Olivier Panis Olivier Panis is a French racing driver. Panis is best known in F1 not only as a test driver for the McLaren team but for his win at the eventful Monaco Grand Prix in 1996 for the Ligier team after starting 14th... |
Ligier-Mugen-Honda Mugen Motorsports Mugen Motorsports is a Japanese company formed in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, the son of Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda, and Masao Kimura. Mugen, meaning "Without Limit", or "Unlimited", is an engine tuner and parts manufacturer closely associated with the Honda Motor Company... |
1:22.208 | 1:21.914 | +1.833 |
| 11 | 3 |  Ukyo KatayamaUkyo Katayama is a Japanese racing driver, most notable for competing six years in Formula One. Despite struggling with under-funded teams throughout his career, Katayama's performances impressed on several occasions, and was popular in the F1 paddock for his unshakeably sunny disposition and self-deprecating... |
Tyrrell Tyrrell Racing The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one... -Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
1:24.165 | 1:22.325 | +2.244 |
| 12 | 4 | Mika Salo Mika Salo Mika Juhani Salo is a Finnish racing driver. He competed in Formula One between and . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.... |
Tyrrell Tyrrell Racing The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one... -Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
1:23.470 | 1:22.416 | +2.335 |
| 13 | 9 |  Gianni MorbidelliGianni Morbidelli Gianni Morbidelli is a racing driver from Italy. He is the son of Giancarlo Morbidelli, the founder of Morbidelli motorcycle company which had success in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Morbidelli participated in 70 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 11, 1990. He achieved one podium, and... |
Footwork Footwork Arrows Footwork Arrows was the name of a Formula One motor racing team, competing during the mid-1990s. Japanese businessman Wataru Ohashi, who was the president of Footwork Express Co., Ltd., a Japanese logistics company, began investing heavily in the Arrows team in 1990, the deal including requiring... -Hart Brian Hart Ltd. Brian Hart Ltd., also known as Hart and Hart Racing Engines was a motor racing engine manufacturer that participated in 157 Formula One Grands Prix, powering a total of 368 entries.... |
1:23.403 | 1:22.468 | +2.387 |
| 14 | 30 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen is a German racing driver most famous for his career in Formula One. At various times driving for Williams, Jordan, Sauber, Prost, and Arrows, he achieved three race wins before his retirement from F1 in 2003.-Early career:He was born in the West German city of... |
Sauber Sauber Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993.... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
1:24.065 | 1:22.872 | +2.791 |
| 15 | 25 | Aguri Suzuki Aguri Suzuki is a former racing driver from Japan. He participated in 88 Formula One Grands Prix, and his most notable achievement in racing was 3rd place at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix. Suzuki then became involved in team ownership, with interests firstly in the Japanese Formula Nippon Championship and the... |
Ligier-Mugen-Honda Mugen Motorsports Mugen Motorsports is a Japanese company formed in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, the son of Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda, and Masao Kimura. Mugen, meaning "Without Limit", or "Unlimited", is an engine tuner and parts manufacturer closely associated with the Honda Motor Company... |
1:23.251 | 1:22.971 | +2.890 |
| 16 | 14 |  Rubens BarrichelloRubens Barrichello Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable... |
Jordan Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan... -Peugeot Peugeot Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion... |
1:23.350 | 1:22.975 | +2.894 |
| 17 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini Pierluigi Martini Pierluigi Martini is an Italian former racing driver.He participated in 124 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on September 9, 1984 substituting for Ayrton Senna at the Toleman team... |
Minardi Minardi Minardi was an automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
1:56.532 | 1:24.383 | +4.302 |
| 18 | 24 | Luca Badoer Luca Badoer Luca Badoer is an Italian Formula One driver who has raced for the Scuderia Italia, Minardi, Forti Corse and most recently, Ferrari teams... |
Minardi Minardi Minardi was an automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
1:24.443 | 1:25.205 | +4.362 |
| 19 | 29 | Karl Wendlinger Karl Wendlinger Karl Wendlinger is an Austrian sportscar racing and former Formula One driver.- Mercedes Juniors :Wendlinger started his career in karting and in Formula Ford before entering the German Formula 3 Championship in 1988... |
Sauber Sauber Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993.... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
1:24.723 | 1:25.161 | +4.642 |
| 20 | 16 | Bertrand Gachot Bertrand Gachot Bertrand Gachot is a French-Belgian former racing driver.-Career:Gachot is the son of a French European Commission official. He began karting at the age of 15. In 1983 he attended Winfield School, a well-known racing-driving school in France. After this, he focused on his racing career, competing... |
Pacific Pacific Racing Pacific Racing was a motor racing team from the United Kingdom... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
1:25.819 | 1:25.127 | +5.046 |
| 21 | 10 | Taki Inoue Taki Inoue Takachiho "Taki" Inoue is a retired motor racing driver from Japan.Inoue competed in the British Formula Ford Championship in 1988, followed by a spell in All-Japan Formula Three from 1989 to 1993 and a season in the International Formula 3000 championship in 1994.He participated in 18 Formula One... |
Footwork Footwork Arrows Footwork Arrows was the name of a Formula One motor racing team, competing during the mid-1990s. Japanese businessman Wataru Ohashi, who was the president of Footwork Express Co., Ltd., a Japanese logistics company, began investing heavily in the Arrows team in 1990, the deal including requiring... -Hart Brian Hart Ltd. Brian Hart Ltd., also known as Hart and Hart Racing Engines was a motor racing engine manufacturer that participated in 157 Formula One Grands Prix, powering a total of 368 entries.... |
1:27.036 | 1:25.225 | +5.144 |
| 22 | 17 | Andrea Montermini Andrea Montermini -Career:Montermini raced in Formula 3 in 1989, taking second place in the Monaco GP support race and 4th in the Italian F3 Championship. He then moved up to Formula 3000, racing for three season before finally taking second place in the 1992 season, winning three rounds while driving for the Il... |
Pacific Pacific Racing Pacific Racing was a motor racing team from the United Kingdom... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
1:27.440 | 1:25.886 | +5.805 |
| 23 | 22 | Roberto Moreno Roberto Moreno Roberto Pupo Moreno , usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 championship points. He raced in CART in 1986, and was Formula 3000 champion before joining... |
Forti Forti Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief, and unsuccessful, involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the late 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
1:27.204 | 1:26.269 | +6.188 |
| 24 | 12 |  Jos VerstappenJos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen nicknamed "Jos the Boss" is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races... |
Simtek Simtek Simtek was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The F1 engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved in many areas of Formula One, including wind tunnel construction and chassis building for third... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
2:01.610 | 1:27.323 | +7.242 |
| 25 | 21 | Pedro Diniz Pedro Diniz Pedro Paulo Diniz is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 99 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 26, 1995... |
Forti Forti Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief, and unsuccessful, involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the late 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
no time | 1:27.792 | +7.711 |
| 26 | 11 | Domenico Schiattarella Domenico Schiattarella Domenico Schiattarella , known as Mimmo, is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 7 Formula One Grands Prix for Simtek, debuting on October 16, 1994, and finishing when the team folded the next year. He scored no championship points, with a best finish of 9th in the 1995 Argentine... |
Simtek Simtek Simtek was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The F1 engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved in many areas of Formula One, including wind tunnel construction and chassis building for third... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
no time | 1:28.106 | +8.025 |
Race
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time... |
Benetton Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
71 | 1:38:34.154 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | 6 | David Coulthard David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons... |
Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
71 | +11.060 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 28 | Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger, is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver, who previously owned 50% of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team until he sold his share back to energy drink owner Dietrich Mateschitz in November 2008.... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
70 | +1 lap | 5 | 4 |
| 4 | 8 | Mika Häkkinen Mika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | +1 lap | 7 | 3 |
| 5 | 27 | Jean Alesi Jean Alesi Jean Alesi is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
70 | +1 lap | 6 | 2 |
| 6 | 7 | Mark Blundell Mark Blundell Mark Blundell is a Formula One, sports car, and CART racing driver. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to the BBC.... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | +1 lap | 9 | 1 |
| 7 | 4 | Mika Salo Mika Salo Mika Juhani Salo is a Finnish racing driver. He competed in Formula One between and . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.... |
Tyrrell Tyrrell Racing The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one... -Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
