1994 Spanish Grand Prix
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The 1994 Spanish 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 29 May 1994 at the
Circuit de Catalunya The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...
,
Montmeló Montmeló () is a municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Vallès Oriental, within the Barcelona metropolitan area, in Catalonia, Spain. It contains the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which is the home of the Formula One Spanish Gr ...
. It was the 36th
Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix (, ) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating its centenary in 2013. The race had modest beginnings ...
and the fourth to be held at the Circuit de Catalunya, and the fifth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship. The 65-lap race was won by Englishman
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 ...
, driving 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 ...
. It was the first victory of the season for Hill and the Williams team, who were still recovering from the death of
Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Senna won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with McLaren, and—at the time of his death—held ...
at
Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...
four weeks previously. Hill won by 24 seconds from German driver and championship leader
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 ...
, whose Benetton- Ford was stuck in fifth gear for most of the race. Another Englishman,
Mark Blundell Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to , and Championship Auto Racing Teams, IndyCar from 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1996 to 2000 CAR ...
, finished third in a Tyrrell- Yamaha, which would turn out to be the final podium finish for him and the Tyrrell team. The Grand Prix was additionally notable for the season-ending crash of debutant Italian driver
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 ...
in his Simtek S941 on the front straight. Montermini, elevated from test driver status after the death of
Roland Ratzenberger Roland Walter Ratzenberger (; 4 July 1960 – 30 April 1994) was an Austrian racing driver, who competed in Formula One at three Grands Prix in . Born and raised in Salzburg, Ratzenberger began his racing career as a protégé of Walter Lechn ...
at the San Marino Grand Prix crashed heavily into the outside wall exiting the final corner. It also marked the Formula One debut of future race winner
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' ...
, replacing Senna for Williams. The new Lotus 109 made its debut this weekend replacing the two-year-old 107.


Report


Pre-race

This was the first race for the newly formed Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA). Several top level names, including Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill, and Gerhard Berger, were instrumental in the setup and running of the GPDA, and they took the decision to install a temporary chicane before the Nissan corner. This was an attempt to improve safety, as well as limit speeds around the track, as the Nissan corner was generally taken at near flat-out speeds. Sauber entered only one car for this race due to Karl Wendlinger's injury at the previous race.


Qualifying

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 ...
took the second pole position in succession and the second of his career.
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 ...
also lined up on the front row, his time had been beaten by Schumacher's by over half a second, and he was only one thousandth of a second ahead of Mika Häkkinen. The pair's respective Williams and
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...
teammates lined up eighth and ninth, McLaren's
Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Brundle won the World Sportscar Champions ...
on the fourth row in front of a disappointed David Coulthard for Williams. Schumacher's Benetton teammate –
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 ...
– had done a bit better for himself and lined up fourth.
Rubens Barrichello Rubens Gonçalves Barrichello (; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for Full Time Sports. Nicknamed "Rubinho" (), Barrichello competed in Formula One fro ...
's
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
qualified in fifth, followed by the two
Ferraris 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 ...
. Tyrrell driver
Ukyo Katayama is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Katayama participated in 97 Grands Prix, debuting at the 1992 South African Grand Prix, making him the sport's most experienced Japanese driv ...
was the other driver in the top ten, while at the back
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 ...
crashed heavily in the Simtek previously driven by Roland Ratzenberger and broke his ankles. He thus did not set a timed lap in the second session, and failed to qualify, although he would have been unable to start the race anyway.


Race

Olivier Beretta retired when his Larousse-Ford's engine failed on the formation lap. Schumacher led from pole position at the start of the race whilst Barrichello and Berger collided at the first corner. Neither driver retired as a direct result of the collision, although both did eventually, but Berger was forced to run across the grass and lost places and would eventually retire on lap 28 with gearbox problems. Coulthard climbed up to fifth place from his ninth place starting spot, but his car stalled in the pits on lap 16. Despite retiring from twelfth place on lap 32 with electrical problems, he described his race as a "good debut overall". While Williams notched up their first victory of the season, and first after the death of
Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Senna won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with McLaren, and—at the time of his death—held ...
, championship leader
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 ...
finished a strong second, despite being stuck in fifth gear for most of the race. Knowing that he had a major problem, he managed to make a pitstop (and get away from the pit stop in 5th gear), and as the race unfolded gave nothing to the leading Hill's pace. He had to change his driving style to find new trajectories and corner apexes, and his past experience as a World Sports Car driver helped him to do so. Meanwhile Rubens Barrichello retired after he spun off near the pit entry on lap 40 and Schumacher was once again able to make a pitstop and not stall the car. After the pit stops, Mika Häkkinen was in third place for McLaren behind Hill and Schumacher, having temporarily been in front of Schumacher earlier in the race. Häkkinen's engine failed as did JJ Lehto's Benetton-Ford engine 5 laps after Hakkinen on lap 54, though granting the place to Hakkinen's teammate
Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Brundle won the World Sportscar Champions ...
. Brundle then retired himself after a transmission explosion from the back of his car at the first corner by lap 60 and was classified 11th.
Mark Blundell Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to , and Championship Auto Racing Teams, IndyCar from 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1996 to 2000 CAR ...
, for Tyrrell, completed the podium celebrations, scoring his 3rd and last podium of his career as well as Tyrrell's last Formula 1 podium.


Post-race

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


Classification


Qualifying


Race


Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings


References

{{F1GP 90-99
Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix (, ) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating its centenary in 2013. The race had modest beginnings ...
Spanish Grand Prix Grand Prix
Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix (, ) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating its centenary in 2013. The race had modest beginnings ...