British GP 1994

British GP, 1994

Nigel Mansell had gone back to America after his outing for Williams at the French GP and so David Coulthard was back in the second Williams alongside Damon Hill. Things did not begin well with Hill leaving the pits on Friday morning only to have his suspension fall apart on the first lap out of the pits. Qualifying proved to be an extraordinary battle between Hill, Michael Schumacher's Benetton and Gerhard Berger's Ferrari. It ended with Berger glancing the barrier at the end of the pitlane as he hurried out to have a run. The three cars were covered by two-hundredths of a second with Hill on pole.

Before the start of the race Coulthard stalled and so had to start from the back. Eddie Irvine also disappeared when his engine overheated and Martin Brundle's McLaren blew up mightily as the race started.

Hill took the lead with Schumacher second and Berger third ahead of a fast-starting Rubens Barrichello (Jordan-Hart), Alesi (Ferrari) and Jos Verstappen (Benetton). At the tail-end of the field Coulthard had a spin.

There was little drama until it was announced that Schumacher had been given a five-second stop-go penalty for twice overtaking Hill during the parade lap. The Benetton team refused to call Michael in, arguing that they had not been properly notified of the punishment. While this was happening the pit stops began and Schumacher emerged ahead of Hill. Alesi was third with Mika Hakkinen (McLaren-Peugeot) fourth and Berger fifth ahead of Barrichello, Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Sauber), Ukyo Katayama (Tyrrell-Yamaha) and Coulthard ninth.

Schumacher was then black-flagged for failing to come in for his stop-go penalty after seven laps. The black flag informs the driver that he must stop at his pits on the next lap. Schumacher later said he did not see the black flag. In the pits the Benetton men argued with the FIA. On lap 27 - 14 laps after the penalty was given - Schumacher finally stopped but only after Race Director Roland Bruynseraede had been to the Benetton pit. The team later received a severe reprimand and a fine of $25,000.

Schumacher's stop-go penalty dropped him to fourth place, but only for a couple of laps before Alesi and Hakkinen both went into the pits and so Michael was second again. He could not catch Hill and had to settle for second place. Berger ran third until he retired with engine trouble leaving Barrichello in third position. He later dropped behind Hakkinen and chased the Finn all the way to the flag. The pair collided at the last corner. Barrichello drove in on three wheels, crossing the finish line in the pitlane but Hakkinen was extricated from a sandtrap and managed to get to the line first to claim third.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
Damon Hill Williams-Renault FW16 60 1h30m03.640s  
dq Michael Schumacher Benetton-Cosworth  60 Overtook On Parade Lap 
27 Jean Alesi Ferrari  60 1h31m11.768s  
Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Peugeot  60 1h31m44.299s  
14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart  60 1h31m45.391s  
David Coulthard Williams-Renault  59  
Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha  59  
30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes  59  13 
Jos Verstappen Benetton-Cosworth  59  10 
Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Cosworth  58  20 
10 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Cosworth  58  14 
11 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen Honda  58  21 
12 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault  58  15 
13 25 Eric Bernard Ligier-Renault  58  23 
14 19 Oliver Beretta Larrousse-Cosworth  58  24 
15 31 David Brabham Simtek-Cosworth  57  25 
16 32 Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Cosworth  57  26 
24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Cosworth  48 Engine 17 
28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari  32 Engine 
Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha  20 Gearbox 11 
28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari  32 Engine 
Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha  20 Gearbox 11 
20 Erik Comas Larrousse-Cosworth  12 Engine 22 
29 Andreas de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes  11 Engine 18 
10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Cosworth  Fuel Line 16 
11 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen Honda  Engine 19 
Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot  Engine 
15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart  -1 Engine 12 
nq 34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor     
nq 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor