The 1995 German Grand Prix (formally the XXIV Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland) was a Formula One motor race held at the Hockenheimring, Hockenheim on 30 July 1995. It was the ninth race of the 1995 Formula One World Championship.
The 45-lap race was won by local driver Michael Schumacher, driving a Benetton-Renault, after he started from second position. Briton Damon Hill took pole position in his Williams-Renault, but spun off on lap 2 as a result of a driveshaft failure. Hill's compatriot and teammate David Coulthard finished second, with Austrian Gerhard Berger third in a Ferrari.
With the win, his fifth of the season, Schumacher extended his lead over Hill in the Drivers' Championship to 21 points.
Summary Damon Hill started the race from the pole position alongside Michael Schumacher. After making a good start, Hill spun on entry to the first corner on the 2nd lap sending his car across a gravel trap and into a tyre barrier, ending his race. A driveshaft failure caused Hill's Williams to lock its rear wheels and initiated his spin off the track.
Schumacher was left leading David Coulthard and Gerhard Berger, who was given a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for jumping the start of the race. The penalty dropped Berger to 14th position though he fought back to finish back in 3rd place. Berger denied jumping the start, claiming that though his car did move slightly when he put it into gear, it was stationary when the green light came on to start the race.
Benetton's 2-stop strategy for Schumacher prevailed over the 1-stop strategy Coulthard was on, as Schumacher pulled away from the field giving himself enough room to make his second pit stop and remain in the lead. Schumacher became the first German to win a World Championship German Grand Prix (other German drivers had won the German Grand Prix before the inception of the World Championship, the most recent being Rudolf Caracciola in 1939). His car broke down after the race had finished, as did that of team-mate Johnny Herbert and Aguri Suzuki (whose car caught fire).
Initially it was believed that Hill spun off due to oil laid down on the track from overfull oil tanks – as it is common practice for teams to fill the oil tanks prior to the start of the race. A few days after the race, the Williams team discovered that Hill's car had in fact suffered from a driveshaft failure leading to his accident. Shortly before he went off, Murray Walker commented that he had noticed blue smoke coming out of the back of Hill's car; the reason for this was never discovered.
It was the final F1 race of Pierluigi Martini, who retired with a blown engine and was replaced by Pedro Lamy for the next race.
Classification
Qualifying
Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap 1 5 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:44.932 1:44.385 2 1 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Renault 1:45.505 1:44.465 +0.080 3 6 David Coulthard Williams-Renault 1:45.306 1:44.540 +0.155 4 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:46.482 1:45.553 +1.168 5 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 1:48.203 1:45.765 +1.380 6 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Peugeot 1:46.916 1:45.846 +1.461 7 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:46.291 1:45.849 +1.464 8 7 Mark Blundell McLaren-Mercedes 1:47.854 1:46.221 +1.836 9 2 Johnny Herbert Benetton-Renault 1:46.381 1:46.315 +1.930 10 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:46.356 1:46.475 +1.971 11 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 1:47.769 1:46.801 +2.416 12 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 1:47.372 1:47.528 +2.987 13 4 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:49.103 1:47.507 +3.122 14 29 Jean-Christophe Boullion Sauber-Ford 1:48.526 1:47.636 +3.251 15 9 Massimiliano Papis Footwork-Hart 1:49.621 1:48.093 +3.708 16 24 Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford 1:50.409 1:49.302 +4.917 17 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:56.518 1:49.402 +5.017 18 25 Aguri Suzuki Ligier-Mugen-Honda 2:04.193 1:49.716 +5.331 19 10 Taki Inoue Footwork-Hart 1:50.451 1:49.892 +5.507 20 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:51.368 1:49.990 +5.605 21 21 Pedro Diniz Forti-Ford 1:54.303 1:52.961 +8.576 22 22 Roberto Moreno Forti-Ford 1:53.456 1:53.405 +9.020 23 17 Andrea Montermini Pacific-Ford 1:53.492 No time +9.107 24 16 Giovanni Lavaggi Pacific-Ford 1:54.625 1:56.325 +10.240 Sources:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Renault 45 1:22:56.043 2 10 2 6 David Coulthard Williams-Renault 45 + 5.988 3 6 3 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 45 + 1:08.097 4 4 4 2 Johnny Herbert Benetton-Renault 45 + 1:23.436 9 3 5 29 Jean-Christophe Boullion Sauber-Ford 44 + 1 lap 14 2 6 25 Aguri Suzuki Ligier-Mugen-Honda 44 + 1 lap 18 1 7 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 44 + 1 lap 17 8 17 Andrea Montermini Pacific-Ford 42 + 3 laps 23 9 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Peugeot 41 Throttle 6 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 33 Engine 7 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Ford 32 Engine 11 24 Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford 28 Oil leak 16 16 Giovanni Lavaggi Pacific-Ford 27 Gearbox 24 22 Roberto Moreno Forti-Ford 27 Halfshaft 22 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Peugeot 20 Engine 5 7 Mark Blundell McLaren-Mercedes 17 Engine 8 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Mugen-Honda 13 Water leak 12 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 12 Engine 10 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 11 Engine 20 10 Taki Inoue Footwork-Hart 9 Gearbox 19 21 Pedro Diniz Forti-Ford 8 Brakes 21 5 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1 Driveshaft/spun off 1 4 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Yamaha 0 Clutch 13 9 Massimiliano Papis Footwork-Hart 0 Gearbox 15
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 56 2 Damon Hill 35 3 Jean Alesi 32 4 Johnny Herbert 25 5 David Coulthard 23Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Benetton-Renault 71 2 Ferrari 53 3 Williams-Renault 52 4 Jordan-Peugeot 13 5 Ligier-Mugen-Honda 11Source:
References
External links