1994 French Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 7 of 16 in the 1994 Formula One season | |||
.svg.png) | |||
| Date | 3 July 1994 | ||
| Official name | LXXX Grand Prix de France | ||
| Location | Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours, France | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.250 km (2.641 mi) | ||
| Distance | 72 laps, 306.000 km (191.140 mi) | ||
| Weather | Sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Williams-Renault | ||
| Time | 1:16.282 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | |
| Time | 1:19.678 on lap 4 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Benetton-Ford | ||
| Second | Williams-Renault | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
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. The 72-lap race was the seventh round of the 1994 Formula One season. It was won by Benetton driver Michael Schumacher, who extended his drivers championship lead to 37 points by taking his sixth victory in seven races for the second highest possible points total. His main rival for the title, Williams driver Damon Hill finished the race in second place and was also second in the standings. Gerhard Berger finished in third position for Ferrari to complete the podium.
Report
Background
Nigel Mansell made his return to Formula One, driving for Williams-Renault in place of David Coulthard. He had left F1 at the end of 1992 to race in IndyCar.
Race
Oliver Panis and Gianni Morbidelli collided on lap 29. This was the only retirement of the season for Panis. Michael Schumacher won the race ahead of Damon Hill and Gerhard Berger. Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished fourth, Pierluigi Martini was fifth and Andrea de Cesaris finished sixth. These would prove to be the last world championship points that Martini and de Cesaris scored in their careers.
Classification
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | Damon Hill |
Williams-Renault | 1:17.539 | 1:16.282 | |
| 2 | 2 | Nigel Mansell |
Williams-Renault | 1:18.340 | 1:16.359 | +0.077 |
| 3 | 5 |  Michael Schumacher |
Benetton-Ford | 1:17.085 | 1:16.707 | +0.425 |
| 4 | 27 |  Jean Alesi |
Ferrari | 1:17.855 | 1:16.954 | +0.672 |
| 5 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger |
Ferrari | 1:17.441 | 1:16.959 | +0.677 |
| 6 | 15 | Eddie Irvine |
Jordan-Hart | 1:19.463 | 1:17.441 | +1.159 |
| 7 | 14 |  Rubens Barrichello |
Jordan-Hart | 1:18.326 | 1:17.482 | +1.200 |
| 8 | 6 |  Jos Verstappen |
Benetton-Ford | 1:18.669 | 1:17.645 | +1.363 |
| 9 | 7 |  Mika Häkkinen |
McLaren-Peugeot | 1:19.041 | 1:17.768 | +1.486 |
| 10 | 30 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen |
Sauber-Mercedes | 1:19.318 | 1:17.830 | +1.548 |
| 11 | 29 |  Andrea de Cesaris |
Sauber-Mercedes | 1:20.145 | 1:17.866 | +1.584 |
| 12 | 8 | Martin Brundle |
McLaren-Peugeot | 1:18.112 | 1:18.031 | +1.749 |
| 13 | 26 | Olivier Panis |
Ligier-Renault | 1:19.697 | 1:18.044 | +1.762 |
| 14 | 3 |  Ukyo Katayama |
Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:19.969 | 1:18.192 | +1.910 |
| 15 | 25 | Éric Bernard |
Ligier-Renault | 1:19.292 | 1:18.236 | +1.954 |
| 16 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini |
Minardi-Ford | 1:20.084 | 1:18.248 | +1.966 |
| 17 | 4 | Mark Blundell |
Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:20.001 | 1:18.381 | +2.099 |
| 18 | 9 | Christian Fittipaldi |
Footwork-Ford | 1:20.801 | 1:18.568 | +2.286 |
| 19 | 12 | Johnny Herbert |
Lotus-Mugen-Honda | 1:20.108 | 1:18.715 | +2.433 |
| 20 | 20 | Érik Comas |
Larrousse-Ford | 1:20.576 | 1:18.811 | +2.529 |
| 21 | 24 | Michele Alboreto |
Minardi-Ford | 1:20.097 | 1:18.890 | +2.608 |
| 22 | 10 | Gianni Morbidelli |
Footwork-Ford | 1:20.707 | 1:18.936 | +2.654 |
| 23 | 11 | Alessandro Zanardi |
Lotus-Mugen-Honda | 1:20.122 | 1:19.066 | +2.784 |
| 24 | 31 |  David Brabham |
Simtek-Ford | 1:22.527 | 1:19.771 | +3.489 |
| 25 | 19 |  Olivier Beretta |
Larrousse-Ford | 1:21.964 | 1:19.863 | +3.581 |
| 26 | 32 | Jean-Marc Gounon |
Simtek-Ford | 1:23.264 | 1:21.829 | +5.547 |
| DNQ | 34 | Bertrand Gachot |
Pacific-Ilmor | 1:24.048 | 1:21.952 | +5.670 |
| DNQ | 33 | Paul Belmondo |
Pacific-Ilmor | 1:24.637 | 1:23.004 | +6.722 |
Race
Notes
- Lap leaders: Michael Schumacher 65 (1-37, 45-72), Damon Hill 7 (38-44)
Championship standings after the race
|
|
References
- ↑ "1994 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
| Previous race: 1994 Canadian Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1994 season |
Next race: 1994 British Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1993 French Grand Prix |
French Grand Prix | Next race: 1995 French Grand Prix |