Portuguese GP 1994

SEPTEMBER 25, 1994

Portuguese GP, 1994

The field was as it had been in Italy a fortnight earlier but Team Lotus was now in receivership and so pay-driver Philippe Adams was brought back to partner Johnny Herbert. Michael Schumacher was still banned and so Benetton ran JJ Lehto alongside Jos Verstappen. It was the chance for Damon Hill to win back points in the World Championship battle and he set out to do just that. In qualifying Damon rolled his Williams after making contact with a spinning Eddie Irvine. Gerhard Berger thus took pole for Ferrari ahead of Hill and his team mate David Coulthard. Mika Hakkinen was fourth fastest in his McLaren-Peugeot with Jean Alesi's Ferrari fifth and Ukyo Katayama sixth in his Tyrrell-Yamaha. The top 10 was completed by Martin Brundle (McLaren-Peugeot), Rubens Barrichello (Jordan-Hart) and Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Sauber) and Verstappen.

At the start of the race Berger took the lead ahead of the two Williams-Renaults but his Ferrari lasted only until the eighth lap when his transmission failed. Coulthard, who been running second, thus took the lead until the pit stops. This elevated Alesi to the number one spot for a few laps until he too pitted and so Barrichello had a handful of laps as race leader before he too stopped. Coulthard was then back in the lead until he went wide while lapping a backmarker and Hill moved ahead. One ahead Hill was away and the two Williams raced around in first and second places for the rest of the afternoon. Hakkinen was third with Barrichello fourth, the Brazilian holding of Verstappen in the closing laps. Brundle completed the points scorers.

The result meant that Hill had closed to within one point of Schumacher in the World Championship.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
Damon Hill Williams-Renault FW16 71 1h41m10.165s  
David Coulthard Williams-Renault  71 1h41m10.768s  
Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Peugeot  71 1h41m30.358s  
14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart  71 1h41m38.168s  
Jos Verstappen Benetton-Cosworth  71 1h41m39.550s  10 
Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot  71 1h42m02.867s  
15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart  70  13 
Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Cosworth  70  11 
dq 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault  70 Illegal Skidblock Wear 15 
10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Cosworth  70  16 
10 25 Eric Bernard Ligier-Renault  70  21 
11 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen Honda  70  20 
12 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Cosworth  69  18 
13 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Cosworth  69  19 
14 19 Yannick Dalmas Larrousse-Cosworth  69  23 
15 32 Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Cosworth  67  26 
16 11 Philippe Adams Lotus-Mugen Honda  67  25 
Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha  61 Engine 12 
JJ Lehto Benetton-Cosworth  60 Spin 14 
29 Andreas de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes  54 Spin 17 
27 Jean Alesi Ferrari  38 Accident 
31 David Brabham Simtek-Cosworth  36 Accident 24 
30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes  31 Transmission 
20 Erik Comas Larrousse-Cosworth  27 Accident 22 
Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha  26 Gearbox 
28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari  Gearbox Hydraulics 
nq 34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor     
nq 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor