Michael Schumacher arrived at Suzuka, for the penultimate round of the 1994 Formula 1 season, safe in the knowledge that his second World Championship was secure. From Japan the teams would travel to Adelaide for the season ending Australian Grand Prix.
Schumacher Celebrates Japanese Grand Prix Victory
In qualifying at Suzuka Schumacher took pole, ahead of Jean Alesi’s Ferrari and Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren. Damon Hill struggled in the Williams and could only qualify fourth. Aguri Suzuki had a massive accident which saw the popular Japanese driver hospitalised.
On a damp track Schumacher led away, followed by Alesi. The Ferrari driver was given a stop/go penalty and pitted again soon after to change to slicks. The change worked and Alesi made rapid progress, catching Schumacher before his car failed him.
The Williams team had a disastrous afternoon. Hill twice went off at the Spoon Curve, the second time proving terminal. His team-mate David Coulthard went out of the race at the same corner. Schumacher won the Grand Prix from Hakkinen, with Johnny Herbert third for Benetton. Eddie Irvine was fourth in his Jordan, Olivier Panis fifth and Mika Salo sixth.
Hakkinen Cheats Death at Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix weekend was marred by a near-fatal accident suffered by McLaren’s Hakkinen in practice, caused by a rear puncture. In his book, “Life at the Limit: Triumph and Tragedy in Formula 1”, published by Pan Books in 1997, then Grand Prix doctor Professor Sid Watkins describes the scene;
“When I arrived at the accident, two minutes after the crash, Mika was unconscious and having serious difficulty breathing. We removed him from the car and had to perform a tracheotomy at the trackside.”
Hakkinen was placed in intensive care but went on to make a full recovery, and win two Formula 1 World Championships.
Schumacher was strangely out of sorts at Adelaide, qualifying third behind the pole-sitting Williams of Hill and the similar car of Coulthard. The World Champion’s race ended in a collision with Alesi. Coulthard led the race early on, only to crash out while entering the pit lane.
Hill won the final race of 1995 by two whole laps from Panis in the Ligier. Gianni Morbidelli finished third, Mark Blundell fourth, Mika Salo fifth and Pedro Lamy sixth. Hill would stay with Williams for 1996, alongside a new team-mate, Jacques Villeneuve. Meanwhile, reigning champion Schumacher had signed with Ferrari, who he hoped to take back to the top.
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