1994 French Grand Prix


The 1994 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 3 July 1994 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours near Magny-Cours in France. It was the seventh race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.
The 72-lap race was won by Michael Schumacher, driving a Benetton-Ford. It was Schumacher's sixth victory in seven races. Damon Hill finished second in a Williams-Renault, having started from pole position and led the race, while Gerhard Berger finished third in a Ferrari.
Schumacher now led the Drivers' Championship by 37 points from Hill.

Report

Background

made his return to Formula One, driving for Williams-Renault in place of David Coulthard. He had left F1 at the end of 1992 to race in IndyCar. JJ Lehto was rested by Benetton-Ford and was replaced by the test driver Jos Verstappen who had previously deputised for Lehto earlier in the season. Jean-Marc Gounon would drive the second Simtek-Ford following Andrea Montermini's accident at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Race

Olivier Panis and Gianni Morbidelli collided on lap 29. This was the only retirement of the season for Panis. Michael Schumacher won the race ahead of Damon Hill and Gerhard Berger. Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished fourth, his best Formula One finish up to this point. Pierluigi Martini was fifth and Andrea de Cesaris finished sixth. These would prove to be the last world championship points that Martini and de Cesaris scored in their careers, with de Cesaris failing to finish another race in his Formula One career.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1 TimeQ2 TimeGap
10 Damon HillWilliams-Renault1:17.5391:16.282
22 Nigel MansellWilliams-Renault1:18.3401:16.359+0.077
35 Michael SchumacherBenetton-Ford1:17.0851:16.707+0.425
427 Jean AlesiFerrari1:17.8551:16.954+0.672
528 Gerhard BergerFerrari1:17.4411:16.959+0.677
615 Eddie IrvineJordan-Hart1:19.4631:17.441+1.159
714 Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Hart1:18.3261:17.482+1.200
86 Jos VerstappenBenetton-Ford1:18.6691:17.645+1.363
97 Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Peugeot1:19.0411:17.768+1.486
1030 Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber-Mercedes1:19.3181:17.830+1.548
1129 Andrea de CesarisSauber-Mercedes1:20.1451:17.866+1.584
128 Martin BrundleMcLaren-Peugeot1:18.1121:18.031+1.749
1326 Olivier PanisLigier-Renault1:19.6971:18.044+1.762
143 Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha1:19.9691:18.192+1.910
1525 Éric BernardLigier-Renault1:19.2921:18.236+1.954
1623 Pierluigi MartiniMinardi-Ford1:20.0841:18.248+1.966
174 Mark BlundellTyrrell-Yamaha1:20.0011:18.381+2.099
189 Christian FittipaldiFootwork-Ford1:20.8011:18.568+2.286
1912 Johnny HerbertLotus-Mugen-Honda1:20.1081:18.715+2.433
2020 Érik ComasLarrousse-Ford1:20.5761:18.811+2.529
2124 Michele AlboretoMinardi-Ford1:20.0971:18.890+2.608
2210 Gianni MorbidelliFootwork-Ford1:20.7071:18.936+2.654
2311 Alessandro ZanardiLotus-Mugen-Honda1:20.1221:19.066+2.784
2431 David BrabhamSimtek-Ford1:22.5271:19.771+3.489
2519 Olivier BerettaLarrousse-Ford1:21.9641:19.863+3.581
2632 Jean-Marc GounonSimtek-Ford1:23.2641:21.829+5.547
DNQ34 Bertrand GachotPacific-Ilmor1:24.0481:21.952+5.670
DNQ33 Paul BelmondoPacific-Ilmor1:24.6371:23.004+6.722

Race

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings
;Constructors' Championship standings