Hungarian GP 1994

Hungarian GP, 1994

The unhappy 1994 season continued with the inquiry into the Hockenheim pitlane fire revealing that Benetton was using a refuelling system which had been tampered with by the team. The credibility of the Benetton team was gone after the black flag scandal at Silverstone and the allegations of illegal software which gave their drivers an advantage over the others. Mika Hakkinen was missing from the ranks having been given a one-race ban for causing the first corner accident at Hockenheim and so his place at McLaren was taken by Philippe Alliot.

Qualifying resulted in Benetton's Michael Schumacher being on pole ahead of the Williams-Renaults of Damon Hill and David Coulthard. Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) was fourth ahead of Ukyo Katayama (Tyrrell-Yamaha) and Martin Brundle (McLaren-Peugeot). The top 10 was completed by Eddie Irvine (Jordan-Hart), Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Sauber), Olivier Panis (Ligier-Renault) and Rubens Barrichello (Jordan). Jean Alesi (Ferrari) had a difficult time and was only 13th on the grid.

Schumacher did not make a good start and so chopped in front of Hill to stop the Englishman taking the lead. Coulthard was third ahead of Berger, Irvine, Barrichello and Katayama. On the run down to the second corner Jordan's hopes took a dive when Irvine and Barrichello collided and rammed into Katayama. This meant that Brundle and Panis were fifth and sixth with Alesi seventh.

By lap 15 Schumacher was nearly 10 seconds ahead of Hill and Coulthard was 15secs behind Damon but still well clear of Berger. Brundle was still fifth but Panis had been overtaken by Alesi for sixth place. Schumacher pitted early, having decided on a three stop strategy, and so when Hill came in for the first of his two stops Schumacher went into the lead. Once the pits stops were all done Schumacher was 45 seconds ahead, having dealt with the traffic in a much better fashion than Hill. Coulthard was third but a lap behind with Brundle fourth, Alesi fifth and Jos Verstappen (Benetton) sixth, Berger having dropped back with seventh.

In the closing stages Alesi went out with an engine problem which put oil on the track and caused Coulthard to crash heavily. This promoted Brundle, Verstappen, Berger and Mark Blundell (Tyrrell) into the points. In the last few laps Berger ran into engine trouble and retired. On the last lap Brundle's engine stopped and so Verstappen was third. Brundle was classified fourth while the battle for fifth place was exciting with Blundell, Panis and Eric Bernard (Ligier) all crossing the line together. Blundell took fifth and Panis sixth.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Cosworth  77 1h48m00.185s  1 
2 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault FW16 77 1h48m21.012s  2 
3 6 Jos Verstappen Benetton-Cosworth  77 1h49m10.514s  12 
4r 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot  76 Alternator 6 
5 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha  76  11 
6 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault  76  9 
7 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Cosworth  75  20 
8 20 Erik Comas Larrousse-Cosworth  75  21 
9 19 Oliver Beretta Larrousse-Cosworth  75  25 
10 25 Eric Bernard Ligier-Renault  75  18 
11 31 David Brabham Simtek-Cosworth  74  23 
12r 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari  72 Pneumatic Valve Air Pressure 4 
13 11 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen Honda  72  22 
14r 9 Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Cosworth  69 Gearbox 16 
r 2 David Coulthard Williams-Renault  59 Accident 3 
r 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari  58 Gearbox 13 
r 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Cosworth  58 Spin 15 
r 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes  39 Gearbox 8 
r 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Mugen Honda  34 Electrics 24 
r 29 Andreas de Cesaris Sauber-Mercedes  30 Accident 17 
r 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Cosworth  30 Accident 19 
r 7 Philippe Alliot McLaren-Peugeot  21 Water Leak 14 
r 32 Jean-Marc Gounon Simtek-Cosworth  9 Handling 26 
r 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha  0 Accident 5 
r 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart  0 Accident 10 
r 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart  0 Accident 7 
nq 34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor     
nq 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor