The 1994 French Grand Prix was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor race held on 3 July 1994 at the

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a motor racing circuit located in central France, near the towns of Magny-Cours and Nevers, some from Paris and from Lyon. It staged the Formula One French Grand Prix from 1991 (succeeding Circuit Paul Ricard ...

near

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is o ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It was the seventh race of the

1994 Formula One World Championship The 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 48th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were conteste ...

. The 72-lap race was won by

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

, driving a Benetton- Ford. It was Schumacher's sixth victory in seven races.

Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill (born 17 September 1960) is an English former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Hill won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Williams, and won 22 Grands Prix acr ...

finished second in a Williams-

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

, having started from

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

and led the race, while

Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger (; born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Berger won 10 Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Berger competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, ...

finished third in a

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

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

Report

Background

Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell (; born 8 August 1953) is a British former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Mansell won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Williams, and won 31 Grands Prix across 15 seasons ...

made his return to Formula One, driving for Williams-Renault in place of

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster from Scotland who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "DC", Coulthard was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' ...

. He had left F1 at the end of 1992 to race in

IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

JJ Lehto Jyrki Juhani Järvilehto (; born 31 January 1966), commonly known as JJ Lehto, is a Finnish former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . In sportscar racing, Lehto won the American Le Mans Series in 2004 and is a ...

was rested by Benetton-Ford and was replaced by the test driver

Jos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a Dutch racing and rally driver, who competes in the European Rally Championship as a privateer. Verstappen competed in Formula One between and . Born and raised in Dutch Limburg, ...

who had previously deputised for Lehto earlier in the season.

Jean-Marc Gounon Jean-Marc Gounon (born 1 January 1963) is a French racing driver. He raced in Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédérati ...

would drive the second Simtek-Ford following

Andrea Montermini Andrea Montermini (born 30 May 1964) is an Italian racing driver. He drove in Formula One from 1994 to 1996. Career Montermini raced in Formula 3 in 1989, taking second place in the List of Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three support race winners, Mo ...

's accident at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Race

Olivier Panis and Gianni Morbidelli collided on lap 29. This was the only retirement of the season for Panis. Michael Schumacher won the race ahead of Damon Hill and Gerhard Berger. Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished fourth, his best Formula One finish up to this point. Pierluigi Martini was fifth and Andrea de Cesaris finished sixth. These would prove to be the last world championship points that Martini and de Cesaris scored in their careers, with de Cesaris failing to finish another race in his Formula One career. The ninth place of

, four laps behind, would be the best result for the

Simtek Simtek (Simulation Technology) was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The Formula One (F1) engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved i ...

Team, a feat they would only reach once again.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings

References

{{F1GP 90-99

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championship. It is one of the oldest ...

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

French Grand Prix