A controversial clash ends a year Formula 1 cannot wait to forget

WILLIAM DALE SPEED

FOX SPORTS

ADELAIDE NOW

MARCH 12, 2014 11:30PM

The moment that decided the 1994 world championship. Source: Supplied

AS Formula 1 charged towards crowning a new world champion in 1994, the man most likely watched helpless from the sidelines as his hard-fought lead was eroded.

After a tumultuous European summer, with allegations of cheating directed at he and his team, Michael Schumacher found himself banned from two of the final five races.

His chief rival Damon Hill was left with a clear mission: two wins would slash the German's once imposing title lead to a single point.

As the teams arrived at Monza, no-one could have foreseen the contentious conclusion that lay ahead down under.

On the eve of the new season, we wrap up our look back at the remarkable events of the 1994 Formula 1 World Championship.

SEPTEMBER

9/9/94: Friday qualifying, Monza
Jean Alesi sends the tifosi into raptures by putting his Ferrari on provisional pole from Hill. Johnny Herbert uses a newer-spec Mugen-Honda engine to put his Lotus sixth.

10/9/94: Saturday qualifying, Monza
Alesi confirms his first pole position, he and Gerhard Berger sweeping the front row on Ferrari's home soil, bumping Hill to third alongside the resurgent Lotus of Herbert. Other surprises include Olivier Panis in sixth and Andrea de Cesaris in eighth, outqualifying Sauber teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen. The fastest Benetton is Jos Verstappen in 10th, with Schumacher's replacement JJ Lehto a dismal 20th.

Berger congratulates Alesi on his first pole position. Source: AFP

11/9/94: ITALIAN GRAND PRIX 
Berger is lucky to escape a high-speed crash in the warm up. Chaos reigns at the start when Irvine spears Herbert's Lotus at the chicane. The race is stopped, damage to the Lotus forcing Herbert to revert to his older, slower car. Irvine cops a suspended one-race ban.

"Irvine's three race suspension at the beginning of the year was far too short. His brain has obviously been removed and it is about time that his license is too." - Peter Collins, Team Lotus boss.

Alesi romps away to an early lead but, typical of his season, the French-Sicilian's gearbox packs up at the first pit stop. Berger is also delayed at his stop, handing the lead to Coulthard and Hill, who swap places to ensure the Brit gets maximum points. The Scot is set for his maiden podium finish until he runs out of fuel on the final lap.

RESULTS 
1. Damon Hill (GBR) Williams-Renault
2. Gerhard Berger (AUT) Ferrari
3. Mika Hakkinen (FIN) McLaren-Peugeot
4. Rubens Barrichello (BRZ) Jordan-Hart
5. Martin Brundle (GBR) McLaren-Peugeot
6. David Coulthard (GBR) Williams-Renault

CHAMPIONSHIP (after round 12 of 16)
Drivers' Championship
1. Schumacher - 76
2. Hill - 65
3. Berger - 33
4. Alesi - 19
5. Hakkinen - 18
Constructors' Championship
1. Benetton - 85
2. Williams - 73
3. Ferrari - 58
4. McLaren - 29
5. Jordan - 17

12/9/94: Team Lotus is placed into administration with debts of over GBP10 million, the historic but financially troubled team moving to ensure they can complete the season. After Alex Zanardi raced at Monza, Philippe Adams returns to partner Herbert for Portugal.

14/9/94: Rumours are rife that Schumacher will leave Benetton over the controversies that ended with the German sitting out two races. The team denies it, talk still places him at McLaren for 1995 - backed by Mercedes engines.

17/9/94: Schumacher pours water on the rumours, but leaves the door open for a move in 1996.

"I will definitely drive for Benetton to the end of the current season. Ninety-nine percent, I will stay with this stable also in the next season. There are still a few details to clear up." –Schumacher

19/9/94: Williams announce they have signed Hill to race for them again in 1995. Mansell and Coulthard are both in the running for the second car.

Hill escapes injury in this flip on Friday morning.

