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| 1994 German Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 16 in the1994 Formula One World Championship | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 31 July 1994 | ||
| Official name | LVI Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland | ||
| Location | Hockenheimring Hockenheim,Baden-Württemberg,Germany | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 6.823 km (4.264 miles) | ||
| Distance | 45 laps, 307.035 km (191.896 miles) | ||
| Weather | Sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:43.582 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  David Coulthard | Williams-Renault | |
| Time | 1:46.211 on lap 11 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Ligier-Renault | ||
| Third | Ligier-Renault | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1994 German Grand Prix was aFormula Onemotor race held on 31 July 1994 at theHockenheimring,Hockenheim. It was the ninth race of the1994 Formula One World Championship.
The 45-lap race was won frompole position by Austrian driverGerhard Berger, driving aFerrari. Berger achieved the first victory for the Ferrari team since the1990 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 driversOlivier Panis andÉric Bernard second and third respectively in theirLigier-Renaults.
The fast Hockenheim circuit had been modified from the year before, with the fast Senna chicane being made slower.
TheFerraris filled the front row of the grid,Gerhard Berger takingpole position by 0.43 seconds fromJean Alesi.Damon Hill was third in hisWilliams, with Drivers' Championship leaderMichael Schumacher fourth in hisBenetton. TheTyrrells impressed withUkyo Katayama fifth andMark Blundell seventh, withDavid Coulthard between them in the second Williams. Completing the top ten wereMika Häkkinen in theMcLaren,Heinz-Harald Frentzen in theSauber andEddie Irvine in theJordan. Once again, thePacifics ofPaul Belmondo andBertrand 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 theSimtek.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 time | Q2 time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 1:44.616 | 1:43.582 | |
| 2 | 27 |  Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:45.272 | 1:44.012 | +0.430 |
| 3 | 0 | Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | 1:44.026 | 1:44.131 | +0.444 |
| 4 | 5 |  Michael Schumacher | Benetton-Ford | 1:44.875 | 1:44.268 | +0.686 |
| 5 | 3 |  Ukyo Katayama | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:46.534 | 1:44.718 | +1.136 |
| 6 | 2 | David Coulthard | Williams-Renault | 1:45.477 | 1:45.146 | +1.564 |
| 7 | 4 | Mark Blundell | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:45.814 | 1:45.474 | +1.892 |
| 8 | 7 |  Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Peugeot | 1:45.487 | 1:45.878 | +1.905 |
| 9 | 30 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Sauber-Mercedes | 1:46.488 | 1:45.893 | +2.311 |
| 10 | 15 | Eddie Irvine | Jordan-Hart | 1:45.911 | 1:45.942 | +2.329 |
| 11 | 14 |  Rubens Barrichello | Jordan-Hart | 1:45.962 | 1:45.939 | +2.357 |
| 12 | 26 | Olivier Panis | Ligier-Renault | 1:47.925 | 1:46.185 | +2.603 |
| 13 | 8 | Martin Brundle | McLaren-Peugeot | 1:46.644 | 1:46.218 | +2.636 |
| 14 | 25 | Éric Bernard | Ligier-Renault | 1:47.531 | 1:46.290 | +2.708 |
| 15 | 12 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus-Mugen-Honda | 1:48.621 | 1:46.630 | +3.048 |
| 16 | 10 |  Gianni Morbidelli | Footwork-Ford | 1:47.814 | 1:46.817 | +3.235 |
| 17 | 9 | Christian Fittipaldi | Footwork-Ford | 1:47.150 | 1:47.102 | +3.520 |
| 18 | 29 | Andrea de Cesaris | Sauber-Mercedes | 1:47.745 | 1:47.235 | +3.653 |
| 19 | 6 |  Jos Verstappen | Benetton-Ford | 40:34.496 | 1:47.316 | +3.734 |
| 20 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ford | 1:47.831 | 1:47.402 | +3.820 |
| 21 | 11 | Alessandro Zanardi | Lotus-Mugen-Honda | 1:47.678 | 1:47.425 | +3.843 |
| 22 | 20 | Érik Comas | Larrousse-Ford | 1:48.770 | 1:48.229 | +4.647 |
| 23 | 24 | Michele Alboreto | Minardi-Ford | 1:48.402 | 1:48.295 | +4.713 |
| 24 | 19 |  Olivier Beretta | Larrousse-Ford | 1:48.681 | 1:48.875 | +5.099 |
| 25 | 31 |  David Brabham | Simtek-Ford | 1:50.685 | 1:48.870 | +5.288 |
| 26 | 32 | Jean-Marc Gounon | Simtek-Ford | 1:50.361 | 1:49.204 | +5.622 |
| DNQ | 33 | Paul Belmondo | Pacific-Ilmor | 1:51.916 | 1:51.122 | +7.540 |
| DNQ | 34 | Bertrand Gachot | Pacific-Ilmor | 1:52.839 | 1:51.292 | +7.710 |
| Sources:[1][2][3] | ||||||
The race was notable for its high rate of attrition, with 11 retirements on the opening lap. Within ten seconds of the startAlessandro Zanardi andAndrea de Cesaris tangled towards the back of the pack, taking out bothMichele Alboreto andPierluigi Martini before even reaching the first corner.Mika Häkkinen andDavid 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, theClerk of the Course opted not tored flag the race.
Mark Blundell braked hard to avoid the McLaren only to be hit from behind byEddie Irvine, whileRubens Barrichello andHeinz-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 andMartin 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 withUkyo 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.
MeanwhileJean 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 driverJos 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 the1990 Spanish Grand Prix), the race was especially good for Ligier withOlivier Panis finishing second, in his first career podium in Formula One, andÉric Bernard coming home third, achieving his only podium. Christian Fittipaldi finished fourth, scoring what would be his last points in Formula One, ahead ofGianni Morbidelli in fifth.Érik Comas finished sixth achieving his and Larrousse's last Formula One points.
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| Previous race: 1994 British Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1994 season | Next race: 1994 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1993 German Grand Prix | German Grand Prix | Next race: 1995 German Grand Prix |
