# 1994 French Grand Prix

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. 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: |||||||

### 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: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Michael Schumacher | 66 |
| 2 | Damon Hill | 29 |
| 3 | Gerhard Berger | 17 |
| 4 | Jean Alesi | 13 |
| 5 | Rubens Barrichello | 7 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Benetton-Ford | 67 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 36 |
| 3 | Williams-Renault | 31 |
| 4 | Jordan-Hart | 11 |
| 5 | McLaren-Peugeot | 10 |
| Source: |||