1994 Australian Grand Prix

The 1994 Australian Grand Prix (formally the LIX Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 13 November 1994 at the Adelaide Street Circuit. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship. The 81-lap race was won by Nigel Mansell driving for the Williams team after starting from pole position. Gerhard Berger finished second in a Ferrari car with Martin Brundle third for the McLaren team.

1994 Australian Grand Prix
Race 16 of 16 in the 1994 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 13 November 1994
Official name LIX Australian Grand Prix
Location Adelaide Street Circuit
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Course Temporary street circuit
Course length 3.780 km (2.362 mi)
Distance 81 laps, 306.180 km (191.362 mi)
Weather Sunny
Attendance 132,000[1]
Pole position
Driver
Williams-Renault
Time 1:16.179
Fastest lap
Driver Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford
Time 1:17.140 on lap 29
Podium
First
Williams-Renault
Second
Ferrari
Third
McLaren-Peugeot

The race is remembered for an incident involving the two title contenders Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher which forced both to retire and resulted in Schumacher winning the World Drivers' Championship. Also notable was the last appearance in a Formula One Grand Prix of the first incarnation of Team Lotus, previously seven-time Constructors' Champions. It was also the 31st and last Grand Prix victory of Nigel Mansell's Formula One career. As of 2020, this was the last Formula One race where the number of entrants exceeded the number of places on the starting grid. This would also prove to be the last Grand Prix for Christian Fittipaldi, Franck Lagorce, Michele Alboreto, Hideki Noda, David Brabham, JJ Lehto and Paul Belmondo.

Report

Background

Heading into the final race of the season, Benetton driver Michael Schumacher was leading the Drivers' Championship with 92 points; Williams driver Damon Hill was second on 91 points, one point behind Schumacher. Williams led the Constructors' Championship with 108 points, while Benetton were 5 points behind with 103. Thus, both titles were still at stake and they would be determined in the final round.

Race

Schumacher took the lead at the start, with Hill second behind him. The order between the two remained the same until lap 36. Hill was catching Schumacher when the Benetton driver went off the track at the East Terrace corner, hitting a wall with his right side wheels before pulling back onto the track.[2] Hill had rounded the fifth corner of the track when Schumacher pulled across the track ahead of him to the left. At the next corner Hill attempted to pass Schumacher; the two collided when Schumacher turned in. Schumacher was eliminated on the spot. Hill attempted to continue the race and pitted immediately, but retired from the race with irreparable damage to the car's front left suspension wishbone. As neither driver scored, Schumacher took the title.[3] After Schumacher and Hill retired Mansell took the lead of the race. Mansell stayed in the lead until he made his second pit stop. After Mansell pitted Berger took the lead and stayed in the lead after his second pit stop. On lap 64 Mansell overtook Berger to retake the lead of the race. Mika Häkkinen was running 5th in the closing stages behind teammate Brundle and Barrichello until his brakes failed on lap 77 sending him off into the wall backwards into retirement but was classified 12th. Mansell stayed in the lead for the rest of the race to win, with Berger finishing second and Brundle finishing third ahead of Barrichello, Panis and Jean Alesi in the other Ferrari completing the top 6.

Post-race

Schumacher was blamed for the incident by many Formula One insiders.[4] After investigation the race stewards judged it as a racing incident and took no action against Schumacher. Schumacher, at age 25 was Germany's first Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion, but under highly controversial circumstances.

Schumacher has always maintained that the collision was a racing incident, a view that met with a large degree of media cynicism, particularly in the UK.

Although Hill deliberately avoided becoming involved in the outcry at the time, in later years he explicitly accused Schumacher of deliberately driving into him.[5] Formula One commentator Murray Walker maintained that Schumacher did not cause the crash intentionally while his co-commentators for the race, former F1 driver Jonathan Palmer and pit reporter Barry Sheene both claimed that the crash was entirely Schumacher's fault. Patrick Head of the Williams team stated to F1 Racing magazine that in 1994 "Williams were already 100% certain that Michael was guilty of foul play", but did not protest Schumacher's title because the team was still dealing with the death of Ayrton Senna; this was after Schumacher's punishment for blocking the circuit during qualifying for the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix.[6] Schumacher has been blamed by the UK public for the incident – in 2003, the BBC conducted a search for "The Most Unsporting Moment" in which the Adelaide incident was nominated.[7] Hill's 1994 season earned him the 1994 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.[8]

