1994 Brazilian Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Brazil
Grand Prix:Brazilian
Official Name:XXIII Grande Prêmio do Brasil
Date:27 March
Year:1994
Race No:1
Season No:16
Location:Autódromo José Carlos Pace
São Paulo, Brazil
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:2.687
Course Km:4.325
Distance Laps:71
Distance Mi:190.808
Distance Km:307.075
Weather:Sunny
Pole Driver:Ayrton Senna
Pole Team:Williams-Renault
Pole Time:1:15.962
Pole Country:Brazil
Fast Driver:Michael Schumacher
Fast Team:Benetton-Ford
Fast Time:1:18.455
Fast Lap:7
Fast Country:Germany
First Driver:Michael Schumacher
First Team:Benetton-Ford
First Country:Germany
Second Driver:Damon Hill
Second Team:Williams-Renault
Second Country:United Kingdom
Third Driver:Jean Alesi
Third Team:Ferrari
Third Country:France

The 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the XXIII Grande Prêmio do Brasil) was a Formula One motor race held on 27 March 1994 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo. It was the first race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.

The 71-lap race was won by German driver Michael Schumacher, driving a Benetton-Ford, after starting from second position. Local hero Ayrton Senna took pole position in his Williams-Renault and led before being overtaken by Schumacher at the first round of pit stops, after which he spun off. Senna's British teammate Damon Hill finished second, with Frenchman Jean Alesi third in a Ferrari.

Background

The first race of the 1994 season saw five drivers made their F1 debuts: Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Olivier Panis, Jos Verstappen, Olivier Beretta and Roland Ratzenberger. There were also two new teams: Simtek, who had previously been involved in F1 as the designers of the Andrea Moda S921 in 1992, and Pacific Racing, who had enjoyed much success in lower formulae.

Qualifying report

In his first race for Williams, Ayrton Senna took pole position by 0.3 of a second from Michael Schumacher's Benetton. Jean Alesi was third in his Ferrari, over a second behind Schumacher, with Damon Hill fourth in the other Williams. Frentzen impressed by taking fifth in his Sauber, with Gianni Morbidelli – back in F1 after contesting the 1993 Italian Superturismo Championship – taking sixth in his Footwork. The top ten was completed by Karl Wendlinger in the second Sauber, Mika Häkkinen in the McLaren, Verstappen in the second Benetton and Ukyo Katayama in the Tyrrell. Of the two new teams, Bertrand Gachot qualified 25th in his Pacific and David Brabham 26th in his Simtek, with their respective teammates Paul Belmondo and Ratzenberger failing to qualify.

Qualifying classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
12 Ayrton SennaWilliams-Renault1:16.3861:15.962
25 Michael SchumacherBenetton-Ford1:16.5751:16.290+0.328
327 Jean AlesiFerrari1:17.7721:17.385+1.423
40 Damon HillWilliams-Renault1:18.2701:17.554+1.592
530 Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Mercedes1:18.1441:17.806+1.844
610 Gianni MorbidelliFootwork-Ford1:18.9701:17.866+1.904
729 Karl WendlingerSauber-Mercedes1:17.9821:17.927+1.965
87 Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Peugeot1:18.1221:19.576+2.160
96 Jos VerstappenBenetton-Ford1:18.7871:18.183+2.221
103 Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha1:19.5191:18.194+2.232
119 Christian FittipaldiFootwork-Ford1:18.7301:18.204+2.242
124 Mark BlundellTyrrell-Yamaha1:19.0451:18.246+2.284
1320 Érik ComasLarrousse-Ford1:18.9901:18.321+2.359
1414 Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Hart1:18.7591:18.414+2.452
1523 Pierluigi MartiniMinardi-Ford1:18.659no time+2.697
1615 Eddie IrvineJordan-Hart1:19.2691:18.751+2.789
1728 Gerhard BergerFerrari1:18.9311:18.855+2.893
188 Martin BrundleMcLaren-Peugeot1:18.86413:18.601+2.902
1926 Olivier PanisLigier-Renault1:19.3041:19.533+3.342
2025 Éric BernardLigier-Renault1:19.3961:19.633+3.434
2112 Johnny HerbertLotus-Mugen-Honda1:19.7981:19.483+3.521
2224 Michele AlboretoMinardi-Ford1:19.517no time+3.555
2319 Olivier BerettaLarrousse-Ford1:19.9221:19.524+3.562
2411 Pedro LamyLotus-Mugen-Honda1:21.0291:19.975+4.013
2534 Bertrand GachotPacific-Ilmor1:22.4951:20.729+4.767
2631 David BrabhamSimtek-Ford1:22.2661:21.186+5.224
data-sort-value="27"DNQ32 Roland RatzenbergerSimtek-Ford1:22.7071:23.109+6.745
data-sort-value="28"DNQ33 Paul BelmondoPacific-Ilmorno timeno time
Sources:[1] [2] [3]

