1994 Australian Grand Prix

Infobox Grand Prix race report
Type = F1
Grand Prix = Australian
Country = Australia

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Date = November 13
Year = 1994
Race_No = 16
Season_No = 16
Official name = LIX Australian Grand Prix
Course = Temporary street circuit
Location = Adelaide Street Circuit
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Course_mi = 2.362
Course_km = 3.780
Distance_laps = 81
Distance_mi = 191.362
Distance_km = 306.180
Weather = Sunny
Pole_Driver = flagicon|UK Nigel Mansell
Pole_Team = Williams-Renault
Pole_Time = 1:16.179
Fast_Driver = Michael Schumacher
Fast_Country = Germany
Fast_Team = Benetton-Ford
Fast_Time = 1:17.140
Fast_L

First_Driver = flagicon|UK Nigel Mansell
First_Team = Williams-Renault
Second_Driver = Gerhard Berger
Second_Team = Ferrari
Second_Country= Austria
Third_Driver = flagicon|UK Martin Brundle
Third_Team = McLaren-PeugeotThe 1994 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on November 13, 1994 at the Adelaide Street Circuit. It was the 16th and final race of the 1994 Formula One season. The race is remembered for an incident involving the two title contenders Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher which forced both to retire and resulted in Schumacher winning the World Drivers championship. Also notable was the last appearance in a Formula One Grand Prix of Team Lotus, previously seven-time Constructors' Champions. It was also the 31st and last Grand Prix victory of Nigel Mansell's Formula One career.

Report

Race

Schumacher took the lead at the start, with Hill second behind him. The order remained the same until lap 36, when Schumacher went off the track as a result of taking a very early apex into the "East Terrace" corner; hitting a wall with his right side wheels.cite news |title=Schumacher 500: Has the King Lost His Crown? |publisher=autosport.com |date= |url=http://atlasf1.autosport.com/98/ger/schum.html |accessdate=2006-10-24] Hill was catching Schumacher when the German driver again ran off the track although he immediately began coming back onto the racing line. Prior to turning into the following corner, Schumacher was making constant corrections to the left in order to keep his Benetton in a straight line, suggesting that his car was damaged. ["Schumacher's chequered history" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/motorsport/formula_one/5024532.stm news.bbc.co.uk] Line 8. Retrieved 2 October 2006] He returned to the track at reduced speed but still leading the race. Hill had just come through the fifth corner of the track when he saw Schumacher running slowly ahead of him. At the next corner, Schumacher and Hill collided when Hill attempted a pass on the inside. Schumacher's car was tipped up onto two wheels and eliminated on the spot. Hill pitted immediately, but retired from the race with unrepairable damage to the car's front left suspension wishbone. As neither driver scored, Schumacher took the title.

Schumacher was blamed for the incident by many Formula One insiders, [cite book |last=Henry |first=Alan |title=Wheel to Wheel: Great Duels of Formula One Racing |origyear=1996 |accessdate=2006-10-29 | edition = |publisher=Weidenfeld Nicolson Illustrated |location= |id=ISBN 0-7538-0522-7 |pages=117] however, the race stewards judged it a racing accident and took no action against either driver. Schumacher, at age 25 was Germany's first Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion, but under highly controversial circumstances, although no action was ever taken against him. The race was won by Nigel Mansell, the 31st and final Grand Prix victory of his career.

Post-Race

Schumacher has always maintained that the collision was a racing incident, and that had roles been reversed the outcome would have been the same. Although he did not at the time, Damon Hill has recently explicitly accused Schumacher of deliberately driving into him. ["Motor Sport", January 2007, p.43] BBC Formula One commentator Murray Walker, a great fan and friend of Damon, has often maintained that Schumacher did not cause the crash intentionally. Patrick Head of the Williams team feels differently: After Schumacher's punishment for blocking the circuit during qualifying for the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix, he told F1 Racing that in 1994 "Williams were already 100% certain that Michael was guilty of foul play", but didn't protest Schumacher's title because the team was still dealing with the death of Ayrton Senna. ["'Ruthless' Schumi blasted" [http://motoring.iafrica.com/formulaone/561093.htm Motoring.iafrica.com] . Retrieved 2 August 2006] Schumacher has been blamed by the UK public for the incident - in 2003, the BBC conducted a search for "The Most Unsporting Moment" in which the Adelaide incident was nominated. ["Most unsporting moment?" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_talk/2993304.stm#startcontent news.bbc.co.uk] Reader's "Have your Say" voting for the most unsporting moment in history. Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal won the award in June 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2006] Hill's 1994 season earned him the 1994 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. ["Roll call of past winners" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_2005/past_winners/default.stm news.bbc.co.uk] List of BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners. Retrieved 9 June 2006]

Classification

F1 race report
Name_of_race = Australian Grand Prix
Year_of_race = 1994
Previous_race_in_season = 1994 Japanese Grand Prix
Next_race_in_season = 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix
Previous_year's_race = 1993 Australian Grand Prix
Next_year's_race = 1995 Australian Grand Prix

Footnotes