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 Nigel Mansell 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. The ninth place of Jean-Marc Gounon, four laps behind, would be the best result for the Simtek Team, a feat they would only reach once again.
Classification Qualifying
Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap 1 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:17.539 1:16.282 2 2 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:18.340 1:16.359 +0.077 3 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:17.085 1:16.707 +0.425 4 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:17.855 1:16.954 +0.672 5 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:17.441 1:16.959 +0.677 6 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 1:19.463 1:17.441 +1.159 7 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:18.326 1:17.482 +1.200 8 6 Jos Verstappen Benetton-Ford 1:18.669 1:17.645 +1.363 9 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 1:19.041 1:17.768 +1.486 10 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 1:19.318 1:17.830 +1.548 11 29 Andrea de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes 1:20.145 1:17.866 +1.584 12 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 1:18.112 1:18.031 +1.749 13 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 1:19.697 1:18.044 +1.762 14 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:19.969 1:18.192 +1.910 15 25 Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 1:19.292 1:18.236 +1.954 16 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:20.084 1:18.248 +1.966 17 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:20.001 1:18.381 +2.099 18 9 Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 1:20.801 1:18.568 +2.286 19 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:20.108 1:18.715 +2.433 20 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 1:20.576 1:18.811 +2.529 21 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 1:20.097 1:18.890 +2.608 22 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 1:20.707 1:18.936 +2.654 23 11 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:20.122 1:19.066 +2.784 24 31 David Brabham Simtek-Ford 1:22.527 1:19.771 +3.489 25 19 Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 1:21.964 1:19.863 +3.581 26 32 Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Ford 1:23.264 1:21.829 +5.547 34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 1:24.048 1:21.952 +5.670 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 1:24.637 1:23.004 +6.722 Sources:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 72 1:38:35.704 3 10 2 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 72 + 12.642 1 6 3 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 72 + 52.765 5 4 4 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 71 + 1 Lap 10 3 5 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 70 + 2 Laps 16 2 6 29 Andrea de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes 70 + 2 Laps 11 1 7 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen-Honda 70 + 2 Laps 19 8 9 Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 70 + 2 Laps 18 9 32 Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Ford 68 + 4 Laps 26 10 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 67 + 5 Laps 17 11 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Ford 66 Engine 20 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 53 Spun Off 14 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 48 Engine 9 2 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 45 Gearbox 2 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 41 Collision 4 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 41 Collision 7 25 Éric Bernard Ligier-Renault 40 Gearbox 15 19 Olivier Beretta Larrousse-Ford 36 Engine 25 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 29 Engine 12 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 28 Collision 22 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 28 Collision 13 31 David Brabham Simtek-Ford 28 Transmission 24 6 Jos Verstappen Benetton-Ford 25 Spun Off 8 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 24 Gearbox 6 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 21 Engine 21 11 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 20 Engine 23 Source:
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Michael Schumacher 66 2 Damon Hill 29 3 Gerhard Berger 17 4 Jean Alesi 13 5 Rubens Barrichello 7Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Benetton-Ford67 2 Ferrari36 3 Williams-Renault31 4 Jordan-Hart11 5 McLaren-Peugeot10Source:
References