1994 Italian Grand Prix
The 1994 Italian Grand Prix (formally the Pioneer 65o Gran Premio d'Italia[1]) was a Formula One motor race held on 11 September 1994 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza. It was the twelfth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.
| 1994 Italian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 12 of 16 in the 1994 Formula One World Championship | |||
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| Race details | |||
| Date | 11 September 1994 | ||
| Official name | Pioneer 65o Gran Premio d'Italia | ||
| Location |
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza Monza, Lombardy, Italy | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.800 km (3.604 mi) | ||
| Distance | 53 laps, 307.400 km (191.010 mi) | ||
| Weather | Sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:23.844 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | |
| Time | 1:25.930 on lap 24 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Williams-Renault | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | McLaren-Peugeot | ||
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Lap leaders
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The 53-lap race was won by British driver Damon Hill, driving a Williams-Renault, with Austria's Gerhard Berger second in a Ferrari and Finland's Mika Häkkinen third in a McLaren-Peugeot. Frenchman Jean Alesi took pole position in the other Ferrari and led before suffering a gearbox failure on lap 15.
The win enabled Hill to move to within 11 points of Michael Schumacher in the Drivers' Championship. Schumacher was banned for this race and the following race in Portugal for his actions at the British Grand Prix; his place at Benetton was taken by Finland's JJ Lehto, who had been his teammate earlier in the season.
The day after the race, Lotus went into receivership; however, they would compete in the remaining races of the 1994 season. Lotus had brought an upgraded Mugen engine to Monza, allowing Johnny Herbert to qualify in a season-best fourth place. Still, hopes of a point finish were ended by a first-corner collision with Eddie Irvine's Jordan.
Report
Background
The Grand Prix was originally cancelled on 12 August 1994 when local officials refused a demand to cut down 123 trees for reasons related to safety.[2] The trees in question were located at the Lesmo corners which lacked suitable run off-areas. After the announcement, Gianni Letta, an Italian cabinet under-secretary went to Cannes to meet with FIA president Max Mosley to discuss the issue. The meeting, also attended by Ferrari driver and representative to the drivers Gerhard Berger, agreed that changes to the shape of the curve would reduce its speed.[3]
Race
The two Ferraris got off the line well heading into turn 1 with Damon Hill going alongside the Ferrari cars. Eddie Irvine locked up, causing him to hit the Lotus-Mugen of Johnny Herbert. Herbert spun around clipping the right rear of David Coulthard which caused a blockage in the road and led to the race being stopped.[4] Coulthard took Hill's spare car, and Herbert sacrificed his starting position to get in his spare as well. At the second start, both Ferraris got away well, but going into Curva Grande, Jos Verstappen and Alessandro Zanardi tangled which forced Gianni Morbidelli off the track and sliding into the outer wall. Jean Alesi kept extending his lead over teammate Gerhard Berger until he suffered clutch problems while exiting his pit box.[4] Berger inherited the lead. Still, he himself had problems in the pitlane getting stuck behind Olivier Panis and losing out track position to both Williams.[4] On lap 30, Michele Alboreto's gearbox failed at the Variante Ascari spraying oil on the track. As a result, Pierluigi Martini spun off on lap 32, and then Mark Blundell on lap 40. These retirements promoted Ukyo Katayama to 5th place before he spun out and crashed at the second Lesmo six laps later. David Brabham became the final retirement when a puncture had given his Simtek terminal damage; he retired just one lap after Katayama. The Williams led a 1-2 race until the last corner of the race when Coulthard ran out of fuel, thus gifting Berger a second place, Häkkinen third, Barrichello fourth and Brundle fifth in the second McLaren. Coulthard was still classified in sixth as all other runners were a lap down.