23/9/94: Friday qualifying, Estoril
Hill flips over in morning practice after he tangles wheels with Irvine's spinning Jordan. He bounced back in the afternoon to be second behind Berger on the provisional grid, ahead of Coulthard, Hakkinen, Alesi and Katayama. Lehto outpaces Verstappen by 0.001s, but they are fighting for 10th and 11th.

24/9/94: Saturday qualifying, Estoril
Hill improves but not enough to beat Berger's Friday time, with the rest of the top six remaining unchanged.

25/9/94: PORTUGUESE GRAND PRIX
Berger leads from pole position before a gearbox problem ends his run on Lap 8, handing the lead to Coulthard. The Scot leads with ease until he is baulked by a backmarker, letting Hill through to the lead. Alesi looks set for third until he tangles with the lapped Brabham, earning the Australian a suspended one-race ban.

Hill wins to move within one championship point of Schumacher, while Coulthard his first podium finish in his final 1994 race for Williams, ensuring the team moves ahead of Benetton in the constructor's title. Panis finishes ninth in the Ligier, but is excluded for having worn too much off his plank.

RESULTS
1. Damon Hill (GBR) Williams-Renault
2. David Coulthard (GBR) Williams-Renault
3. Mika Hakkinen (FIN) McLaren-Peugeot
4. Rubens Barrichello (BRZ) Jordan-Hart
5. Jos Verstappen (NED) Benetton-Ford
6. Martin Brundle (GBR) McLaren-Peugeot

CHAMPIONSHIP (after round 13 of 16)
Drivers' Championship
1. Schumacher - 76
2. Hill - 75
3. Berger - 33
4. Hakkinen - 22
5. Alesi - 19
Constructors' Championship
1. Williams - 89
2. Benetton - 87
3. Ferrari - 58
4. McLaren - 34
5. Jordan - 20

26/9/94: Williams put Coulthard on the open market for the rest of the 1994 season, both Jordan and McLaren denying rumours they're angling for his signature.

30/9/94: Schumacher and Hill trade top spot during a four-day test at Estoril, while rising IndyCar star Paul Tracy takes the controls of the second Benetton. He reportedly turns down a binding three-year contract to drive for the team.

OCTOBER
Benetton part ways with Lehto, retaining Verstappen to drive the second Benetton for the rest of the year.

10/10/94: Pay drivers begin to fill seats at the poorer teams, the cash beginning to run low as the end of the season draws near. Larrousse replace Yannick Dalmas with Hideki Noda, while Mimo Schiattarella replaces Jean-Marc Gounon at Simtek.

12/10/94: Ligier buy out Herbert's contract from the cash-strapped Lotus, the Brit replacing Eric Bernard for the European GP. The Frenchman takes Herbert's vacant Lotus seat alongside a returning Zanardi.

13/10/94: German papers quote Schumacher as saying he doesn't consider Hill to be a top driver.

Schumacher showed he’d lost none of his form in his layoff. Source: Supplied

14/10/94: Friday qualifying, Jerez
Hill edges out Frentzen and Schumacher for provisional pole. Mansell is sixth on return, behind the two Jordans.

15/10/94: Saturday qualifying, Jerez
Schumacher takes pole by just over a tenth from Hill, with Mansell improving to third. Herbert qualifies the Ligier seventh.

16/10/94: EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX
For once it's Hill who beats Schumacher off the line to lead into Turn 1. He holds the German off until the first pit stops, where Hill positions his car wrong, the Williams team underfilling him to try and minimise time loss. Both mistakes consign Hill to a distant second behind Schumacher, with Hakkinen third.

Mansell has a troubled race, baulked by Noda, breaking his front wing, before spinning into the gravel mid-race. Fans on the pit straight hold a banner with the message: "Nige, we love ya, but give Coulthard the keys."

