1994 F1 Grand Prix Season
Hill and Schumacher Battled for the Formula 1 World Championship
Dec 30, 2008
Michael Schumacher, the leader of the Formula 1 World Championship, was absent from the 1994 Italian and Portuguese Grands Prix. The Benetton driver was forced to sit out two races as punishment for ignoring a black flag during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It gave Damon Hill the chance to close up on his rival in the points table.
Hill Wins Italian Grand Prix at Monza
JJ Lehto replaced Schumacher in the Benetton team while the German served his two race ban. In qualifying at Monza there was a major surprise. Johnny Herbert, with a new Mugen V10 in the back of his Lotus, set the fourth quickest time. On pole was the Ferrari of Jean Alesi. To add to the delight of the tifosi, Gerhard Berger was second in the other red car. Hill could only manage third in the Williams.
Berger received medical clearance to race after suffering a major crash during the Sunday morning warm-up. The Austrian tucked in behind his team-mate Alesi at the start, while behind them Herbert had his race ruined by Eddie Irvine’s errant Jordan. The collision triggered several other minor accidents in the pack and the race was stopped.
Herbert had to take the re-start in his spare car from the pit lane. Alesi once again led away, followed by Berger. At his first pit stop Alesi’s gearbox broke, leaving the irate Frenchman unable to pull away. When the pit stops were completed Hill found himself in second behind his team-mate David Coulthard, but the Scotsman let him through. Coulthard lost second on the final lap, when his Williams ran out of fuel. Hill won the race from Berger, with Mika Hakkinen third for McLaren. Rubens Barrichello was fourth, Martin Brundle fifth and a disappointed Coulthard sixth.
Hill Narrows Gap to Schumacher in Formula 1 Title Chase
At Estoril Hill had his qualifying rudely interrupted by Irvine. The Irishman’s out of control Jordan collided with Hill’s Williams and the Englishman was left upside down. Fortunately, it was a very low speed accident and Hill was uninjured. Despite this mishap Hill was still second on the grid, behind the pole-sitting Ferrari of Berger. Hakkinen lined up third, with Barrichello fourth.
Berger led briefly, before retiring from the race with transmission failure. Alesi, Barrichello and Coulthard all had spells at the front while the various pit stop strategies played out. Hill eventually passed his Williams team-mate for first position and went on to win. The ten points for victory left Hill just behind the absent Schumacher in the World Championship. Coulthard finished second and Hakkinen third. Barrichello was fourth across the line, followed by Jos Verstappen and Martin Brundle.
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