1994 Monaco Grand Prix

Last updated
1994 Monaco Grand Prix
Race 4 of 16 in the 1994 Formula One World Championship
Circuit de Monaco 1986.png
Race details
Date15 May 1994
Official name LII Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco
Location Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo
Course Street circuit
Course length 3.328 km (2.068 miles)
Distance 78 laps, 259.584 km (161.298 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Benetton-Ford
Time 1:18.560
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford
Time 1:21.076 on lap 35 (lap record)
Podium
First Benetton-Ford
Second McLaren-Peugeot
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders
  • 1994 Monaco Grand Prix

The 1994 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 15 May 1994 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. It was the fourth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship, and the first following the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix two weeks previously.

Contents

The 78-lap race was won from pole position by Michael Schumacher driving a Benetton-Ford, his fourth victory from the first four races of 1994. Martin Brundle finished second in a McLaren-Peugeot, with Gerhard Berger third in a Ferrari.

Report

Background

After the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix, sweeping changes were announced by the FIA to the rules and regulations of Formula One in a bid to improve safety. The majority were scheduled to come into force after the Monaco Grand Prix, but an 80 km/h pit-lane speed limit was brought into force in time for this race. [1]

Both Williams and Simtek, the teams for whom Senna and Ratzenberger drove, ran only one car each during the race weekend.

Eddie Irvine was serving the third race of his three-race ban issued to him for his part in the crash during the Brazilian Grand Prix. Andrea de Cesaris again took Irvine's place at Jordan, whilst Irvine acted as a pit-lane reporter for ESPN. [2]

Olivier Beretta became the first Monégasque to compete in the Monaco Grand Prix since André Testut in 1959. This was the last time a driver from Monaco competed in his home race, until Charles Leclerc took part in the 2018 race.

Practice and qualifying

During the first free practice session on Thursday morning, Austrian driver Karl Wendlinger had a major accident at the Nouvelle Chicane. Travelling at almost 280 km/h (170 mph) he appeared to brake too late, and the car slid sideways into the water-filled barriers. Wendlinger was knocked unconscious and was taken initially to the Princess Grace Hospital, and later to Saint Roch Hospital in Nice. He suffered a serious head injury and remained in a coma for several weeks. [1] The Sauber-Mercedes team decided to withdraw from the race after this incident.

Michael Schumacher claimed the first pole position of his Grand Prix career. Mika Häkkinen qualified second, which was also the highest starting position thus far in his career. Martin Brundle qualified 2nd in the first qualifying session on the Thursday, three tenths of a second in front of team mate Mika Häkkinen, but could not repeat this on the Saturday and dropped to 8th.

Race

Michele Alboreto finished sixth in his Minardi, scoring his last point in Formula One. Alboreto at Monaco Grand Prix 1994.jpg
Michele Alboreto finished sixth in his Minardi, scoring his last point in Formula One.

As a mark of respect for Senna and Ratzenberger, the FIA decided to leave the first two grid positions empty for the race and painted them with the colours of the Brazilian and Austrian flags. [3] For the first time since the 1959 United States Grand Prix, there was no previous World Champion competing in the race and also no former Monaco Grand Prix winner. There were also only four previous race winners: Schumacher, Hill, Berger and Alboreto.

At the start of the race, Damon Hill clipped the left rear tyre of Mika Häkkinen's McLaren just before the Sainte Dévote corner. Häkkinen retired immediately, while Hill continued for a few corners before retiring with broken right front suspension. Gianni Morbidelli and Pierluigi Martini also collided before Sainte Dévote, putting each other out. Eric Bernard in the second Ligier had soon spun out of the race at the Nouvelle chicane.

Katayama retired his Tyrrell from 6th position on lap 39 when his gearbox failed, as of which by lap 41, the engine on Mark Blundell's Tyrrell failed, leaving oil on the track at Sainte Dévote retiring 2 laps after Katayama which Schumacher, leading the race, had to avoid. The second placed Ferrari of Gerhard Berger did slip on the oil, however, and required a three-point turn to escape from the run off area beside the stricken Tyrrell. Berger returned to the track still in his second place, but dirty tyres left him vulnerable to the McLaren of Martin Brundle, who promptly overtook him down the outside of Mirabeau on the same lap. Christian Fittipaldi in his Footwork-Ford ran close behind the Ferraris of Berger and Alesi in fourth position until his first refuelling stop near the start of the race. Fittipaldi continued to run strongly in a points position until lap 47 when the gearbox failed.