Classification

Qualifying
PosNoDriverConstructorQ1 TimeQ2 TimeGap
1 2 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:16.179 1:33.988
2 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:16.197 1:32.627 +0.018
3 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:16.830 1:33.792 +0.651
4 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 1:16.992 1:35.432 +0.813
5 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:17.537 1:37.610 +1.358
6 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 1:17.667 No time +1.488
7 6 Johnny Herbert Benetton-Ford 1:17.727 1:35.712 +1.548
8 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:17.801 1:33.905 +1.622
9 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 1:17.950 1:36.246 +1.771
10 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 1:17.962 1:35.623 +1.783
11 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:18.070 1:33.818 +1.891
12 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 1:18.072 1:36.222 +1.893
13 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:18.237 1:35.462 +2.058
14 12 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:18.331 1:39.179 +2.152
15 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:18.411 1:36.628 +2.232
16 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 1:18.755 1:36.498 +2.576
17 29 JJ Lehto Sauber-Mercedes 1:18.806 1:36.245 +2.627
18 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:18.957 1:36.257 +2.778
19 9 Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 1:19.061 1:35.790 +2.882
20 25 Franck Lagorce Ligier-Renault 1:19.153 1:37.393 +2.974
21 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 1:19.610 1:35.136 +3.431
22 11 Mika Salo Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:19.844 1:43.071 +3.665
23 19 Hideki Noda Larrousse-Ford 1:20.145 1:47.569 +3.966
24 31 David Brabham Simtek-Ford 1:20.442 No time +4.263
25 20 Jean-Denis Délétraz Larrousse-Ford 1:22.422 1:44.155 +6.243
26 32 Domenico Schiattarella Simtek-Ford 1:22.529 No time +6.350
DNQ 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 1:24.087 No time +7.908
DNQ 34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 7:40.317 No time +6:24.138

Race
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 2 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 81 1:47:51.480 1 10
2 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 81 + 2.511 11 6
3 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 81 + 52.487 9 4
4 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 81 + 1:10.530 5 3
5 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 80 + 1 lap 12 2
6 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 80 + 1 lap 8 1
7 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 80 + 1 lap 10  
8 9 Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 80 + 1 lap 19  
9 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 79 + 2 laps 18  
10 29 JJ Lehto Sauber-Mercedes 79 + 2 laps 17  
11 25 Franck Lagorce Ligier-Renault 79 + 2 laps 20  
12 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 76 Brakes/Accident 4  
Ret 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 69 Suspension 16  
Ret 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 66 Collision 13  
Ret 20 Jean-Denis Délétraz Larrousse-Ford 56 Gearbox 25  
Ret 11 Mika Salo Lotus-Mugen-Honda 49 Electrical 22  
Ret 31 David Brabham Simtek-Ford 49 Engine 24  
Ret 12 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 40 Throttle 14  
Ret 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 35 Collision 3  
Ret 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 35 Collision 2  
Ret 32 Domenico Schiattarella Simtek-Ford 21 Gearbox 26  
Ret 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 19 Spun off 15  
Ret 19 Hideki Noda Larrousse-Ford 18 Oil leak 23  
Ret 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 17 Oil leak 21  
Ret 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 15 Spun off 6  
Ret 6 Johnny Herbert Benetton-Ford 13 Gearbox 7  
Source:[9]

Championship standings after the race
  • Bold text indicates the World Champions.
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References
  1. "Grand Prix fever in Adelaide". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1, Inc. 6 November 1995. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015.
  2. "Schumacher 500: Has the King Lost His Crown". autosport.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
  3. "Schumacher's chequered history". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  4. Henry, Alan (1996). Wheel to Wheel: Great Duels of Formula One Racing. Weidenfeld Nicolson Illustrated. p. 117. ISBN 0-7538-0522-7.
  5. Motor Sport, January 2007, p.43
  6. "'Ruthless' Schumi blasted". motoring.iafrica.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  7. "Most unsporting moment?". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 June 2003. Retrieved 27 January 2016. Reader's "Have your Say" voting for the most unsporting moment in history. Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal won the award in June 2003.
  8. "Roll call of past winners". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  9. "1994 Australian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  10. "Australia 1994 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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1994 Japanese Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
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1995 Brazilian Grand Prix
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