Date 11 June 1995 Course length 4.430 km (2.768 mi) | Course Street circuit | |
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Official name XXXIII Grand Prix Molson du Canada Location Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Distance 68 laps, 301.240 km (188.275 mi) | ||
The 1995 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 11 June 1995 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal. It was the sixth race of the 1995 Formula One season.
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It produced the only Grand Prix victory for French driver Jean Alesi. This was seen as a popular victory, as Alesi had waited over five years for a victory and he was driving the red number 27 Ferrari, as driven by Canadian Gilles Villeneuve. Adding to the victory was the fact that the win also occurred on Alesi's 31st birthday. This race also marked the last time to date that a Grand Prix was won by a car with a V12 engine.
Michael Schumacher led until a late problem with his gearbox necessitated a long pit stop. Several other regular front-runners had problems, allowing both Jordans to finish on the podium for the first time in their history. Jordan had scored their first-ever GP points in Montreal 4 years earlier.
After Alesi crossed the finished line, race fans broke through the fences and charged the pit area. Race officials put out the black flag, effectively requiring all drivers to immediately stop on the track. However, Alesi was now entering the hairpin at the far end of the circuit on his victory lap. Running out of fuel, he removed his steering wheel, stood on top of the car and "surfed" it to a stop. Schumacher, approaching from behind, stopped and gave Alesi a lift back to the pits on top of his car.
Also, that Sunday evening, the first rumours started circulating that Michael Schumacher had signed a multimillion-dollar contract with Ferrari for 1996.
The race was run over 69 laps, but the results were declared after 68 laps because of crowd invasion just after Alesi had finished. In original results, Luca Badoer finished in 7th, ahead of Mika Salo who had stopped next to the pit wall to avoid hitting spectators.
Background
One thing that was noted in the build-up to the race weekend was the bumpiness of the circuit, with the drivers in the post-qualifying press conference noting that the circuit should be resurfaced. It was also noted that overtaking into the new chicane was banned, although the length of the ban was unclear, with Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill unclear whether the drivers were not allowed to overtake into the chicane for just the first lap, or for every lap.
Practice and qualifying
Schumacher's pole position was the 100th for a Renault powered car and the ninth of his career.
Race day
The 30-minute warm-up session was held in wet conditions, with rain constantly falling since the early morning, the first time rain had fallen over the Grand Prix weekend. Hill was one of the few drivers to make a mistake, spinning at the newly installed chicane. Hill's Williams teammate David Coulthard spun at the previous corner later in the session, while Bertrand Gachot also ran into the gravel trap. After a brief stay in the pits, an animated Hill went back onto the track, only to go off into the gravel trap, beaching his car. Due to the changing weather conditions, the order was mixed, with the Ferraris of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger in first and third. Rubens Barrichello split them in second, with Schumacher fourth. Mika Häkkinen was fifth. The Saubers of Heinz Harald Frentzen and Jean-Christophe Boullion were 6th and 7th, with Luca Badoer in the Minardi rounding out the top 8. The two Williams drivers eventually finished in 12th and 16th.
The race started at 14:00 EDT (GMT -4). Michael Schumacher led most of the Grand Prix however an electrical problem with his Benetton-Renault towards the end of lap 57 forced him into the pit and allowed Jean Alesi who was second at the time to take the lead. The 70 second pit stop to change a steering wheel and perform an on-board computer adjustment meant that Schumacher rejoined the race in seventh place. He eventually made his way back to fifth place.