Date 6 November 1994 | Course length 5.864 km (3.665 mi) | |
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Official name XX Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix Location Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan Course Permanent racing facility Distance 50 laps, 293.200 km (183.250 mi) | ||
The 1994 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the XX Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 6 November 1994 at the Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka. It was the fifteenth and penultimate race of the 1994 Formula One season. The 53-lap race was won by Williams driver Damon Hill after he started from second position. Michael Schumacher finished second for the Benetton team with Ferrari driver Jean Alesi third.
Contents
The start of the race was under torrential rain, and as a result, several cars spun out of the race by aquaplaning, including Johnny Herbert, Franck Lagorce, both Minardi and all three Japanese drivers and the returning JJ Lehto who had replaced Andrea de Cesaris after his sudden retirement from Formula One.
On lap 13, Gianni Morbidelli crashed his Footwork at one of the Esses at the first sector. Shortly after, Martin Brundle spun off the track at the same spot, and as he bounced off the tyre barriers, hit a track marshal who was moving Morbidelli's car off the gravel trap. The marshal suffered a broken leg, adding to the huge list of injuries of the 1994 season, and the race was immediately stopped.
As the rain became moderate, it was decided to run the remainder of the race, with around one hour to the time limit, on aggregate corrected time. Schumacher had been leading by 6.8 seconds when the red flag was shown, but since Hill had a bigger lead (10.1 seconds) at the chequered flag, Hill was declared the winner by 3.3 seconds. This was the last instance of corrected time being used in Formula 1 to declare a race winner.
Background
The race was the fifteenth round of the 1994 Formula One season. Benetton driver Michael Schumacher was leading the World Drivers' Championship with 86 points compared to his rival Damon Hill in the Williams who had 81 points. Coming into the race, Schumacher felt he was "very confident" and Hill declared that he was "positive" for the race ahead.