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.

1994 Monaco Grand Prix
Race 4 of 16 in the 1994 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 15 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 mi)
Distance 78 laps, 259.584 km (161.298 mi)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver
Benetton-Ford
Time 1:18.560
Fastest lap
Driver Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford
Time 1:21.076 on lap 35 (lap record)
Podium
First
Benetton-Ford
Second
McLaren-Peugeot
Third
Ferrari

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 the ESPN television station.[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.

Race
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 crashed into the back of Mika Häkkinen's McLaren just before the St. Devote corner. Häkkinen retired immediately, while Hill continued for a few corners before retiring with broken front suspension. Gianni Morbidelli and Pierluigi Martini also collided before St. Devote, 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 St. Devote 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
1 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:20.230 1:18.560
2 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 1:21.881 1:19.488 +0.928
3 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:22.038 1:19.958 +1.398
4 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:22.605 1:20.079 +1.519
5 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:22.521 1:20.452 +1.892
6 9 Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 1:23.588 1:21.053 +2.493
7 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 1:23.580 1:21.189 +2.629
8 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 1:21.580 1:21.222 +2.662
9 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:23.162 1:21.288 +2.728
10 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:23.522 1:21.614 +3.054
11 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:24.488 1:21.731 +3.171
12 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 1:25.421 1:21.793 +3.233
13 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 1:23.514 1:22.211 +3.651
14 15 Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Hart 1:24.519 1:22.265 +3.701
15 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:24.731 1:22.359 +3.799
16 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:24.103 1:22.375 +3.815
17 6 JJ Lehto Benetton-Ford 1:23.885 1:22.679 +4.119
18 19 Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 1:24.126 1:23.025 +4.465
19 11 Pedro Lamy Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:25.859 1:23.858 +5.298
20 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 1:25.115 1:24.131 +5.571
21 25 Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 1:27.694 1:24.377 +5.817
22 31 David Brabham Simtek-Ford 1:26.690 1:24.656 +6.096
23 34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 1:48.173 1:26.082 +7.522
24 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 1:29.984 8:36.897 +11.424
WD 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes
WD 29 Karl Wendlinger Sauber-Mercedes

Race
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 78 1:49:55.372 1 10
2 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 78 + 37.278 8 6
3 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 78 + 1:16.824 3 4
4 15 Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Hart 77 + 1 Lap 14 3
5 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 77 + 1 Lap 5 2
6 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 12 1
7 6 JJ Lehto Benetton-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 17  
8 19 Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 18  
9 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 76 + 2 Laps 20  
10 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 75 + 3 Laps 13  
11 11 Pedro Lamy Lotus-Mugen-Honda 73 + 5 Laps 19  
Ret 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 68 Gearbox 16  
Ret 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 53 Physical 24  
Ret 34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 49 Gearbox 23  
Ret 9 Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 47 Gearbox 6  
Ret 31 David Brabham Simtek-Ford 45 Engine 22  
Ret 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 40 Engine 10  
Ret 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 38 Gearbox 11  
Ret 25 Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 34 Spun off 21  
Ret 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 27 Electrical 15  
Ret 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 0 Collision 2  
Ret 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 0 Collision damage 4  
Ret 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 0 Collision 7  
Ret 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 0 Collision 9  
WD 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes   Withdrawn  
DNS 29 Karl Wendlinger Sauber-Mercedes   Injury  
Source:[4]

Championship standings after the race

References
  1. 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. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  4. "1994 Monaco Grand Prix - Race Result". Formula1.com. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  5. "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

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