1994 German Grand Prix

March 2019 F1 Germany German LVI Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland Hockenheimring prior to 2002.svg 31 July 1994 9 16 HockenheimringHockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany Permanent racing facility 4.264 6.823 45 191.896 307.035 Sunny Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:43.582 Austria David Coulthard Williams-Renault 1:46.211 11 United Kingdom Gerhard Berger Ferrari Austria Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault France Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault France GER thumb|The starting grid thumb|Gerhard Berger and the two Ligiers thumb|Michael Schumacher started fourth but retired from the race. The 1994 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 31 July 1994 at the Hockenheimring, Hockenheim. It was the ninth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship. The 45-lap race was won from pole position by Austrian driver Gerhard Berger, driving a Ferrari. Berger achieved the first victory for the Ferrari team since the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix, some 59 races previously. In a race of high attrition, including eleven retirements on the opening lap, only eight cars finished, with French drivers Olivier Panis and Éric Bernard second and third respectively in their Ligier-Renaults. Background The fast Hockenheim circuit had been modified from the year before, with the fast Senna chicane being made slower. Qualifying report The Ferraris filled the front row of the grid, Gerhard Berger taking pole position by 0.43 seconds from Jean Alesi. Damon Hill was third in his Williams, with Drivers' Championship leader Michael Schumacher fourth in his Benetton. The Tyrrells impressed with Ukyo Katayama fifth and Mark Blundell seventh, with David Coulthard between them in the second Williams. Completing the top ten were Mika Häkkinen in the McLaren, Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Sauber and Eddie Irvine in the Jordan. Once again, the Pacifics of Paul Belmondo and Bertrand Gachot failed to qualify, with Belmondo, the faster of the two, nearly two seconds slower than the 26th and last qualifier, Jean-Marc Gounon in the Simtek. Qualifying classification Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 time Q2 time Gap 1 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:44.616 1:43.582 2 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:45.272 1:44.012 +0.430 3 0 UK Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:44.026 1:44.131 +0.444 4 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:44.875 1:44.268 +0.686 5 3 Japan 1947 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:46.534 1:44.718 +1.136 6 2 UK David Coulthard Williams-Renault 1:45.477 1:45.146 +1.564 7 4 UK Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:45.814 1:45.474 +1.892 8 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 1:45.487 1:45.878 +1.905 9 30 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 1:46.488 1:45.893 +2.311 10 15 UK Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 1:45.911 1:45.942 +2.329 11 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:45.962 1:45.939 +2.357 12 26 France Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 1:47.925 1:46.185 +2.603 13 8 UK Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 1:46.644 1:46.218 +2.636 14 25 France Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 1:47.531 1:46.290 +2.708 15 12 UK Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:48.621 1:46.630 +3.048 16 10 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 1:47.814 1:46.817 +3.235 17 9 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 1:47.150 1:47.102 +3.520 18 29 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes 1:47.745 1:47.235 +3.653 19 6 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Benetton-Ford 40:34.496 1:47.316 +3.734 20 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:47.831 1:47.402 +3.820 21 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:47.678 1:47.425 +3.843 22 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 1:48.770 1:48.229 +4.647 23 24 Italy Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 1:48.402 1:48.295 +4.713 24 19 Monaco Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 1:48.681 1:48.875 +5.099 25 31 Australia David Brabham Simtek-Ford 1:50.685 1:48.870 +5.288 26 32 France Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Ford 1:50.361 1:49.204 +5.622DNQ Did not qualify 33 France Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 1:51.916 1:51.122 +7.540DNQ Did not qualify 34 France Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 1:52.839 1:51.292 +7.710 Sources:Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland – Qualifying 1 https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1994/races/613/germany/qualifying-1.html Formula1.com 29 December 2023Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland – Qualifying 2 https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1994/races/613/germany/qualifying-2.html Formula1.com 29 December 20231994 German GP – Qualifying https://www.chicanef1.com/race.pl?year=1994&gp=German%20GP&r=1&type=qual ChicaneF1 29 December 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20250703155752/https://www.chicanef1.com/race.pl?year=1994&gp=German%20GP&r=1&type=qual 3 July 2025 dead Race report The race was notable for its high rate of attrition, with 11 retirements on the opening lap. Within ten seconds of the start Alessandro Zanardi and Andrea de Cesaris tangled towards the back of the pack, taking out both Michele Alboreto and Pierluigi Martini before even reaching the first corner. Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard then tangled going into the first corner, the Finn sliding in front of a group of cars into the wall on the outside of the circuit while the Scot continued to the pits to replace his front wing. Unfortunately, for the cars that had been eliminated, the Clerk of the Course opted not to red flag the race. Mark Blundell braked hard to avoid the McLaren only to be hit from behind by Eddie Irvine, while Rubens Barrichello and Heinz-Harald Frentzen had nowhere to go but the gravel. Barrichello retired on the spot, but Frentzen stopped towards the end of the lap with broken suspension and a punctured tyre. In the melee behind this incident, Johnny Herbert and Martin Brundle tangled, the McLaren spinning out and the Lotus retiring later on in the lap with a broken front suspension. Damon Hill also damaged his suspension in a first-lap contact with Ukyo Katayama and, along with a very long pitstop, circulated outside the points for the remainder of the race. This result would have significant consequences for Hill at the end of the season. Meanwhile Jean Alesi had gotten away unscathed, having qualified second, only for his Ferrari to stop with electrical problems on the run to the first chicane. It was a bad weekend for the Benetton team. After the first lap mayhem, Schumacher went on to take on the leading Ferrari of Gerhard Berger but fell away with engine problems very quickly. Then, a few laps later, Benetton driver Jos Verstappen also came into the pits; while refuelling, some fuel was accidentally sprayed onto the hot bodywork of the car, and a few seconds later the fuel ignited and Verstappen's car was engulfed in a ball of flames. The Dutchman escaped the incident with burns around his eyes, as he had his visor up during the pit stop. No other crew members or any persons were injured severely. As well as Ferrari winning its first and only race of the 1994 Formula One season (and the first Ferrari win since the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix), the race was especially good for Ligier with Olivier Panis finishing second, in his first career podium in Formula One, and Éric Bernard coming home third, achieving his only podium. Christian Fittipaldi finished fourth, scoring what would be his last points in Formula One, ahead of Gianni Morbidelli in fifth. Érik Comas finished sixth achieving his and Larrousse's last Formula One points. Race classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 45 1:22:37.272 1 10 2 26 France Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 45 + 54.779 12 6 3 25 France Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 45 + 1:05.042 14 4 4 9 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 45 + 1:21.609 17 3 5 10 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 45 + 1:30.544 16 2 6 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 45 + 1:45.445 22 1 7 19 Monaco Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 44 + 1 lap 24   8 0 UK Damon Hill Williams-Renault 44 + 1 lap 3   Ret Retired 32 France Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Ford 39 Engine 26   Ret Retired 31 Australia David Brabham Simtek-Ford 37 Clutch 25   Ret Retired 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 20 Engine 4   Ret Retired 8 UK Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 19 Engine 13   Ret Retired 2 UK David Coulthard Williams-Renault 17 Electrical 6   Ret Retired 6 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Benetton-Ford 15 Pit fire 19   Ret Retired 3 Japan 1947 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 6 Throttle 5   Ret Retired 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 0 Electrical 2   Ret Retired 4 UK Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 0 Collision 7   Ret Retired 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 0 Collision 8   Ret Retired 30 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 0 Collision 9   Ret Retired 15 UK Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 0 Collision 10   Ret Retired 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 0 Collision 11   Ret Retired 12 UK Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 0 Collision 15   Ret Retired 29 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes 0 Collision 18   Ret Retired 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 0 Collision 20   Ret Retired 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 0 Collision 21   Ret Retired 24 Italy Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 0 Collision 23  Source:1994 German Grand Prix - Race Result https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1994/races/613/germany/race-result.html Formula1.com 8 February 2020 Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 GER Michael Schumacher 66 2 GBR Damon Hill 39 3 AUT Gerhard Berger 27 4 FRA Jean Alesi 19 5 BRA Rubens Barrichello 10Source:Germany 1994 - Championship • STATS F1 https://www.statsf1.com/en/1994/allemagne/championnat.aspx www.statsf1.com 18 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 GBR Benetton-Ford 67 2 ITA Ferrari 52 3 GBR Williams-Renault 43 4 GBR McLaren-Peugeot 14 5 IRE Jordan-Hart 14Source: References External links German Grand Prix 1994 1994 British Grand Prix 1994 Hungarian Grand Prix 1993 German Grand Prix 1995 German Grand Prix German Grand Prix Category:German Grand Prix Grand Prix German Grand Prix