The 1994 Australian Grand Prix (formally the LIX Adelaide Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 13 November 1994 at the Adelaide Street Circuit. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship. The 81-lap race was won by Nigel Mansell driving for the Williams team after starting from pole position. This event was the latest one where a Formula One driver won a race over the age of 40 until 2026, when Lewis Hamilton won at the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. Gerhard Berger finished second in a Ferrari car with Martin Brundle third for the McLaren team.
The race is remembered, besides being the closing of one of the most tragic seasons in the history of the category, also for an incident involving the two title contenders Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher which forced both to retire and resulted in Schumacher winning the World Drivers' Championship. Also notable was the last appearance in a Formula One Grand Prix of the first incarnation of Team Lotus, previously seven-time Constructors' Champions. It was also the 31st and last Grand Prix victory of Nigel Mansell's Formula One career, as well as his last podium finish in his last race for Williams. , this was the last Formula One race where the number of entrants exceeded the number of places on the starting grid. This would also prove to be the last Grand Prix for Christian Fittipaldi, Franck Lagorce, Michele Alboreto, Hideki Noda, David Brabham, JJ Lehto, Paul Belmondo and the Larrousse team.
Report
Background Heading into the final race of the season, Benetton driver Michael Schumacher was leading the Drivers' Championship with 92 points; Williams driver Damon Hill was second on 91 points, one point behind Schumacher. Williams led the Constructors' Championship with 108 points, while Benetton were 5 points behind with 103. Thus, both titles were still at stake, and they would be determined in the final round.
Race Schumacher took the lead at the start, with Hill second behind him. The order between the two remained the same until lap 36. Hill was catching Schumacher when the Benetton driver went off the track at the East Terrace corner, hitting a wall with his right side wheels before pulling back onto the track. Hill had rounded the fifth corner of the track when Schumacher pulled across the track ahead of him to the left. At the next corner, Hill attempted to pass Schumacher but the two collided when Schumacher turned in. Schumacher was eliminated on the spot. Hill attempted to continue the race and pitted immediately, but retired from the race with irreparable damage to the car's front left suspension wishbone. As neither driver scored, Schumacher took the title.
After Schumacher and Hill retired, Nigel Mansell took the lead of the race. Mansell stayed in the lead until he made his second pit stop. After Mansell pitted, Berger took the lead and stayed in the lead after his second pit stop. On lap 64, Mansell overtook Berger to retake the lead of the race. Mika Häkkinen was running 5th in the closing stages behind teammate Brundle and Barrichello until his brakes failed on lap 77, sending him off into the wall backwards into retirement but was classified 12th. Mansell stayed in the lead for the rest of the race to win, with Berger finishing second and Brundle finishing third ahead of Barrichello, Panis, and Jean Alesi in the other Ferrari completing the top 6. Mansell's victory was first time a driver over the age of 40 had won a Formula One race since Jack Brabham in 1970. Mansell's victory would remain the last driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix over the age of 40 until Lewis Hamilton won the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Post-race Schumacher was blamed for the incident by many Formula One insiders despite having won the Championship. After investigation, the race stewards judged it as a racing incident and took no action against Schumacher. At age 25, Schumacher was Germany's first Formula One World Drivers' Champion (given that Jochen Rindt, posthumous 1970 World's Champion, competed for Austria, his adoptive country), albeit under highly controversial circumstances. Schumacher always maintained that the collision was a racing incident, a view that met with a large degree of media cynicism, particularly in the United Kingdom. Schumacher has been blamed by the United Kingdom public for the incident. In 2003, the BBC conducted a search for "The Most Unsporting Moment" in which the Adelaide incident was nominated. Reader's "Have your Say" voting for the most unsporting moment in history. Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal won the award in June 2003. Hill's 1994 season earned him the 1994 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Although Hill deliberately avoided becoming involved in the outcry at the time, in later years he explicitly accused Schumacher of deliberately driving into him.Motor Sport, January 2007, p. 43 Formula One commentator Murray Walker maintained that Schumacher did not cause the crash intentionally while his co-commentators for the race, former Formula One driver Jonathan Palmer and pit reporter Barry Sheene, both argued that the crash was entirely Schumacher's fault. Patrick Head of the Williams team stated to F1 Racing magazine that in 1994 "Williams were already 100% certain that Michael was guilty of foul play" but did not protest Schumacher's title because the team was still dealing with the death of Ayrton Senna, to whom Schumacher dedicated his title after his death in the San Marino Grand Prix earlier in the year.
