1994 Japanese Grand Prix

  1994 Japanese Grand Prix
Race details
Race 15 of 16 in the 1994 Formula One season

Date November 6, 1994
Official name XXI Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
5.864 km (3.665 mi)
Distance 50 laps, 293.200 km (183.250 mi)
Scheduled Distance 53 laps, 310.792 km (194.245 mi)
Weather Heavy Rain, followed by Light Showers
Pole position
Driver Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford
Time 1:37.209
Fastest lap
Driver Damon Hill Williams-Renault
Time 1:56.597 on lap 24
Podium
First Damon Hill Williams-Renault
Second Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford
Third Jean Alesi Ferrari

The 1994 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on November 6, 1994 at the Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka. It was the fifteenth and penultimate race of the 1994 Formula One season.

The start of the race was under torrential rain, and as a result, several cars spun out of the race by aquaplaning, including Johnny Herbert, Franck Lagorce, both Minardi and all three Japanese drivers and the returning JJ Lehto who had replaced Andrea de Cesaris after his sudden retirement from Formula One.

On lap 13, Gianni Morbidelli crashed his Footwork at one of the Esses at the first sector. Shortly after, Martin Brundle spun off the track at the same spot, and as he bounced off the tyre barriers, hit a track marshal who was moving Morbidelli's car off the gravel trap. The marshal suffered a broken leg, adding to the huge list of injuries of the 1994 season, and the race was immediately stopped.

As the rain became moderate, it was decided to run the remainder of the race, with around one hour to the time limit, on aggregate corrected time. Schumacher had been leading by 6.8 seconds when the red flag was shown, but since Hill had a bigger lead (10.1 seconds) at the chequered flag, Hill was declared the winner by 3.3 seconds. This was the last instance of corrected time being used in Formula 1 to declare a race winner.

Contents

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap
1 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:37.209 1:57.128
2 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:37.696 1:57.278 +0.487
3 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 1:37.742 1:56.935 +0.533
4 2 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:37.768 2:00.963 +0.559
5 6 Johnny Herbert Benetton-Ford 1:37.828 1:59.729 +0.619
6 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 1:37.880 1:57.760 +0.671
7 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:37.907 1:58.610 +0.698
8 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 1:37.998 1:58.204 +0.789
9 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 1:38.076 1:56.876 +0.877
10 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:38.533 2:01.905 +1.324
11 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:38.570 1:58.926 +1.361
12 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 1:39.030 2:07.293 +1.821
13 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:39.266 2:02.266 +2.057
14 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:39.462 2:04.187 +2.253
15 29 Jyrki Järvilehto Sauber-Mercedes 1:39.483 1:59.943 +2.274
16 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:39.548 2:01.929 +2.339
17 12 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:39.721 2:02.077 +2.512
18 9 Christian Fittipaldi Arrows-Ford 1:39.868 2:00.084 +2.659
19 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 1:40.042 2:00.575 +2.833
20 25 Franck Lagorce Ligier-Renault 1:40.577 2:02.780 +3.368
21 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 1:40.652 2:02.219 +3.443
22 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 1:40.978 2:01.035 +3.769
23 19 Hideki Noda Larrousse-Ford 1:40.990 2:05.354 +3.781
24 31 David Brabham Simtek-Ford 1:41.659 2:09.453 +4.450
25 11 Mika Salo Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:41.805 2:01.637 +4.596
26 32 Taki Inoue Simtek-Ford 1:45.004 no time +7.795
DNQ 34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 1:46.374 no time +9.165
DNQ 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 1:46.629 no time +9.420

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 50 1:55:53.532 2 10
2 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 50 +3.365 1 6
3 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 50 +52.045 7 4
4 2 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 50 +56.074 4 3
5 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 50 +1:42.107 6 2
6 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 50 +1:59.863 3 1
7 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 50 +2:02.985 8  
8 9 Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 49 +1 Lap 18  
9 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 49 +1 Lap 22  
10 11 Mika Salo Lotus-Mugen-Honda 49 +1 Lap 25  
11 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 49 +1 Lap 19  
12 31 David Brabham Simtek-Ford 48 +2 Laps 24  
13 12 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 48 +2 Laps 17  
Ret 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 26 Engine 13  
Ret 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 16 Gearbox 10  
Ret 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 13 Spun off 9  
Ret 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 13 Spun off 12  
Ret 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 10 Ignition 11  
Ret 25 Franck Lagorce Ligier-Renault 10 Collision 20  
Ret 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 10 Collision 16  
Ret 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 10 Spun off 21  
Ret 6 Johnny Herbert Benetton-Ford 3 Spun off 5  
Ret 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 3 Spun off 14  
Ret 32 Taki Inoue Simtek-Ford 3 Spun off 26  
Ret 6 Jyrki Järvilehto Sauber-Mercedes 0 Engine 15  
Ret 19 Hideki Noda Larrousse-Ford 0 Spun off 23  
DNQ 34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor    
DNQ 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor    

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Michael Schumacher 92
2 Damon Hill 91
3 Gerhard Berger 35
4 Mika Häkkinen 26
5 Jean Alesi 23
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Williams-Renault 108
2 Benetton-Ford 103
3 Ferrari 64
4 McLaren-Peugeot 38
5 Jordan-Hart 25
Previous race:
1994 European Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1994 season
Next race:
1994 Australian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1993 Japanese Grand Prix
Japanese Grand Prix Next race:
1995 Japanese Grand Prix