Classification
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 |  Jean Alesi |
Ferrari | 1:24.620 | 1:23.844 | |
| 2 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger |
Ferrari | 1:24.915 | 1:23.978 | +0.134 |
| 3 | 0 | Damon Hill |
Williams-Renault | 1:24.734 | 1:24.158 | +0.314 |
| 4 | 12 | Johnny Herbert |
Lotus-Mugen-Honda | 1:26.365 | 1:24.374 | +0.530 |
| 5 | 2 | David Coulthard |
Williams-Renault | 1:24.869 | 1:24.502 | +0.658 |
| 6 | 26 | Olivier Panis |
Ligier-Renault | 1:26.958 | 1:25.455 | +1.611 |
| 7 | 7 |  Mika Häkkinen |
McLaren-Peugeot | 1:26.004 | 1:25.528 | +1.684 |
| 8 | 29 |  Andrea de Cesaris |
Sauber-Mercedes | 1:27.188 | 1:25.540 | +1.696 |
| 9 | 15 | Eddie Irvine |
Jordan-Hart | No time | 1:25.568 | +1.724 |
| 10 | 6 |  Jos Verstappen |
Benetton-Ford | 1:27.361 | 1:25.618 | +1.774 |
| 11 | 30 |  Heinz-Harald Frentzen |
Sauber-Mercedes | 1:26.406 | 1:25.628 | +1.784 |
| 12 | 25 | Éric Bernard |
Ligier-Renault | 1:27.387 | 1:25.718 | +1.874 |
| 13 | 11 | Alessandro Zanardi |
Lotus-Mugen-Honda | 1:27.617 | 1:25.733 | +1.889 |
| 14 | 3 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Ukyo Katayama |
Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:26.525 | 1:25.889 | +2.045 |
| 15 | 8 | Martin Brundle |
McLaren-Peugeot | 1:26.899 | 1:25.933 | +2.089 |
| 16 | 14 |  Rubens Barrichello |
Jordan-Hart | 1:27.034 | 1:25.946 | +2.102 |
| 17 | 10 | Gianni Morbidelli |
Footwork-Ford | 1:27.939 | 1:26.002 | +2.158 |
| 18 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini |
Minardi-Ford | 1:42.320 | 1:26.056 | +2.212 |
| 19 | 9 | Christian Fittipaldi |
Footwork-Ford | 1:27.675 | 1:26.337 | +2.493 |
| 20 | 5 | JJ Lehto |
Benetton-Ford | 1:27.611 | 1:26.384 | +2.540 |
| 21 | 4 | Mark Blundell |
Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:26.574 | 1:26.697 | +2.730 |
| 22 | 24 | Michele Alboreto |
Minardi-Ford | 1:27.623 | 1:26.832 | +2.988 |
| 23 | 19 | Yannick Dalmas |
Larrousse-Ford | 1:29.528 | 1:27.846 | +4.002 |
| 24 | 20 | Érik Comas |
Larrousse-Ford | 1:30.530 | 1:27.894 | +4.050 |
| 25 | 32 | Jean-Marc Gounon |
Simtek-Ford | 1:29.594 | 1:28.353 | +4.509 |
| 26 | 31 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} David Brabham |
Simtek-Ford | 1:30.691 | 1:28.619 | +4.775 |
| DNQ | 34 | Bertrand Gachot |
Pacific-Ilmor | 1:31.549 | 1:31.387 | +7.543 |
| DNQ | 33 | Paul Belmondo |
Pacific-Ilmor | 1:32.035 | No time | +8.191 |
- ^1 Eddie Irvine's Friday qualifying times were deleted because he completed 13 laps, one over the limit, during the session.
- ^2 Paul Belmondo did not take part in the Saturday qualifying session after destroying his car in a crash in the morning's practice session.
Race
Championship standings after the race
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References
- "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1994". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
- "Italian Grand Prix called off". The Gainesville Sun. Associated Press. 13 August 1994. p. 16.
- "Motor Racing: Italian Grand Prix reinstated: Revised scheme temporarily solves safety problem at Monza". The Independent. 15 August 1994. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
- Collantine, Keith (2014-09-11). "1994 Italian GP: Hill wins, but Lotus hopes crushed". RaceFans. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
- "1994 Italian Grand Prix - Race Result". Formula1.com. 2020-02-09. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- "Italy 1994 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
| Previous race: 1994 Belgian Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1994 season |
Next race: 1994 Portuguese Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1993 Italian Grand Prix |
Italian Grand Prix | Next race: 1995 Italian Grand Prix |