Race report

At the start Senna led from pole position, while Alesi overtook Schumacher. Schumacher retook second place on lap 2 and started chasing after Senna, who had pulled a four-second lead in the opening laps. Before the pit stops Schumacher had reduced the gap to just over a second, and on lap 21 the leading pair entered the pit lane together. Despite both teams running the same fuel strategy, Schumacher's stop was faster than Senna's, and thus he took the lead.

On lap 35, there was a four-car pile-up as Eddie Irvine and Verstappen came up to lap the Ligier of Éric Bernard. All three were rapidly closing up on Martin Brundle's McLaren which had suffered an engine failure. Faced with the prospect of colliding with the McLaren, Irvine jinked left as Verstappen attempted an overtake on that side thus forcing Verstappen on to the grass; Verstappen then lost control of his car and somersaulted over the McLaren whilst Bernard took avoiding action to the right. Brundle's helmet was impacted by the airborne Benetton although he escaped serious injury. Irvine was subsequently sanctioned by the FIA with a one-race ban, which was increased to three after the appeal of Jordan failed; Irvine was already under investigation due to an incident with Senna in Suzuka the year before.

Schumacher increased his lead to 10 seconds after the second round of pit stops, after which Senna started to close. By lap 55 the pair had lapped third-place runner Hill and the gap was down to 5 seconds, but then Senna lost control of his Williams and retired. After Senna's retirement Schumacher won comfortably, a lap ahead of Hill in second place and Alesi finishing third. Rubens Barrichello, Katayama and Wendlinger completed the top six, Katayama scoring his first points.

Race classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
15 Michael SchumacherBenetton-Ford711:35:38.759210
20 Damon HillWilliams-Renault70+ 1 lap46
327 Jean AlesiFerrari70+ 1 lap34
414 Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Hart70+ 1 lap143
53 Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha69+ 2 laps102
629 Karl WendlingerSauber-Mercedes69+ 2 laps71
712 Johnny HerbertLotus-Mugen-Honda69+ 2 laps21 
823 Pierluigi MartiniMinardi-Ford69+ 2 laps15 
920 Érik ComasLarrousse-Ford68+ 3 laps13 
1011 Pedro LamyLotus-Mugen-Honda68+ 3 laps24 
1126 Olivier PanisLigier-Renault68+ 3 laps19 
1231 David BrabhamSimtek-Ford67+ 4 laps26 
Ret2 Ayrton SennaWilliams-Renault55Spun off1 
Ret8 Martin BrundleMcLaren-Peugeot34Collision18 
Ret15 Eddie IrvineJordan-Hart34Collision16 
Ret6 Jos VerstappenBenetton-Ford34Collision9 
Ret25 Éric BernardLigier-Renault33Collision20 
Ret4 Mark BlundellTyrrell-Yamaha21Spun off12 
Ret9 Christian FittipaldiFootwork-Ford21Gearbox11 
Ret30 Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Mercedes15Spun off5 
Ret7 Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Peugeot13Engine8 
Ret24 Michele AlboretoMinardi-Ford7Engine22 
Ret10 Gianni MorbidelliFootwork-Ford5Gearbox6 
Ret28 Gerhard BergerFerrari5Engine17 
Ret19 Olivier BerettaLarrousse-Ford2Collision23 
Ret34 Bertrand GachotPacific-Ilmor1Collision25 

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Michael Schumacher10
2 Damon Hill6
3 Jean Alesi4
4 Rubens Barrichello3
5 Ukyo Katayama2
Source: [4]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Benetton-Ford10
2 Williams-Renault6
3 Ferrari4
4 Jordan-Hart3
5 Tyrrell-Yamaha2
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Grande Premio do Brasil Interlagos – Qualifying 1. Formula1.com. 29 December 2023.
  2. Web site: Grande Premio do Brasil Interlagos – Qualifying 2. Formula1.com. 29 December 2023.
  3. Web site: 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix Classification Qualifying. Motorsport Stats. 30 September 2023.
  4. Web site: Brazil 1994 – Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 13 March 2019.