1995 Portuguese Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Details Ref:[1]
Country:Portugal
Grand Prix:Portuguese
Official Name:XXIV Grande Prémio de Portugal
Date:24 September
Year:1995
Race No:13
Season No:17
Location:Autódromo do Estoril in Estoril, Portugal
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:2.725
Course Km:4.360
Distance Laps:71
Distance Mi:193.475
Distance Km:309.560
Weather:Sunny
Pole Driver:David Coulthard
Pole Team:Williams-Renault
Pole Time:1:20.537
Pole Country:United Kingdom
Fast Driver:David Coulthard
Fast Team:Williams-Renault
Fast Time:1:23.220
Fast Lap:2
Fast Country:United Kingdom
First Driver:David Coulthard
First Team:Williams-Renault
First Country:United Kingdom
Second Driver:Michael Schumacher
Second Team:Benetton-Renault
Second Country:Germany
Third Driver:Damon Hill
Third Team:Williams-Renault
Third Country:United Kingdom
Next Round:1995 European Grand Prix
Previous Round:1995 Italian Grand Prix

The 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix (formally the XXIV Grande Prémio de Portugal) was a Formula One motor race held on 24 September 1995 at the Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril, Portugal. It was the thirteenth race of the 1995 Formula One season.[1] The 71-lap race was the first Formula One win for David Coulthard of the Williams team after starting from pole position Coulthard became the first Scottish driver to win a Grand Prix since Jackie Stewart won the 1973 German Grand Prix 22 years previously. Michael Schumacher was second in a Benetton, with Damon Hill third in the latter Williams car. After several controversial incidents previously involving Schumacher and Hill in the 1995 season, including collisions at Silverstone, Spa and Monza (the latter two of which saw confrontations between the two drivers respectively on the podium and at track-side), Schumacher and Hill shook hands with each other at the podium presentation following this race.

Report

Background

To optimise their chances of winning at the Autódromo do Estoril, Williams brought an upgraded chassis to the race, a "B" specification of their FW17 car. The upgraded chassis would be used throughout the remainder of the season.[2]

Practice and qualifying

Two practice sessions were held before the race; the first was held on Friday morning and the second on Saturday morning. Both sessions lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes with weather conditions dry throughout.[3] Häkkinen set the fastest time in the first session, posting a lap of 1:23.073, one-tenth of a second quicker than Hill and Schumacher, in second and third places respectively. Coulthard was fourth, with the Ferrari cars fifth and sixth fastest; Gerhard Berger ahead of Jean Alesi.[1] Häkkinen was eleventh in the second practice session, two seconds slower than Hill, who was fastest with a time of 1:21.443. Coulthard was second in the Williams, eight-tenths of a second behind Hill. Schumacher was third, with Alesi fourth, both over a second behind Hill. Heinz-Harald Frentzen in a Sauber was fifth with Martin Brundle in the Ligier, Eddie Irvine in a Jordan and Berger rounding out the top eight positions.[1]

Race

As the race began from its standing start, Ukyo Katayama who qualified in 16th moved into the racing path of Luca Badoer, whose Minardi began in 18th. The contact caused Katayama's Tyrrell to launch airborne and spin several times upside down along the start/finish straight. Katayama was extracted from the car and hospitalized for two days[4] with what was later diagnosed with a strained neck and bruising in the crash.[5] [6]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap
16 David CoulthardWilliams-Renault1:21.4231:20.537
25 Damon HillWilliams-Renault1:21.3221:20.905+0.368
31 Michael SchumacherBenetton-Renault1:21.8851:21.301+0.764
428 Gerhard BergerFerrari1:22.2811:21.970+1.433
530 Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Ford1:23.4851:22.226+1.689
62 Johnny HerbertBenetton-Renault1:23.7861:22.322+1.785
727 Jean AlesiFerrari1:22.6561:22.391+1.854
814 Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Peugeot1:23.1421:22.538+2.001
925 Martin BrundleLigier-Mugen-Honda1:23.2441:22.588+2.051
1015 Eddie IrvineJordan-Peugeot1:22.9571:22.831+2.294
1126 Olivier PanisLigier-Mugen-Honda1:23.2841:22.904+2.367
127 Mark BlundellMcLaren-Mercedes1:24.5831:22.914+2.377
138 Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Mercedes1:23.0641:23.114+2.527
1429 Jean-Christophe BoullionSauber-Fordno time1:23.934+3.397
154 Mika SaloTyrrell-Yamaha1:24.9421:23.936+3.399
163 Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha1:24.6311:24.287+3.750
1723 Pedro LamyMinardi-Ford1:26.2101:24.657+4.120
1824 Luca BadoerMinardi-Ford1:25.7461:24.778+4.241
1910 Taki InoueFootwork-Hart1:24.8831:25.031+4.346
209 Massimiliano PapisFootwork-Hart1:25.6961:25.179+4.642
2117 Andrea MonterminiPacific-Ford1:27.6591:26.172+5.634
2221 Pedro DinizForti-Ford1:29.1371:27.292+6.755
2322 Roberto MorenoForti-Ford1:28.6721:27.523+6.986
2416 Jean-Denis DélétrazPacific-Fordno time1:32.769+12.232

