1994 Formula 1 World Championship
Nigel Mansell Returned to F1 with Williams at the French Grand Prix
Dec 30, 2008
The Canadian Grand Prix was the sixth round of the 1994 Formula 1 World Championship, in what had already been a very turbulent season. At Imola the Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger crashed his Simtek in qualifying and died. In the race Ayrton Senna’s leading Williams inexplicably left the track, struck a concrete wall and left the triple World Champion mortally injured. During practice for the next race in Monaco Karl Wendlinger was left in a coma after crashing his Sauber.
Schumacher First in Canadian Grand Prix
In qualifying at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher set the pole position time. Jean Alesi was a surprise second on the grid in his Ferrari, followed by his team-mate Gerhard Berger in third. Damon Hill started from fourth, just in front of his new team-mate David Coulthard.
Schumacher led away from Alesi and Berger, while Hill battled with Coulthard for fourth place. The Englishman eventually gained the upper hand and went on to pass Berger as well. Rain started to fall and a spirited battle developed between Berger and Mika Hakkinen in the McLaren. Hakkinen ended up retiring from the race with a blown Peugeot engine.
At the flag it was Schumacher first, followed by Hill in second and Alesi third. Berger was fourth, Coulthard fifth and JJ Lehto inherited sixth place when Christian Fittipaldi’s Footwork was disqualified after the race for being underweight.
Mansell Returns to Formula 1
1992 World Champion Nigel Mansell was back in a Formula 1 car at Magny-Cours, replacing Coulthard at Williams. Lehto lost his Benetton drive to Jos Verstappen after a string of disappointing performances.
In qualifying Mansell showed that he was still a force to be reckoned with, setting the second fastest time behind the pole-sitting Williams of his team-mate Hill. Schumacher could only manage third on the grid, with Alesi fourth and Berger fifth in the other Ferrari.
Schumacher surprised the Williams pair at the start by getting past both of them to take the lead. Mansell had an inconsistent race. After dropping back early on he recovered to run as high as second, before retiring with transmission failure. Alesi spun his Ferrari and was then collected by Rubens Barrichello’s Jordan, eliminating both cars. Schumacher won the race from Hill by over ten seconds. Berger finished in third, ahead of Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s Sauber. Pierluigi Martini was fifth and Andrea De Cesaris sixth. De Cesaris was standing in at Sauber for the injured Wendlinger.
