1994 Canadian Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Canada
Grand Prix:Canadian
Official Name:XXXII Grand Prix Molson du Canada
Date:12 June
Year:1994
Race No:6
Season No:16
Location:Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Course:Temporary street circuit
Course Mi:2.765
Course Km:4.450
Distance Laps:69
Distance Mi:190.792
Distance Km:307.050
Weather:Temperatures approaching 26.3C;
Wind speeds up to [1]
Pole Driver:Michael Schumacher
Pole Team:Benetton-Ford
Pole Time:1:26.178
Pole Country:Germany
Fast Driver:Michael Schumacher
Fast Team:Benetton-Ford
Fast Time:1:28.927
Fast Lap:31
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 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 12 June 1994 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the sixth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship and the 32nd Canadian Grand Prix.

The 69-lap race was won from pole position by Michael Schumacher, driving a Benetton-Ford, with Damon Hill second in a Williams-Renault and Jean Alesi third in a Ferrari. The win, Schumacher's fifth of the season, put him 33 points clear of Hill in the Drivers' Championship.

Report

Background

A temporary chicane was inserted between the hairpin and the Casino corner on the back straight, so as to decrease top speed and increase safety in the wake of Ayrton Senna's fatal crash at Imola. Teams had also been ordered to cut holes in the airboxes on the back of the cars, so as to decrease the 'ram air' effect and thus decrease engine output. As the FIA did not standardize where the holes had to be cut, each team interpreted the rule in different ways. Teams were also running on 'pump fuel' as of this race, in a bid to further lower engine output and trap speeds.

Simtek entered only one car for Canada, following the injuries to Andrea Montermini at the previous race in Spain. Andrea de Cesaris replaced the injured Karl Wendlinger at Sauber, and would thus make his 200th Grand Prix start at Montreal.

Race

Michael Schumacher took his fifth victory from six races in his Benetton, finishing nearly 40 seconds ahead of Damon Hill's Williams. Ferrari driver Jean Alesi finished third, just ahead of teammate Gerhard Berger, the last driver on the lead lap. Hill's teammate David Coulthard was fifth, scoring his first points in Formula One, while Christian Fittipaldi crossed the line sixth but was disqualified when his Footwork was found to be underweight, thus promoting Schumacher's teammate JJ Lehto to the final point.

During the race, Érik Comas became the first-ever F1 driver to be penalised for speeding in the pit lane; he received a ten-second stop-go penalty.

Post-race

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap
15 Michael SchumacherBenetton-Ford1:26.8201:26.178
227 Jean AlesiFerrari1:26.2771:26.319+0.099
328 Gerhard BergerFerrari1:27.6521:27.059+0.881
40 Damon HillWilliams-Renault1:28.0111:27.094+0.916
52 David CoulthardWilliams-Renault1:28.6361:27.211+1.033
614 Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Hart1:28.6121:27.554+1.376
77 Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Peugeot1:27.6161:27.851+1.438
815 Eddie IrvineJordan-Hart1:28.8431:27.780+1.602
93 Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha1:27.8271:27.953+1.649
1030 Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Mercedes1:28.048 1:27.977+1.799
1110 Gianni MorbidelliFootwork-Ford1:28.7301:27.989+1.811
128 Martin BrundleMcLaren-Peugeot1:28.4511:28.197+2.019
134 Mark BlundellTyrrell-Yamaha1:29.1081:28.579+2.401
1429 Andrea de CesarisSauber-Mercedes1:29.7931:28.694+2.516
1523 Pierluigi MartiniMinardi-Ford1:29.6911:28.847+2.669
169 Christian FittipaldiFootwork-Ford1:29.4931:28.882+2.704
1712 Johnny HerbertLotus-Mugen-Honda1:30.0631:28.889+2.711
1824 Michele AlboretoMinardi-Ford1:29.5971:28.903+2.725
1926 Olivier PanisLigier-Renault1:29.5301:28.950+2.772
206 JJ LehtoBenetton-Ford1:29.5801:28.993+2.815
2120 Érik ComasLarrousse-Ford1:29.6531:29.039+2.861
2219 Olivier BerettaLarrousse-Ford1:31.1671:29.403+3.225
2311 Alessandro ZanardiLotus-Mugen-Honda1:31.6981:30.160+3.982
2425 Éric BernardLigier-Renault1:30.8061:30.493+4.315
2531 David BrabhamSimtek-Ford1:32.3761:31.632+5.454
2634 Bertrand GachotPacific-Ilmor1:32.8381:32.877+6.660
DNQ33 Paul BelmondoPacific-Ilmor1:33.2911:33.006+6.828

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
15 Michael SchumacherBenetton-Ford691:44:31.887110
20 Damon HillWilliams-Renault69+ 39.66046
327 Jean AlesiFerrari69+ 1:13.33824
428 Gerhard BergerFerrari69+ 1:15.60933
52 David CoulthardWilliams-Renault68+ 1 lap52
66 JJ LehtoBenetton-Ford68+ 1 lap201
714 Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Hart68+ 1 lap6 
812 Johnny HerbertLotus-Mugen-Honda68+ 1 lap17 
923 Pierluigi MartiniMinardi-Ford68+ 1 lap15 
104 Mark BlundellTyrrell-Yamaha67Spun off13 
1124 Michele AlboretoMinardi-Ford67+ 2 laps18 
1226 Olivier PanisLigier-Renault67+ 2 laps19 
1325 Éric BernardLigier-Renault66+ 3 laps24 
1431 David BrabhamSimtek-Ford65+ 4 laps25 
1511 Alessandro ZanardiLotus-Mugen-Honda62+ 7 laps23 
Ret7 Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Peugeot61Engine7 
Ret19 Olivier BerettaLarrousse-Ford57Engine22 
Ret10 Gianni MorbidelliFootwork-Ford50Transmission11 
Ret34 Bertrand GachotPacific-Ilmor47Oil pressure26 
Ret20 Érik ComasLarrousse-Ford45Clutch21 
Ret3 Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha44Accident9 
Ret15 Eddie IrvineJordan-Hart40Spun off8 
Ret29 Andrea de CesarisSauber-Mercedes24Oil pressure14 
Ret30 Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Mercedes5Spun off10 
Ret8 Martin BrundleMcLaren-Peugeot3Electrical12 
DSQ9 Christian FittipaldiFootwork-Ford68Car underweight16 
Source:[2]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Michael Schumacher56
2 Damon Hill23
3 Gerhard Berger13
4 Jean Alesi13
5 Rubens Barrichello7
Source: [3]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Benetton-Ford57
2 Ferrari32
3 Williams-Renault25
4 Jordan-Hart11
5 McLaren-Peugeot10
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Weather information for the "1994 Canadian Grand Prix". https://web.archive.org/web/20150111052135/http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/QC/Montreal/1994-06-12. 11 January 2015. The Old Farmers' Almanac. 26 June 2013.
  2. Web site: 8 February 2020. 1994 Canadian Grand Prix – Race Result. 8 February 2020. Formula1.com. en.
  3. Web site: Canada 1994 – Championship . StatsF1.com. 14 March 2019.