Canadian GP 1994

Canadian GP, 1994

There had been further rule changes as a result of the Imola accidents, the most significant being the decision that teams must use pump fuel. Until then they had used specially formulated fuel nicknamed "rocket fuel" which bore no relation to ordinary gasoline. This seemed to have a dramatic effect on the performance of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher (Benetton) only just beat Ferrari drivers Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger to pole position. Damon Hill and David Coulthard were fourth and fifth in their Williams-Renaults and then came Rubens Barrichello (Jordan-Hart), Mika Hakkinen (McLaren-Peugeot) and Eddie Irvine in the second Jordan. The top 10 was completed by Ukyo Katayama in the Tyrrell-Yamaha and Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the first of the Saubers. The Swiss team was back up to two cars again, veteran Andrea de Cesaris standing in for Karl Wendlinger, injured in Monaco.

At the start of the race the top three remained in grid order while Coulthard made a good start to overtake Hill. Further back Gianni Morbidelli (Arrows) overtook both Katayama and Frentzen and battled with Irvine. Schumacher remained in control while behind him Alesi began to edge away from Berger, the Austrian having to work hard to keep Coulthard and Hill behind him. On lap four Hill went ahead of Coulthard but the Scotsman retook the place by driving around the outside of Damon at the hairpin. Coulthard fought on until lap nine. He then allowed Hill through and drifted backwards towards the duelling Barrichello and Hakkinen. Hill managed to pass Berger on the 15th lap and chased after Alesi.

Rain began to fall down at mid-distance and on lap 40 Irvine, who had dropped back because of a slow pit stop, spun off at the last corner. When the pit stops were over the main excitement was the battle for fourth place between Berger and Hakkinen although this came to an end on lap 62 when the Finn suffered an engine failure. Schumacher duly won the race from Hill, Alesi and Berger. Coulthard was fifth, a good effort in his second F1 race, while sixth place went to Christian Fittipaldi (Arrows) after a wild battle ended up when Barrichello and Mark Blundell (Tyrrell) both spun. Later Fittipaldi's car was disqualified for being underweight and so JJ Lehto (Benetton) scored his first point of the year.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
Michael Schumacher Benetton-Cosworth  69 1h44m31.887s  
Damon Hill Williams-Renault FW16 69 1h45m11.547s  
27 Jean Alesi Ferrari  69 1h45m45.275s  
28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari  69 1h45m47.496s  
David Coulthard Williams-Renault  68  
dq Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Cosworth  68 Car Under Weight 16 
JJ Lehto Benetton-Cosworth  68  20 
14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart  68  
12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen Honda  68  17 
23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Cosworth  68  15 
10r Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha  67 Accident 13 
11 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Cosworth  67  18 
12 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault  67  19 
13 25 Eric Bernard Ligier-Renault  66  24 
14 31 David Brabham Simtek-Cosworth  65  25 
15r 11 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen Honda  62 Engine 23 
Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Peugeot  61 Engine 
19 Oliver Beretta Larrousse-Cosworth  57 Engine 22 
10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Cosworth  50 Gearbox Hydraulics 11 
34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor  47 Oil Pressure 26 
20 Erik Comas Larrousse-Cosworth  45 Clutch 21 
Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha  44 Spin 
15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart  40 Accident 
29 Andreas de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes  24 Oil Leak 14 
30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes  Accident 10 
Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot  Electrics 12 
nq 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor     
34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor     
33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor