1994 British Grand Prix

The 1994 British Grand Prix was Round 8 of the 1994 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The event was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom on Sunday, 10 July 1994. Damon Hill started on pole position in the Williams Renault and was the race winner.

A memorable win for Damon Hill

The 1994 British Grand Prix should be remembered above all as a significant and very English triumph for Damon Hill on home soil, driving for the quintessentially English Rothmans Williams Renault team. 

In winning this Grand Prix, Damon Hill acheived a feat that eluded his double world champion father Graham Hill – winning his home grand prix (although, it should be said, Graham did come close, twice finishing second behind Jim Clark in 1964 and 1965). 

For Damon, this was a timely victory and one that cemented his position as the Williams team-leader following the tragic death of the legendary Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in May. Although Damon had won the Spanish Grand Prix later that month, his status as defacto number one at Williams had looked somewhat in doubt after the team sensationally recalled 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell – at considerable expense – for the previous race, the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours. At Silverstone, however, Damon re-asserted his unexpected status as the only real challenger to the supremacy of Michael Schumacher, who had been running away with the 1994 championship up until this event. 

By beating Schumacher to pole position by mere thousandths of a second and setting fastest lap during the race, the 1994 British Grand Prix was the first Formula 1 event at which Damon Hill scored a “hat-trick” (pole position, win and fastest lap). Few British patriots will forget the iconic image of Damon waving the Union Jack on the slowing down lap after the race or the special moment when Princess Diana presented him with the winner’s trophy on the podium.

1994 British Grand Prix Race Result
Pos.No.DriverNationalityTeamChassisTyreLapsTime/RetiredGapIntervalBest LapLapStartedPoints
10Damon HillGreat BritainWilliams RenaultFW16Goodyear601:30:03.640--1:27.10011110
227Jean AlesiFranceFerrari412 T1BGoodyear60+1:08.128+1:08.128+1:08.1281:29.1812346
37Mika HäkkinenFinlandMcLaren PeugeotMP4/9Goodyear60+1:40.659+1:40.659+32.5311:29.4062454
414Rubens BarrichelloBrazilJordan Hart194Goodyear60+1:41.751+1:41.751+1.0921:29.1971163
52David CoulthardGreat BritainWilliams RenaultFW16Goodyear59+1 lap1 lap1 lap1:27.889772
63Ukyo KatayamaJapanTyrrell Yamaha022Goodyear59+1 lap1 lap1:29.556881
730Heinz-Harald FrentzenGermanySauber MercedesC13Goodyear59+1 lap1 lap1:29.6952613
86Jos VerstappenNetherlandsBenetton FordB194Goodyear59+1 lap1 lap1:29.876810
99Christian FittipaldiBrazilFootwork FordFA15Goodyear58+2 laps2 laps1 lap1:30.6832620
1023Pierluigi MartiniItalyMinardi FordM194Goodyear58+2 laps2 laps1:31.481714
1112Johnny HerbertGreat BritainLotus Mugen Honda109Goodyear58+2 laps2 laps1:31.711821
1226Olivier PanisFranceLigier RenaultJS39BGoodyear58+2 laps2 laps1:29.993815
1325Éric BernardFranceLigier RenaultJS39BGoodyear58+2 laps2 laps1:30.7694123
1419Olivier BerettaMonacoLarrousse FordLH94Goodyear58+2 laps2 laps1:31.2532224
1531David BrabhamAustraliaSimtek FordS941Goodyear57+3 laps3 laps1 lap1:32.9861525
1632Jean-Marc GounonFranceSimtek FordS941Goodyear57+3 laps3 laps1:33.1271426
DSQ5Michael SchumacherGermanyBenetton FordB194Goodyear60Disqualified1:27.33582
DNF24Michele AlboretoItalyMinardi FordM194Goodyear48Engine12 laps12 laps1:31.1361717
DNF28Gerhard BergerAustriaFerrari412 T1BGoodyear32Engine28 laps16 laps1:28.603183
DNF4Mark BlundellGreat BritainTyrrell Yamaha022Goodyear20Gearbox40 laps12 laps1:28.6591311
DNF20Érik ComasFranceLarrousse FordLH94Goodyear12Engine48 laps8 laps1:31.7411222
DNF29Andrea de CesarisItalySauber MercedesC13Goodyear11Engine49 laps1 lap1:32.368918
DNF10Gianni MorbidelliItalyFootwork FordFA15Goodyear5Engine55 laps6 laps1:30.587416
DNF11Alessandro ZanardiItalyLotus Mugen Honda109Goodyear4Engine56 laps1 lap1:34.266419
DNF8Martin BrundleGreat BritainMcLaren PeugeotMP4/9GoodyearEngine60 laps4 laps9
DNF15Eddie IrvineGreat BritainJordan Hart194GoodyearEngine60 laps12
DNQ34Bertrand GachotFrancePacific IlmorPR01Goodyear60 laps
DNQ33Paul BelmondoFrancePacific IlmorPR01Goodyear60 laps

Winner

After 60 Laps

0

Damon Hill

Williams Renault

1:30:03.640

202.143 Km/h

303.42 Km

fastest lap

0

Damon Hill

Williams Renault

1:27.100

Lap 11

209.014 Km/h

Pole Position

0

Damon Hill

Williams Renault

1:24.960

214.279 Km/h

1994 British Grand Prix