On This Day: 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix

For quite some time now, the Brazilian Grand Prix has been stored at the back of the F1 calendar including the 2008 title-deciding race falling into Lewis Hamilton’s hands.

However, in 1994 it was opening race of the season and what an exciting race it was! 

Debuts were made by five drivers including Jos Verstappen, father to current F1 driver Max Verstappen. 

Ayrton Senna made his debut start for Williams from pole position qualifying just 0.3 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher.

Jean Alesi and Damon Hill started from the second row respectively. 

Senna made one of his magical starts creating a gap over Schumacher immediately. This advantage reversed when Schumacher managed to jump the Williams driver in a pitstop. 

A major crash followed when Jos Verstappen collided with Eddie Irvine whilst lapping Eric Bernard. 

The three-car incident turned into a four-car incident when Martin Brundle’s McLaren got clipped. 

Senna was trying to gain on Schumacher’s lead until Senna spun on lap 56 causing him to retire from the race. 

Schumacher’s Benetton went on to win the race as a result of the pitstop jump. 

The pitstop jump was deemed illegal later in the season as Benneton used an illegal filter in the refuelling rig which accelerated the flow of fuel allowing him to pit faster than Senna which created this advantage. 

No action was taken. 

Damon Hill came second whilst Jean Alesi rounded off the podium in his Ferrari. 

Out of the 28 starters, just 12 managed to finish the race.