Date 27 March 1994 | Course length 4.325 km (2.703 mi) | |
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Official name XXIII Grande Prêmio do Brasil Location Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil Course Permanent racing facility Distance 71 laps, 307.075 km (191.921 mi) | ||
The 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the XXIII Grande Prêmio do Brasil) was a Formula One motor race held on 27 March 1994 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo. It was the first race of the 1994 Formula One season. The 71-lap race was won by Benetton driver Michael Schumacher after he started from second position. Damon Hill finished second for the Williams team and Ferrari driver Jean Alesi came in third.
Contents
Pre-Race
With it being the first race of the season, new drivers made their debuts. Roland Ratzenberger, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Olivier Panis, Olivier Beretta and Jos Verstappen made their debuts and Simtek and Pacific Racing also debuted.
Qualifying
Ayrton Senna took pole position from Michael Schumacher, with Jean Alesi over a second further behind. Heavy rain disrupted Saturday's proceedings. Debutant Heinz-Harald Frentzen impressed with taking the 5th spot on the grid in his very first race.
Race
At the start Ayrton Senna maintained his lead, while Jean Alesi overtook Michael Schumacher. Schumacher retook second place on lap 2 and started chasing after Senna, who had pulled a 4-second lead in the opening laps. Before the pit stops Schumacher had reduced the gap to just over a second, and on lap 21 the leading pair entered the pit lane together. Despite both teams running the same fuel strategy, Benetton's stop was much faster than Williams' stop, and Schumacher left the pitlane in the lead.
On lap 35 there was a four-car pile-up as Eddie Irvine and Jos Verstappen came up to lap the Ligier of Éric Bernard. Irvine forced Verstappen on to the grass; Verstappen then lost control of his car and somersaulted over Martin Brundle's McLaren. Irvine was penalized for this maneuver by a one race ban, which was increased to three after the appeal of Jordan failed. Irvine was already under investigation due to an incident with Ayrton Senna in Suzuka the year before.
Schumacher increased his lead to 10 seconds after the second round of pit stops, after which Senna started to close. By lap 55 the pair had lapped third-place runner Damon Hill and the gap was down to 5 seconds, but then Senna lost control of his Williams and retired. After Senna's retirement Schumacher won comfortably. Damon Hill finished second and Jean Alesi third.