Benetton B194

Benetton B194
	Mick Schumacher driving the B194 of his father Michael in 2017
Category	Formula One
Constructor	Benetton
Designer(s)	Ross Brawn (Technical Director); Rory Byrne (Chief Designer); Pat Symonds (Head of R&D); Willem Toet (Head of Aerodynamics); Geoff Goddard (Chief Engine Designer) (Ford-Cosworth)
Predecessor	B193
Successor	B195
Technical specifications
Chassis	Carbon fibre monocoque
Suspension (front)	Double wishbones, pushrod
Suspension (rear)	Double wishbones, pushrod
Axle track	Front: 1,690 mm (67 in); Rear: 1,618 mm (63.7 in)
Wheelbase	2,880 mm (113 in)
Engine	Ford EC Zetec-R , 3,498 cc (213.5 cu in), 75° V8, NA, mid-engine, longitudinally mounted
Transmission	Benetton transverse 6-speed sequential semi-automatic
Power	730–740 hp (544.4–551.8 kW) @ 14,500 rpm
Weight	515 kg (1,135 lb)
Fuel	Elf
Tyres	Goodyear
Competition history
Notable entrants	Mild Seven Benetton Ford
Notable drivers	5. Michael Schumacher ; 6. Jos Verstappen ; 6. JJ Lehto ; 6. Johnny Herbert
Debut	1994 Brazilian Grand Prix
First win	1994 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last win	1994 European Grand Prix
Last event	1994 Australian Grand Prix
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	1 (1994, Michael Schumacher)

Last updated November 03, 2024

The Benetton B194 is a Formula One racing car designed by Rory Byrne for use by the Benetton team in the 1994 Formula One World Championship.

Design

The car was closely based on its predecessors, the B192 and B193, and powered by a Ford Zetec-R V8 engine (produced by Cosworth but funded by and badged as a Ford), designed and developed by Geoff Goddard. The electronic driver aids that had such an effect on F1 over the previous seasons were banned, so the car had to be redesigned with the new rules in mind. The B194 was a light and nimble car that handled well and was most competitive in the hands of Schumacher on twisty tracks, unlike the early Williams FW16 which proved difficult to drive thanks to Williams's dependence on electronic driving aids in the previous season. Michael Schumacher's B194 remained the most competitive driver/car combination until Williams introduced a B-spec car at the German Grand Prix.^{[ citation needed ]} The car also gained an anhedral lower rear wing element, similar to the one on the FW16, starting at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Launch control controversy

Other teams suspected the B194 was not legal, due to the high competitiveness of such a comparatively underpowered car. The FIA launched an investigation and a start sequence (launch control) system was discovered in the cars' onboard computer systems but no traction control. In the end, the governing body could not prove the systems had been used so the complaints were dropped.

Racing history

Schumacher

The car was very competitive in the hands of Michael Schumacher. Schumacher won six of the first seven races of the season after his main rival, Ayrton Senna, was killed at the San Marino Grand Prix. Schumacher himself was subject to controversy, after being disqualified from the British Grand Prix and then the Belgian Grand Prix which allowed Damon Hill to cut into the German's points lead and as they came to the final race in Australia, Hill, and Schumacher was separated by one point. A contentious collision between Hill and Schumacher ended the 1994 drivers' title in Schumacher's favour.

Starting with the 1994 Pacific Grand Prix, Schumacher's car was adorned with small red accents, presumably to help spectators and television commentators distinguish his car from that of his teammates. During the preceding race, announcers from both ESPN and the BBC twice mistook the no. 6 Benetton as the no. 5 car. Schumacher commented years later that the B194 was actually quite a handful to drive, being twitchy at the rear end.

Teammates

Schumacher had three team-mates— JJ Lehto, Jos Verstappen, and Johnny Herbert —during the course of the season. All found the B194 difficult to drive; Verstappen said in 1996 that "I must have a little the same driving style as Johnny because he said basically the same things about that car that I did and seems to have had the same feelings. It was a very difficult car. You could not feel the limit and so you were pushing and pushing and then suddenly it would have oversteer. Normally when you get oversteer you can control it but the Benetton would go very suddenly and so you ended up having a spin. I had big problems with that car."^[3]

The B194 was retired at the end of the season with eight wins and second place in the Constructors' Championship. The car was replaced by the B195 for 1995.

Sponsorship and livery

The B194 sporting a new light blue livery, reflecting their new main sponsor Mild Seven, replacing Camel. Benetton used the 'Mild Seven' logos, except at the British, German and French Grands Prix.

Throughout the season, the team gained several sponsors including Oracle and Minichamps.

In popular culture

The Benetton B194 is featured in the F1 2020 video game as a DLC for the "Deluxe Schumacher Edition".^[4]

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Points	WCC
1994	Mild Seven Benetton Ford	Ford EC Zetec-R V8	G		BRA	PAC	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	EUR	JPN	AUS	103	2nd
				Michael Schumacher	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	DSQ	Ret	1	DSQ			1	2	Ret
				Jos Verstappen	Ret	Ret					Ret	8	Ret	3	3	Ret	5	Ret
				JJ Lehto			Ret	7	Ret	6						9	Ret
				Johnny Herbert															Ret	Ret

Related Research Articles

Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from 1986 to 2001. The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000, the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. In 2002, the team became Renault. The Benetton Formula team was chaired by Alessandro Benetton from 1988 to 1998.

