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
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

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

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
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 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 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

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 53 1:18:02.754 3 10
2 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 53 + 4.930 2 6
3 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 53 + 25.640 7 4
4 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 53 + 50.634 16 3
5 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 53 + 1:25.575 15 2
6 2 David Coulthard Williams-Renault 52 Out of Fuel 5 1
7 25 Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 52 + 1 Lap 12  
8 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 24  
9 5 JJ Lehto Benetton-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 20  
10 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 51 + 2 Laps 6  
Ret 31 David Brabham Simtek-Ford 46 Puncture 26  
Ret 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 45 Spun Off 14  
Ret 9 Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 43 Engine 19  
Ret 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 41 Engine 9  
Ret 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 39 Spun Off 21  
Ret 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 30 Spun Off 18  
Ret 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 28 Gearbox 22  
Ret 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 22 Engine 11  
Ret 29 Andrea de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes 20 Engine 8  
Ret 32 Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Ford 20 Gearbox 25  
Ret 19 Yannick Dalmas Larrousse-Ford 18 Spun Off 23  
Ret 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 14 Gearbox 1  
Ret 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 13 Alternator 4  
Ret 6 Jos Verstappen Benetton-Ford 0 Collision 10  
Ret 11 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 0 Collision 13  
Ret 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 0 Collision 17  
Source:[5]

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1994". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  2. "Italian Grand Prix called off". The Gainesville Sun. Associated Press. 13 August 1994. p. 16.
  3. "Motor Racing: Italian Grand Prix reinstated: Revised scheme temporarily solves safety problem at Monza". The Independent. 15 August 1994. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  4. Collantine, Keith (2014-09-11). "1994 Italian GP: Hill wins, but Lotus hopes crushed". RaceFans. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  5. "1994 Italian Grand Prix - Race Result". Formula1.com. 2020-02-09. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  6. "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
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