| 1994 Italian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 12 of 16 in the1994 Formula One World Championship | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 11 September 1994 | ||
| Official name | Pioneer 65º Gran Premio d'Italia | ||
| Location | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza Monza,Lombardy,Italy | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.834 km (3.625[1] miles) | ||
| Distance | 53 laps, 309.202 km (192.125 miles) | ||
| Weather | Sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:23.844 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | |
| Time | 1:25.930 on lap 24 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Williams-Renault | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | McLaren-Peugeot | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1994 Italian Grand Prix (formally thePioneer 65º Gran Premio d'Italia[2]) was aFormula Onemotor race held on 11 September 1994 at theAutodromo Nazionale di Monza,Monza. It was the twelfth race of the1994 Formula One World Championship.
The 53-lap race was won by British driverDamon Hill, driving aWilliams-Renault, with Austria'sGerhard Berger second in aFerrari and Finland'sMika Häkkinen third in aMcLaren-Peugeot. FrenchmanJean Alesi tookpole position in the other Ferrari and led before suffering a gearbox failure on lap 15.
The win enabled Hill to move to within 11 points ofMichael Schumacher in the Drivers' Championship. Schumacher was banned for this race and the following race inPortugal for his actions at theBritish Grand Prix; his place atBenetton was taken by Finland'sJJ Lehto, who had been his teammate earlier in the season.
The day after the race,Lotus went into receivership; however, they would compete in the remaining races of the 1994 season. Lotus had brought an upgradedMugen engine to Monza, allowingJohnny Herbert to qualify in a season-best fourth place; hopes of a points finish were ended by a first-corner collision withEddie Irvine'sJordan.
The Grand Prix was originally cancelled on 12 August 1994 when local officials refused a demand to cut down 123 trees for reasons related to safety.[3] The trees in question were located at the Lesmo corners which lacked suitable run off-areas. After the announcement,Gianni Letta, an Italian cabinet under-secretary, went to Cannes to meet with FIA presidentMax Mosley to discuss the issue. The meeting, also attended byFerrari driver and representative to the driversGerhard Berger, agreed that changes to the shape of the curve would reduce its speed.[4]
To the delight of theTifosi,Jean Alesi tookpole position in his Ferrari with teammate Berger second, some 0.134 seconds behind. It was the first pole position for Ferrari at Monza sinceMario Andretti in1982, and the first all-Ferrari front row at the circuit sinceNiki Lauda andClay Regazzoni in1975.Damon Hill was third in hisWilliams-Renault, withJohnny Herbert a surprise fourth in theLotus, running an upgradedMugen engine.David Coulthard was fifth in the other Williams, withOlivier Panis sixth in theLigier. The top ten was completed byMika Häkkinen in theMcLaren,Andrea de Cesaris in theSauber,Eddie Irvine in theJordan andJos Verstappen in theBenetton.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 |  Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:24.620 | 1:23.844 | |
| 2 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 1:24.915 | 1:23.978 | +0.134 |
| 3 | 0 | Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | 1:24.734 | 1:24.158 | +0.314 |
| 4 | 12 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus-Mugen-Honda | 1:26.365 | 1:24.374 | +0.530 |
| 5 | 2 | David Coulthard | Williams-Renault | 1:24.869 | 1:24.502 | +0.658 |
| 6 | 26 | Olivier Panis | Ligier-Renault | 1:26.958 | 1:25.455 | +1.611 |
| 7 | 7 |  Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Peugeot | 1:26.004 | 1:25.528 | +1.684 |
| 8 | 29 |  Andrea de Cesaris | Sauber-Mercedes | 1:27.188 | 1:25.540 | +1.696 |
| 9 | 15 | Eddie Irvine | Jordan-Hart | No time[1] | 1:25.568 | +1.724 |
| 10 | 6 |  Jos Verstappen | Benetton-Ford | 1:27.361 | 1:25.618 | +1.774 |
| 11 | 30 |  Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Mercedes | 1:26.406 | 1:25.628 | +1.784 |