Schumacher celebrates a win on his return from exile. Source: AFP

RESULTS 
1. Michael Schumacher (GER) Benetton-Ford
2. Damon Hill (GBR) Williams-Renault
3. Mika Hakkinen (FIN) McLaren-Peugeot
4. Eddie Irvine (GBR) Jordan-Hart
5. Gerhard Berger (AUT) Ferrari
6. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (GER) Sauber-Mercedes

CHAMPIONSHIP (after round 14 of 16)
Drivers' Championship
1. Schumacher - 86
2. Hill - 81
3. Berger - 35
4. Hakkinen - 26
5. Alesi - 19
Constructors' Championship
1. Benetton - 97
2. Williams - 95
3. Ferrari - 60
4. McLaren - 38
5. Jordan - 23

19/10/94: Karl Wendlinger tests a Sauber at Barcelona, driving for the first time since his Monaco crash. He plans to race at the Japanese Grand Prix.

25/10/94: McLaren and Peugeot reveal they will amicably part ways at the end of the season, following the French marque's troubled debut year as an engine supplier.

But Peugeot don't remain teamless for long; they announce on the same day that they will link with Jordan for the next three seasons.

28/10/94: Herbert makes his third team move in as many races, replacing Verstappen at Benetton for the final two races. Rookie Franck Lagorce takes the vacant Ligier seat.

31/10/94: Wendlinger rules out a race return in 1994, suffering neck pain during his test session. Sauber try to call on Andrea De Cesaris to race in Japan, but he is on holiday and uncontactable! JJ Lehto gets the drive for Suzuka and Adelaide.

NOVEMBER

2/11/94: The pay-driver rotation continues. Mika Salo - who also brought talent - will make his F1 debut in Japan with Lotus, while Jean-Denis Deletraz slots into the second Larrousse and Taki Inoue into the second Simtek.

4/11/94: Friday qualifying, Suzuka
Schumacher takes provisional pole by half a second from Hill, Frentzen third despite his local knowledge of Suzuka erased by a resurfaced track. Mansell is next from Herbert and Irvine.

5/11/94: Saturday qualifying, Suzuka
Rain plagues another Saturday session, confirming Schumacher will start from pole.

Hill heads Alesi and Mansell on the restart. Source: AFP

6/11/94: JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
Schumacher leads the way in appalling conditions, heavy rain and hail making Suzuka an ice rink. Herbert, Katayama, and Inoue all crash out, as do both the Minardis and Morbidelli. Brundle crashes at the same spot as the Footwork, his McLaren hitting a marshall who escapes with only - only - a broken leg. The race is stopped.

After a wait for the weather to improve, Schumacher leads a rolling restart, the result to be the aggregate time of both parts added together. He still needs to complete two pit stops to chief rival Hill's one. Mansell and Alesi engage in a furious scrap for third on the road. Schumacher returns after his final stop behind Hill on the times, but doesn't have to physically pass him to win.

Hill drives out of his skin to hold off the wet weather meister, winning by 3.365s to trim his title deficit to one point. The German is the first to shake his hand in Parc Ferme. Mansell finally passes Alesi on the final lap but the Ferrari driver still finishes third, the pair embracing after their fierce but fair fight.

An overjoyed Hill celebrates a key victory on the podium. Source: Supplied

RESULTS
1. Damon Hill (GBR) Williams-Renault
2. Michael Schumacher (GER) Benetton-Ford
3. Jean Alesi (FRA) Ferrari
4. Nigel Mansell (GBR) Williams-Renault
5. Eddie Irvine (GBR) Jordan-Hart
6. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (GER) Sauber-Mercedes

CHAMPIONSHIP (after round 15 of 16)
Drivers' Championship
1. Schumacher - 92
2. Hill - 91
3. Berger - 35
4. Hakkinen - 26
5. Alesi - 23
Constructors' Championship
1. Williams - 108
2. Benetton - 103
3. Ferrari - 64
4. McLaren - 38
5. Jordan - 25

8/11/94: News emerges that Hill is still on a test driver's wage at Williams, despite being the team's No. 1 driver.

"I'm pretty disgusted with some of the things that have gone on. I feel they have not made me feel that the team is behind me to win the championship. I reckon I am a lot better than my contract says I am." - Hill tells The Sun

Sauber also lock in a deal to use Ford engines for 1995, replacing the Mercedes motors bound for McLaren.