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
16 David CoulthardWilliams-Renault711:41:52.145110
21 Michael SchumacherBenetton-Renault71+7.24836
35 Damon HillWilliams-Renault71+22.12124
428 Gerhard BergerFerrari71+1:24.87943
527 Jean AlesiFerrari71+1:25.42972
630 Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Ford70+1 Lap51
72 Johnny HerbertBenetton-Renault70+1 Lap6 
825 Martin BrundleLigier-Mugen-Honda70+1 Lap9 
97 Mark BlundellMcLaren-Mercedes70+1 Lap12 
1015 Eddie IrvineJordan-Peugeot70+1 Lap10 
1114 Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Peugeot70+1 Lap8 
1229 Jean-Christophe BoullionSauber-Ford70+1 Lap14 
134 Mika SaloTyrrell-Yamaha69+2 Laps15 
1424 Luca BadoerMinardi-Ford68+3 Laps18 
1510 Taki InoueFootwork-Hart68+3 Laps19 
1621 Pedro DinizForti-Ford66+5 Laps22 
1722 Roberto MorenoForti-Ford64+7 Laps23 
Ret17 Andrea MonterminiPacific-Ford53Gearbox21 
Ret8 Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Mercedes44Engine13 
Ret16 Jean-Denis DélétrazPacific-Ford14Cramp24 
Ret26 Olivier PanisLigier-Mugen-Honda10Spun off11 
Ret23 Pedro LamyMinardi-Ford7Gearbox17 
Ret9 Massimiliano PapisFootwork-Hart0Gearbox20 
Ret3 Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha0Collision16 
Notes

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Michael Schumacher72
2 Damon Hill55
3 David Coulthard39
4 Johnny Herbert38
5 Jean Alesi34
Source: [7]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Benetton-Renault100
2 Williams-Renault88
3 Ferrari62
4 McLaren-Mercedes21
5 Sauber-Ford18
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Book: Henry, Alan . 1995 Grands Prix: Portuguese Grand Prix . Alan Henry . Autocourse 1995–96 . 1995 . Hazleton Publishing . 1-874557-36-5 . 198–199. registration.
  2. Book: Henry, Alan . 1995 Grands Prix: Grand Prix of Europe. Alan Henry . Autocourse 1995–96 . Hazleton Publishing . 1-874557-36-5 . 201 . 1995 . registration.
  3. Web site: F1 Grand Prix of Portugal - 95 . Gale Force F1 . 2009-04-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060812105927/http://www.galeforcef1.com/95/portugal/ . 2006-08-12 . dead .
  4. Web site: 27 Sep 1995, Page 37 - The Age at Newspapers.com. 2016-08-16.
  5. Book: Henry, Alan. Autocourse 1995–96. December 1995. Hazleton Publishing. 1-874557-36-5. 194. 1995 Grands Prix: Portuguese Grand Prix. Alan Henry. 1995. registration.
  6. Web site: Tyrrell drive up for grabs. 1995-10-02. Inside F1. GrandPrix.com. 2019-08-18.
  7. Web site: Portugal 1995 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 20 March 2019.