1994 French Grand Prix
Race 7 of 16 in the 1994 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	3 July 1994
Official name	80e Grand Prix de France[1]
Location	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours, France
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.250 km (2.641 miles)
Distance	72 laps, 306.000 km (191.140 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Time	1:16.282
Fastest lap
Driver	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Time	1:19.678 on lap 4
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford
Second	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Third	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari
Lap leaders

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.^[2] 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
DNQ	34	Bertrand Gachot	Pacific-Ilmor	1:24.048	1:21.952	+5.670
DNQ	33	Paul Belmondo	Pacific-Ilmor	1:24.637	1:23.004	+6.722
Sources:[3][4][5]

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
Ret	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	53	Spun Off	14
Ret	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Peugeot	48	Engine	9
Ret	2	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	45	Gearbox	2
Ret	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	41	Collision	4
Ret	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Hart	41	Collision	7
Ret	25	Éric Bernard	Ligier-Renault	40	Gearbox	15
Ret	19	Olivier Beretta	Larrousse-Ford	36	Engine	25
Ret	8	Martin Brundle	McLaren-Peugeot	29	Engine	12
Ret	10	Gianni Morbidelli	Footwork-Ford	28	Collision	22
Ret	26	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Renault	28	Collision	13
Ret	31	David Brabham	Simtek-Ford	28	Transmission	24
Ret	6	Jos Verstappen	Benetton-Ford	25	Spun Off	8
Ret	15	Eddie Irvine	Jordan-Hart	24	Gearbox	6
Ret	24	Michele Alboreto	Minardi-Ford	21	Engine	21
Ret	11	Alessandro Zanardi	Lotus-Mugen-Honda	20	Engine	23
Source:[6]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 66 2 Damon Hill 29 3 Gerhard Berger 17 4 Jean Alesi 13 5 Rubens Barrichello 7 Source: [7]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Benetton-Ford 67 2 Ferrari 36 3 Williams-Renault 31 4 Jordan-Hart 11 5 McLaren-Peugeot 10 Source: [7]