9/11/94: Senna's girlfriend Adriane Galisteu visits his memorial in Adelaide.

Flowers adorn the plaque as Galisteu pays her respects. Source: Supplied

11/11/94: Friday qualifying, Adelaide
It isn't either of the title rivals but Mansell who ends Friday on provisional pole by a scant 0.018s, Schumacher crashing hard as he tries to beat the mustachioed Brit's time. Hill is six tenths back in third.

Schumacher’s charge for pole ended in the barriers. Source: Supplied

The end-of-year class photo for 1994. Source: The Advertiser

Mansell prepares to start from pole position. Source: Supplied

13/11/94: AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
The title battle is on in earnest as soon as the lights go green, both Schumacher and Hill swooping either side of a tardy Mansell to be one-two through the chicane.

Schumacher leads Hill into the Senna Chicane. Source: Supplied

Schumacher builds an immediate gap that is steadily eroded by Hill, the Brit matching the German punch for punch in their winner-take-all fight.

Schumacher has already built a lead halfway through the first lap. Source: The Advertiser

They leave the rest, headed by Hakkinen after Mansell ran wide on the first lap, trailing in the distance by the time of their first pit stops. The Benetton and Williams arrive at the same time and depart simultaneously, nothing to split the two teams. Gradually, Schumacher again ekes out a gap.

Until Lap 36.

Schumacher makes a mistake and clatters the Benetton into the barriers, scrabbling back onto the track just as the Englishman arrives. Sensing blood but unaware his rival has hit the wall, Hill strikes immediately down the inside at the next corner.

BANG!

Schumacher’s Benetton is flicked up on two wheels from the contact ... Source: Supplied

... ending up buried in the tyres, race over. Source: Supplied

Schumacher crashes into the side of the Williams and then into the tyres, his race over. He hops out and stands behind the debris fencing, anxiously waiting for his rival to come past.

But Hill does not. His FW16's suspension is mortally wounded. He makes a slow lap back to the pits where his team confirm the worst: his race and title hopes are over.

A relieved Schumacher acknowledges the crowd as the new champion. Source: AP

Benetton celebrate. Barry Sheene grabs Hill to deliver some sage advice before he is thrust in front of the world's cameras.

"It was a terrific race but it's over now. I have just got this empty feeling inside me. I saw an opportunity to overtake and thought I had to go for it, but it wasn't to be." - Damon Hill

A jubilant Schumacher returns to the pits as world champion. He claims his steering was broken after he hit the wall, causing him to run into Hill.

Meanwhile, there was still a race to be won. A recovered Mansell led until his final stop, handing the lead to Berger.

Harried by Mansell the Ferrari ran wide at Brewery Bend, leaving Mansell to take his 31st and final F1 win.

Berger’s mistake allowed Mansell easy passage to the lead. Source: The Advertiser

Mansell enjoys his final F1 podium. Source: Supplied

Brundle rounded out the podium after teammate Hakkinen fell back then crashed out with brake failure with a handful of laps to go.

Hakkinen’s race ends against the wall after a brake failure. Source: The Advertiser

Overshadowed by the drama was Brabham's retirement on Lap 50, a blown engine ending a character-building season for Simtek and the F1 career of Sir Jack's youngest boy.

Brabham walks away from his Simtek for the final time. Source: The Advertiser

But at the end of a draining and emotional season, it was a 25-year-old German who stepped forward into the spotlight to become F1's new champion.