69 | +2 laps | 12 | |
| 8 | 25 | Aguri Suzuki Aguri Suzuki is a former racing driver from Japan. He participated in 88 Formula One Grands Prix, and his most notable achievement in racing was 3rd place at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix. Suzuki then became involved in team ownership, with interests firstly in the Japanese Formula Nippon Championship and the... |
Ligier-Mugen-Honda Mugen Motorsports Mugen Motorsports is a Japanese company formed in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, the son of Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda, and Masao Kimura. Mugen, meaning "Without Limit", or "Unlimited", is an engine tuner and parts manufacturer closely associated with the Honda Motor Company... |
69 | +2 laps | 15 | |
| 9 | 17 | Andrea Montermini Andrea Montermini -Career:Montermini raced in Formula 3 in 1989, taking second place in the Monaco GP support race and 4th in the Italian F3 Championship. He then moved up to Formula 3000, racing for three season before finally taking second place in the 1992 season, winning three rounds while driving for the Il... |
Pacific Pacific Racing Pacific Racing was a motor racing team from the United Kingdom... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
65 | +6 laps | 22 | |
| 10 | 21 | Pedro Diniz Pedro Diniz Pedro Paulo Diniz is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 99 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 26, 1995... |
Forti Forti Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief, and unsuccessful, involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the late 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
64 | +7 laps | 25 | |
| Ret | 9 | Gianni Morbidelli Gianni Morbidelli Gianni Morbidelli is a racing driver from Italy. He is the son of Giancarlo Morbidelli, the founder of Morbidelli motorcycle company which had success in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Morbidelli participated in 70 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 11, 1990. He achieved one podium, and... |
Footwork Footwork Arrows Footwork Arrows was the name of a Formula One motor racing team, competing during the mid-1990s. Japanese businessman Wataru Ohashi, who was the president of Footwork Express Co., Ltd., a Japanese logistics company, began investing heavily in the Arrows team in 1990, the deal including requiring... -Hart Brian Hart Ltd. Brian Hart Ltd., also known as Hart and Hart Racing Engines was a motor racing engine manufacturer that participated in 157 Formula One Grands Prix, powering a total of 368 entries.... |
62 | Engine | 13 | |
| Ret | 10 | Taki Inoue Taki Inoue Takachiho "Taki" Inoue is a retired motor racing driver from Japan.Inoue competed in the British Formula Ford Championship in 1988, followed by a spell in All-Japan Formula Three from 1989 to 1993 and a season in the International Formula 3000 championship in 1994.He participated in 18 Formula One... |
Footwork Footwork Arrows Footwork Arrows was the name of a Formula One motor racing team, competing during the mid-1990s. Japanese businessman Wataru Ohashi, who was the president of Footwork Express Co., Ltd., a Japanese logistics company, began investing heavily in the Arrows team in 1990, the deal including requiring... -Hart Brian Hart Ltd. Brian Hart Ltd., also known as Hart and Hart Racing Engines was a motor racing engine manufacturer that participated in 157 Formula One Grands Prix, powering a total of 368 entries.... |
48 | Engine | 21 | |
| Ret | 24 | Luca Badoer Luca Badoer Luca Badoer is an Italian Formula One driver who has raced for the Scuderia Italia, Minardi, Forti Corse and most recently, Ferrari teams... |
Minardi Minardi Minardi was an automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
47 | Engine | 18 | |
| Ret | 22 | Roberto Moreno Roberto Moreno Roberto Pupo Moreno , usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 championship points. He raced in CART in 1986, and was Formula 3000 champion before joining... |
Forti Forti Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief, and unsuccessful, involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the late 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
47 | Spun off | 23 | |
| Ret | 29 | Karl Wendlinger Karl Wendlinger Karl Wendlinger is an Austrian sportscar racing and former Formula One driver.- Mercedes Juniors :Wendlinger started his career in karting and in Formula Ford before entering the German Formula 3 Championship in 1988... |
Sauber Sauber Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993.... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
41 | Electrical | 19 | |
| Ret | 5 | Damon Hill Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title... |
Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
30 | Gearbox | 1 | |
| Ret | 2 | Johnny Herbert Johnny Herbert John Paul Herbert is a British racing driver from England. He competed in Formula One, winning three races, and also in sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B... |
Benetton Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
30 | Collision | 4 | |
| Ret | 16 | Bertrand Gachot Bertrand Gachot Bertrand Gachot is a French-Belgian former racing driver.-Career:Gachot is the son of a French European Commission official. He began karting at the age of 15. In 1983 he attended Winfield School, a well-known racing-driving school in France. After this, he focused on his racing career, competing... |
Pacific Pacific Racing Pacific Racing was a motor racing team from the United Kingdom... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
23 | Gearbox | 20 | |
| Ret | 14 | Rubens Barrichello Rubens Barrichello Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable... |
Jordan Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan... -Peugeot Peugeot Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion... |
16 | Gearbox | 16 | |
| Ret | 12 | Jos Verstappen Jos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen nicknamed "Jos the Boss" is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races... |
Simtek Simtek Simtek was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The F1 engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved in many areas of Formula One, including wind tunnel construction and chassis building for third... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
16 | Gearbox | 24 | |
| Ret | 3 | Ukyo Katayama Ukyo Katayama is a Japanese racing driver, most notable for competing six years in Formula One. Despite struggling with under-funded teams throughout his career, Katayama's performances impressed on several occasions, and was popular in the F1 paddock for his unshakeably sunny disposition and self-deprecating... |
Tyrrell Tyrrell Racing The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one... -Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
15 | Spun off | 11 | |
| Ret | 15 | Eddie Irvine Eddie Irvine Edmund "Eddie" Irvine, Jr. is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He grew up in Conlig, County Down, and was influenced by his parents, who were also involved in motor racing... |
Jordan Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan... -Peugeot Peugeot Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion... |
15 | Clutch | 8 | |
| Ret | 11 | Domenico Schiattarella Domenico Schiattarella Domenico Schiattarella , known as Mimmo, is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 7 Formula One Grands Prix for Simtek, debuting on October 16, 1994, and finishing when the team folded the next year. He scored no championship points, with a best finish of 9th in the 1995 Argentine... |
Simtek Simtek Simtek was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The F1 engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved in many areas of Formula One, including wind tunnel construction and chassis building for third... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
12 | Steering | 26 | |
| Ret | 30 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen is a German racing driver most famous for his career in Formula One. At various times driving for Williams, Jordan, Sauber, Prost, and Arrows, he achieved three race wins before his retirement from F1 in 2003.-Early career:He was born in the West German city of... |
Sauber Sauber Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993.... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
10 | Electrical | 14 | |
| Ret | 26 | Olivier Panis Olivier Panis Olivier Panis is a French racing driver. Panis is best known in F1 not only as a test driver for the McLaren team but for his win at the eventful Monaco Grand Prix in 1996 for the Ligier team after starting 14th... |
Ligier-Mugen-Honda Mugen Motorsports Mugen Motorsports is a Japanese company formed in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, the son of Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda, and Masao Kimura. Mugen, meaning "Without Limit", or "Unlimited", is an engine tuner and parts manufacturer closely associated with the Honda Motor Company... |
0 | Collision | 10 | |
| Ret | 23 | Pierluigi Martini Pierluigi Martini Pierluigi Martini is an Italian former racing driver.He participated in 124 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on September 9, 1984 substituting for Ayrton Senna at the Toleman team... |
Minardi Minardi Minardi was an automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans... -Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
0 | Gearbox | 17 | |
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time... |
10 |
| 2 | David Coulthard David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons... |
6 |
| 3 | Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger, is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver, who previously owned 50% of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team until he sold his share back to energy drink owner Dietrich Mateschitz in November 2008.... |
4 |
| 4 | Mika Häkkinen Mika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion... |
3 |
| 5 | Jean Alesi Jean Alesi Jean Alesi is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi... |
2 |
Constructors' Championship standings
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
6 |
| 2 | McLaren-Mercedes | 4 |
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for the Drivers' standings. Only top two included for the Constructors' standings as only two teams had scored points. Benetton and Williams did not receive Constructors' points at this race.