1994 Pacific Grand Prix

  1994 Pacific Grand Prix

Race details
Race 2 of 16 in the 1994 Formula One season
Date	April 17, 1994
Official name	I Pacific Grand Prix
Location	TI Circuit, Aida, Japan
Course	Permanent racing facility 3.703 km (2.314 mi)
Distance	83 laps, 307.349 km (192.093 mi)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Ayrton Senna	Williams-Renault
Time	1:10.218
Fastest lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford
Time	1:14.023 on lap 10
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford
Second	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari
Third	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Hart

The 1994 Pacific Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on April 17, 1994 at the TI Circuit, Aida. It was the second race of the 1994 Formula One season. Ayrton Senna started the race from his 64th pole position, but was overtaken by Schumacher before the first corner and was hit by Mika Häkkinen and spun off the track. Nicola Larini also went off the track and ran into Senna's car causing damage to both Larini's and Senna's cars. Mark Blundell also spun on the same corner and stalled his car in the middle of the track. This first lap carnage allowed Michael Schumacher and Benetton-Ford to easily win their second race of the season.

The track was widely criticized by the drivers for its lack of overtaking opportunities and this proved true during the race, with the only real passing was Damon Hill passing some cars in the early laps after a spin. This led to a fairly processional race, however the podium places were a surprise, mainly owing to the first corner collision and unreliability of the top teams.

A 3 stop strategy was seen as best by most of the teams, owing to the circuit not suited to older tyres.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	2	Ayrton Senna	Williams-Renault	1:10.218	1:19.304	—
2	5	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford	1:10.440	—	+0.222
3	0	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:10.771	1:12.048	+0.553
4	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Peugeot	1:11.683	—	+1.465
5	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:11.744	1:12.184	+1.526
6	8	Martin Brundle	McLaren-Peugeot	1:12.351	—	+2.133
7	27	Nicola Larini	Ferrari	1:12.372	5:32.428	+2.154
8	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Hart	1:12.409	1:13.172	+2.191
9	9	Christian Fittipaldi	Footwork-Ford	1:13.169	1:12.444	+2.226
10	6	Jos Verstappen	Benetton-Ford	1:12.554	1:12.681	+2.336
11	30	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Mercedes	1:12.686	1:12.797	+2.468
12	4	Mark Blundell	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:13.013	1:12.751	+2.533
13	10	Gianni Morbidelli	Footwork-Ford	1:12.866	1:13.090	+2.648
14	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:13.013	1:13.411	+2.795
15	24	Michele Alboreto	Minardi-Ford	1:13.342	1:13.016	+2.798
16	20	Érik Comas	Larrousse-Ford	1:13.111	1:13.550	+2.893
17	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ford	1:13.529	1:13.756	+3.311
18	25	Éric Bernard	Ligier-Renault	1:13.613	1:14.204	+3.395
19	29	Karl Wendlinger	Sauber-Mercedes	1:13.855	1:14.163	+3.637
20	15	Aguri Suzuki	Jordan-Hart	1:14.036	1:13.932	+3.714
21	19	Olivier Beretta	Larrousse-Ford	1:14.101	1:14.271	+3.883
22	26	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Renault	1:14.106	1:14.667	+3.888
23	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus-Mugen-Honda	1:14.538	1:14.424	+4.206
24	11	Pedro Lamy	Lotus-Mugen-Honda	1:14.657	1:15.146	+4.439
25	31	David Brabham	Simtek-Ford	1:14.946	1:14.748	+4.530
26	32	Roland Ratzenberger	Simtek-Ford	—	1:16.536	+6.318
DNQ	34	Bertrand Gachot	Pacific-Ilmor	1:16.927	1:18.571	+6.709
DNQ	33	Paul Belmondo	Pacific-Ilmor	1:18.671	1:17.450	+7.232

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford	83	1:46:01.693	2	10
2	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	83	+1:15.300	5	6
3	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Hart	82	+1 Lap	8	4
4	9	Christian Fittipaldi	Footwork-Ford	82	+1 Lap	9	3
5	30	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Mercedes	82	+1 Lap	11	2
6	20	Érik Comas	Larrousse-Ford	80	+3 Laps	16	1
7	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus-Mugen-Honda	80	+3 Laps	23
8	11	Pedro Lamy	Lotus-Mugen-Honda	79	+4 Laps	24
9	26	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Renault	78	+5 Laps	22
10	25	Éric Bernard	Ligier-Renault	78	+5 Laps	18
11	32	Roland Ratzenberger	Simtek-Ford	78	+5 Laps	26
Ret	10	Gianni Morbidelli	Footwork-Ford	69	Engine	13
Ret	29	Karl Wendlinger	Sauber-Mercedes	69	Collision	19
Ret	24	Michele Alboreto	Minardi-Ford	69	Collision	15
Ret	8	Martin Brundle	McLaren-Peugeot	67	Overheating	6
Ret	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ford	63	Spun off	17
Ret	6	Jos Verstappen	Benetton-Ford	54	Spun off	10
Ret	0	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	49	Transmission	3
Ret	15	Aguri Suzuki	Jordan-Hart	44	Steering	20
Ret	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	42	Engine	14
Ret	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Peugeot	19	Gearbox	4
Ret	19	Olivier Beretta	Larrousse-Ford	14	Electrical	21
Ret	31	David Brabham	Simtek-Ford	2	Electrical	25
Ret	2	Ayrton Senna	Williams-Renault	0	Collision	1
Ret	27	Nicola Larini	Ferrari	0	Collision	7
Ret	4	Mark Blundell	Tyrrell-Yamaha	0	Collision	12
DNQ	34	Bertrand Gachot	Pacific-Ilmor
DNQ	33	Paul Belmondo	Pacific-Ilmor

Notes

• Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher 1m 14.023s
• First podium: Rubens Barrichello, Jordan
• Ferrari's Jean Alesi took no part in this grand prix due to injury caused by an accident during testing.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 20 2 Rubens Barrichello 7 3 Damon Hill 6 4 Gerhard Berger 6 5 Jean Alesi 4

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Benetton-Ford 20 2 Ferrari 10 3 Jordan-Hart 7 4 Williams-Renault 6 5 Footwork-Ford 3

References

Race statistics are taken from www.chicanef1.com 1994 Pacific Grand Prix Retrieved on 20 March 2007.