"It hasn't sunk in that I have won yet. I want to dedicate this victory to Ayrton Senna. I always thought he'd win the championship this year. For me he was the greatest." - Michael Schumacher

 Schumacher returned to the Benetton pits a hero and a champion. Source: The Advertiser

RESULTS
1. Nigel Mansell (GBR) Williams-Renault
2. Gerhard Berger (AUT) Ferrari
3. Martin Brundle (GBR) McLaren-Peugeot
4. Rubens Barrichello (BRZ) Jordan-Hart
5. Olivier Panis (FRA) Ligier-Renault
6. Jean Alesi (FRA) Ferrari

CHAMPIONSHIP (after round 16 of 16)
Drivers' Championship
1. Schumacher - 92
2. Hill - 91
3. Berger - 41
4. Hakkinen - 26
5. Alesi - 24
Constructors' Championship
1. Williams - 118
2. Benetton - 103
3. Ferrari - 71
4. McLaren - 42
5. Jordan - 28

23/11/94: After an investigation into the controversial clash in Adelaide, the FIA determines there is "insufficient evidence" to summon either Schumacher or Hill to face disciplinary action over the incident. Schumacher is confirmed as 1994 world champion.

STATS 
● Just over half the field compete in every race (14 drivers).
● 54 drivers, all up, race at least once in the 1994 season. 14 are F1 rookies.
● Almost half (25 drivers) score world championship points.
● 14 drivers stand on the podium at least once during the season.
● For over half the championship (9 rounds) there are no world championship-winning drivers in the field.
● In clinching the title in Adelaide, Schumacher becomes the second-youngest world champion in the sport's history (25y, 10m, 10d), a mark since surpassed by Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
● Schumacher was classified as a finisher in just 10 of the 16 races. Two of those finishes were second placings; the other eight were wins.

Glenn Dix enthusiastically waves the chequered flag to end the season. Source: The Advertiser

EPILOGUE 
Schumacher and Hill continue their war into 1995 - the Brit on an improved contract. However, the German has the upper hand on his rival, who self-destructs on a couple of occasions during the season. Schumacher wins the title for Benetton before heading to Ferrari for 1996.

Coulthard races the 1995 season for Williams, after a tug of war with McLaren over his services. He eventually leaves for the Woking squad for 1996. In the meantime, they hire Mansell. He fails to fit in the car, and retires from the sport after just two troubled races in a widened version.

In April 1995, F1 returns to a much-modified Imola, with chicanes replacing the high-speed Tamburello and Villeneuve corners. Hill wins for Williams.

Drivers hold a minute’s silence ahead of the race. Source: AFP

Hill clinches victory a year on from Senna’s death. Source: AP

In 1997, Williams team boss Frank Williams, technical director Patrick Head and chief designer Adrian Newey are ordered to stand trial in Italy on manslaughter charges over Senna's death. All are acquitted over charges but, after a series of appeals and a reopening of the case, the matter is only finally settled in 2007.

Brabham accepts a deal to race touring cars for BMW in Britain in 1995. No Australian races in Formula 1 until Mark Webber lines up on the grid at Albert Park in 2002.

Wendlinger struggles in his return to the cockpit in 1995, and gets benched by the team after four races. He has an extensive career in sportscars but never races F1 again after 1995.

Salo's electrical failure on Lap 50 in Adelaide marks the last time a Lotus F1 car races. The team is wound up in early 1995 by creditors. In 2010, two teams named Lotus appear on the F1 grid, both claiming to be continuing the lineage of Colin Champan's legendary squad. Larrousse doesn't make it to the new season either, while Simtek and Pacific are both gone by the end of the year.

In the 7,256 days that have passed between May 1, 1994 and the time of writing, no driver has died in a Formula 1 car.

The FIA and F1 as a sport continue to strive to extend this statistic long into the future.

FONTE PESQUISADA

DALE, William. 1994, Part 3: A controversial clash ends a year Formula 1 cannot wait to forget. Disponível em: <http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sport/formula-one/part-3-a-controversial-clash-ends-a-year-formula-1-cannot-wait-to-forget/story-e6frf3zl-1226852809776>. Acesso em: 12 de março 2014.

DALE, William. 1994, Part 3: A controversial clash ends a year Formula 1 cannot wait to forget. Disponível em: <http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/motor-sport/part-3-a-controversial-clash-ends-a-year-formula-1-cannot-wait-to-forget/story-fnii0ilc-1226852809776>. Acesso em: 12 de março 2014.