| 12 | 25 | Éric Bernard | Ligier-Renault | 1:27.387 | 1:25.718 | +1.874 |
| 13 | 11 | Alessandro Zanardi | Lotus-Mugen-Honda | 1:27.617 | 1:25.733 | +1.889 |
| 14 | 3 |  Ukyo Katayama | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:26.525 | 1:25.889 | +2.045 |
| 15 | 8 | Martin Brundle | McLaren-Peugeot | 1:26.899 | 1:25.933 | +2.089 |
| 16 | 14 |  Rubens Barrichello | Jordan-Hart | 1:27.034 | 1:25.946 | +2.102 |
| 17 | 10 | Gianni Morbidelli | Footwork-Ford | 1:27.939 | 1:26.002 | +2.158 |
| 18 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ford | 1:42.320 | 1:26.056 | +2.212 |
| 19 | 9 | Christian Fittipaldi | Footwork-Ford | 1:27.675 | 1:26.337 | +2.493 |
| 20 | 5 | JJ Lehto | Benetton-Ford | 1:27.611 | 1:26.384 | +2.540 |
| 21 | 4 | Mark Blundell | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:26.574 | 1:26.697 | +2.730 |
| 22 | 24 | Michele Alboreto | Minardi-Ford | 1:27.623 | 1:26.832 | +2.988 |
| 23 | 19 | Yannick Dalmas | Larrousse-Ford | 1:29.528 | 1:27.846 | +4.002 |
| 24 | 20 | Érik Comas | Larrousse-Ford | 1:30.530 | 1:27.894 | +4.050 |
| 25 | 32 | Jean-Marc Gounon | Simtek-Ford | 1:29.594 | 1:28.353 | +4.509 |
| 26 | 31 |  David Brabham | Simtek-Ford | 1:30.691 | 1:28.619 | +4.775 |
| DNQ | 34 | Bertrand Gachot | Pacific-Ilmor | 1:31.549 | 1:31.387 | +7.543 |
| DNQ | 33 | Paul Belmondo | Pacific-Ilmor | 1:32.035 | No time[2] | +8.191 |
| Sources:[5][6][7] | ||||||
Alesi and Berger got off the line well heading into turn 1, with Herbert moving ahead of Hill into third. Behind them, the fast-starting Irvine locked up, causing him to hit Herbert. The Lotus was pitched into a spin, clipping Coulthard's right rear. Several other cars became involved, blocking the track and stopping the race.[8] Herbert was forced to take the second start from the pit lane in his spare car, minus the upgraded Mugen engine, while Coulthard was forced to use Hill's spare car and Irvine was demoted to the back of the grid.
At the second start, both Ferraris again got away well, followed by Hill and Coulthard. Behind them, Verstappen tangled withAlessandro Zanardi in the second Lotus going into the Curva Grande, also forcingGianni Morbidelli'sFootwork into the outer wall and putting all three drivers out. Herbert's race ended on lap 14 when hisalternator failed. On lap 15, Alesi came in for his first pit stop with an 11-second lead over Berger; disaster then struck as his tried to exit his pit box and his gearbox failed.[8] Berger inherited the lead until lap 24, when he too ran into trouble during his pit stop: he was about to pull away when the incoming Panis came past, costing him enough time to drop behind Hill and Coulthard and prompting theTifosi to jeer the Ligier mechanics.[8]
A high attrition rate continued to build: the Saubers of de Cesaris andHeinz-Harald Frentzen suffered engine failures on laps 21 and 23 respectively, while theMinardis also retired within two laps of each other,Michele Alboreto's gearbox failing on lap 29 andPierluigi Martini spinning off at the Variante Ascari on lap 31.Mark Blundell also spun out at the Variante Ascari in hisTyrrell on lap 40, before Irvine's engine failed on lap 42.Ukyo Katayama took advantage to run fifth in the second Tyrrell, only to himself spin off on lap 46 at the second Lesmo corner. AfterDavid Brabham dropped out with a puncture in hisSimtek on lap 47, only ten cars remained in the race.
In the closing laps, Hill maintained a narrow lead over Coulthard, while the recovering Berger closed on both Williams. Then, rounding the Parabolica on the final lap, Coulthard suddenly coasted to a stop, out of fuel. Hill was thus left to win by 4.9 seconds from Berger, with Häkkinen taking the final podium place, a further 21 seconds back.Rubens Barrichello took fourth in the second Jordan andMartin Brundle fifth in the second McLaren, with Coulthard classified sixth.
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| Previous race: 1994 Belgian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1994 season | Next race: 1994 Portuguese Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1993 Italian Grand Prix | Italian Grand Prix | Next race: 1995 Italian Grand Prix |