The race was led from start to finish by Schumacher, who continued his perfect start to the 1994 season with four victories in the first four races. As Schumacher also held the fastest lap, this meant he scored the first Grand Slam of his career, and he was the first driver other than Alain Prost or Ayrton Senna to win the Monaco Grand Prix since 1983. Brundle's second place equalled the best finish of his F1 career. Michele Alboreto finished sixth in his Minardi to score his final point in F1.

Post-race

This is more or less where I live now so this victory means a lot. I am very pleased that we came here with the car sorted out after a few small problems and we were very competitive. I am very happy that Formula One set such an example.

Michael Schumacher commenting about victory, Transcript of recording from Grand Prix Racing.

This is a great day for me and I am so glad to achieve this for my loyal and patient fans. Today was one of the best days in my racing career. I made a perfect start and had a faultless race. It has been a very difficult time. When your five-year-old daughter asks you if it's true [Ayrton] Senna is dead it is difficult to reconcile things.

Martin Brundle on his second place and Ayrton Senna, Transcript of recording from Grand Prix Racing.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1 TimeQ2 TimeGap
15 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:20.2301:18.560
27 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 1:21.8811:19.488+0.928
328 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:22.0381:19.958+1.398
40 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:22.6051:20.079+1.519
527 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:22.5211:20.452+1.892
69 Flag of Brazil.svg Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 1:23.5881:21.053+2.493
710 Flag of Italy.svg Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 1:23.5801:21.189+2.629
88 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 1:21.5801:21.222+2.662
923 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:23.1621:21.288+2.728
104 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:23.5221:21.614+3.054
113 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:24.4881:21.731+3.171
1224 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 1:25.4211:21.793+3.233
1320 Flag of France.svg Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 1:23.5141:22.211+3.651
1415 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Hart 1:24.5191:22.265+3.701
1514 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:24.7311:22.359+3.799
1612 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:24.1031:22.375+3.815
176 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto Benetton-Ford 1:23.8851:22.679+4.119
1819 Flag of Monaco.svg Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 1:24.1261:23.025+4.465
1911 Flag of Portugal (official).svg Pedro Lamy Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:25.8591:23.858+5.298
2026 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 1:25.1151:24.131+5.571
2125 Flag of France.svg Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 1:27.6941:24.377+5.817
2231 Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Brabham Simtek-Ford 1:26.6901:24.656+6.096
2334 Flag of France.svg Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 1:48.1731:26.082+7.522
2433 Flag of France.svg Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 1:29.9848:36.897+11.424
WD30 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes
WD29 Flag of Austria.svg Karl Wendlinger Sauber-Mercedes
Sources: [4] [5] [6]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
15 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 781:49:55.372110
28 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 78+ 37.27886
328 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 78+ 1:16.82434
415 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Hart 77+ 1 Lap143
527 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Ferrari 77+ 1 Lap52
624 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 77+ 1 Lap121
76 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto Benetton-Ford 77+ 1 Lap17 
819 Flag of Monaco.svg Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 76+ 2 Laps18 
926 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 76+ 2 Laps20 
1020 Flag of France.svg Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 75+ 3 Laps13 
1111 Flag of Portugal (official).svg Pedro Lamy Lotus-Mugen-Honda 73+ 5 Laps19 
Ret12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 68Gearbox16 
Ret33 Flag of France.svg Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 53Physical24 
Ret34 Flag of France.svg Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 49Gearbox23 
Ret9 Flag of Brazil.svg Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 47Gearbox6 
Ret31 Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Brabham Simtek-Ford 45Engine22 
Ret4 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 40Engine10 
Ret3 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 38Gearbox11 
Ret25 Flag of France.svg Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 34Spun off21 
Ret14 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 27Electrical15 
Ret7 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 0Collision2 
Ret0 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Williams-Renault 0Collision damage4 
Ret10 Flag of Italy.svg Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 0Collision7 
Ret23 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 0Collision9 
WD30 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes  Withdrawn 
DNS29 Flag of Austria.svg Karl Wendlinger Sauber-Mercedes  Injury 
Source: [7]

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. 1 2 Oliver Holt (13 May 1994). "Wendlinger 'critical' after crash". The Times. London. p. 48.
  2. ESPN Speedworld: Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco. 1994.
  3. "Monaco Grand Prix report". Motorsport.com. 8 May 1994. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  4. "Grand Prix de Monaco – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  5. "Grand Prix de Monaco – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  6. "1994 Monaco Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  7. "1994 Monaco Grand Prix - Race Result". Formula1.com. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  8. 1 2 "Monaco 1994 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
Previous race:
1994 San Marino Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1994 season
Next race:
1994 Spanish Grand Prix
Previous race:
1993 Monaco Grand Prix
Monaco Grand Prix Next race:
1995 Monaco Grand Prix

43°44′4.74″N7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E / 43.7346500; 7.421333