Classification
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Time Q2 Time Gap 1 2 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:16.179 1:33.988 2 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:16.197 1:32.627 +0.018 3 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:16.830 1:33.792 +0.651 4 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 1:16.992 1:35.432 +0.813 5 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:17.537 1:37.610 +1.358 6 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 1:17.667 No time +1.488 7 6 Johnny Herbert Benetton-Ford 1:17.727 1:35.712 +1.548 8 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:17.801 1:33.905 +1.622 9 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 1:17.950 1:36.246 +1.771 10 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 1:17.962 1:35.623 +1.783 11 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:18.070 1:33.818 +1.891 12 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 1:18.072 1:36.222 +1.893 13 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:18.237 1:35.462 +2.058 14 12 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:18.331 1:39.179 +2.152 15 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:18.411 1:36.628 +2.232 16 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 1:18.755 1:36.498 +2.576 17 29 JJ Lehto Sauber-Mercedes 1:18.806 1:36.245 +2.627 18 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:18.957 1:36.257 +2.778 19 9 Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 1:19.061 1:35.790 +2.882 20 25 Franck Lagorce Ligier-Renault 1:19.153 1:37.393 +2.974 21 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 1:19.610 1:35.136 +3.431 22 11 Mika Salo Lotus-Mugen-Honda 1:19.844 1:43.071 +3.665 23 19 Hideki Noda Larrousse-Ford 1:20.145 1:47.569 +3.966 24 31 David Brabham Simtek-Ford 1:20.442 No time +4.263 25 20 Jean-Denis Délétraz Larrousse-Ford 1:22.422 1:44.155 +6.243 26 32 Domenico Schiattarella Simtek-Ford 1:22.529 No time +6.350 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 1:24.087 No time +7.908 34 Bertrand Gachot Pacific-Ilmor 7:40.317 No time +6:24.138 Sources:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 81 1:47:51.480 1 10 2 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 81 + 2.511 11 6 3 8 Martin Brundle McLaren-Peugeot 81 + 52.487 9 4 4 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 81 + 1:10.530 5 3 5 26 Olivier Panis Ligier-Renault 80 + 1 lap 12 2 6 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 80 + 1 lap 8 1 7 30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Mercedes 80 + 1 lap 10 8 9 Christian Fittipaldi Footwork-Ford 80 + 1 lap 19 9 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 79 + 2 laps 18 10 29 JJ Lehto Sauber-Mercedes 79 + 2 laps 17 11 25 Franck Lagorce Ligier-Renault 79 + 2 laps 20 12 7 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Peugeot 76 Brakes/Accident 4 24 Michele Alboreto Minardi-Ford 69 Suspension 16 4 Mark Blundell Tyrrell-Yamaha 66 Collision 13 20 Jean-Denis Délétraz Larrousse-Ford 56 Gearbox 25 11 Mika Salo Lotus-Mugen-Honda 49 Electrical 22 31 David Brabham Simtek-Ford 49 Engine 24 12 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Mugen-Honda 40 Throttle 14 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 35 Collision damage 3 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 35 Collision 2 32 Domenico Schiattarella Simtek-Ford 21 Gearbox 26 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 19 Spun off 15 19 Hideki Noda Larrousse-Ford 18 Oil leak 23 10 Gianni Morbidelli Footwork-Ford 17 Oil leak 21 15 Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 15 Spun off 6 6 Johnny Herbert Benetton-Ford 13 Gearbox 7 Source:
Championship standings after the race Bold text indicates the World Champions.
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Michael Schumacher 92 2 Damon Hill 91 3 Gerhard Berger 41 4 Mika Häkkinen 26 5 Jean Alesi 24Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault118 2 Benetton-Ford103 3 Ferrari71 4 McLaren-Peugeot42 5 Jordan-Hart28Source:
References