The 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 27 March 1994 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo. It was the first race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.

The 1994 Pacific Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 17 April 1994 at the TI Circuit, Aida, Japan. It was the second race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.

The 1994 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 August 1994 at the Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary. It was the tenth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.

The 1994 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 28 August 1994 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, near the village of Francorchamps, Wallonia. It was the eleventh race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.

The 2002 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 56th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2002 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 2002 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 3 March and ended on 13 October.

The 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 52nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1998 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1998 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 8 March and ended on 1 November.

The 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 50th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. The championship commenced on 10 March and ended on 13 October after sixteen races. Two World Championship titles were awarded, one for Drivers and one for Constructors.

The 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 49th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 26 March and ended on 12 November.

The 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 48th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 27 March and ended on 13 November.

Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen is a Dutch former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between 1994 and 2003.

Stewart Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor and racing team founded by triple Formula One champion Jackie Stewart and his son Paul Stewart in 1996. The team competed in F1, as the Ford works-supported team, for only three seasons, from 1997 to 1999. The 1999 season was by far its strongest, yielding one win and one pole position en route to finishing fourth overall in the Constructors Championship.

The Benetton B195 is a Formula One racing car designed by Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn for use by the Benetton team in the 1995 Formula One World Championship.

The Williams FW16 is a Formula One car designed by Adrian Newey for the British Williams team. The FW16 competed in the 1994 Formula One season, with Williams winning the Constructor's Championship, and British driver Damon Hill finishing runner-up in the Drivers' Championship. It is notable as the last car to be driven by three-time world champion Ayrton Senna before his fatal accident during the San Marino Grand Prix. The car was designed around the major regulation changes that the FIA had introduced in the off-season, banning the various electronic devices that had been used by the front running cars during the preceding two seasons.

The Simtek S951 was a Formula One car designed by Nick Wirth and Paul Crooks and used by Simtek for the 1995 season. The number 11 seat was taken by Domenico Schiattarella and the number 12 seat was taken by Jos Verstappen. The team's test driver was Hideki Noda. Noda was set to take the number 11 seat for the second half of the season, but the team folded after round five. The engine was a Ford-Cosworth EDB 3.0l V8. The team's main sponsor was MTV.

The 1994 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 3 July 1994 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours near Magny-Cours in France. It was the seventh race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.

Allegations of cheating were made throughout the 1994 Formula One World Championship. Several Formula One teams were involved, with the main allegations surrounding Benetton Formula. Initially, Benetton was alleged to have been using illegal traction control software to their advantage in races; however, this could not be sufficiently proven by the FIA and was only confirmed in 2015 when Willem Toet, one of Benetton's engineers that season, wrote an article on his Linkedin account describing how the team developed a traction control system using spark cutting. A refuelling fire on Jos Verstappen's Benetton car at the 1994 German Grand Prix led to renewed allegations and an investigation by Intertechnique at Benetton's team factory. Following the investigation, the FIA revealed Benetton had been using a fuel valve without a fuel filter, which allowed fuel into the car 12.5% faster than a legal fuel valve. Renewed allegations led to rumours of Michael Schumacher quitting the team, Schumacher would end up staying with Benetton for the 1995 Formula One season, also winning the Drivers' World Championship that season, before joining Ferrari for the 1996 Formula One season where he would stay until the 2006 Formula One season, winning five additional Drivers' titles in the process.

The Benetton B192 is a Formula One racing car designed by Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne and Willem Toet and raced by the Benetton team in the 1992 Formula One season.

The Benetton B193 is a Formula One racing car with which the Benetton team competed in the 1993 Formula One World Championship. Designed by Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne, the car was powered by the latest Cosworth HBA engine in an initially-exclusive deal with Ford, and ran on Goodyear tyres. It was driven by German Michael Schumacher and veteran Italian Riccardo Patrese.

The EC and ED family are a series of 3.0-litre and 3.5-litre, naturally-aspirated, V8, Formula One racing engines, designed, developed and produced by Cosworth, with funding from and in partnership with Ford; and used between 1994 and 1997. The customer engines were used by Benetton, Sauber, Forti, Lola, Simtek, Pacific, Minardi, and Tyrrell.

References

↑ "Benetton B194". Statsf1.com. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
↑ "Engine Ford Cosworth • STATS F1".
↑ Saward, Joe (1996-05-01). "Interview – The Flying Dutchman: Jos Verstappen". grandprix.com. Inside F1. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
↑ "Codemasters.com Benetton B194 in F1 2020 Game". 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.

External links

Awards
Preceded by Williams FW15C	Autosport Racing Car Of The Year 1994	Succeeded by Williams FW17

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Benetton B194". Statsf1.com. Retrieved 2010-08-23.

[2] "Engine Ford Cosworth • STATS F1".

[3] Saward, Joe (1996-05-01). "Interview – The Flying Dutchman: Jos Verstappen". grandprix.com. Inside F1. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2009-11-15.

[4] "Codemasters.com Benetton B194 in F1 2020 Game". 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]