1995 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the XXIV Grande Prêmio do Brasil ) was a Formula One motor race held on 26 March 1995 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace , São Paulo , Brazil . It was the first round of the 1995 Formula One World Championship . Michael Schumacher of the Benetton team won the 71-lap race from second position. David Coulthard finished second in a Williams car, with Gerhard Berger third in a Ferrari . Damon Hill , who started the race from pole position , spun out while leadi...

Other notable performances came from Berger, who took the final podium position despite being delayed during one of his routine pit stops due to a problem with a loose wheel nut, from Mika Häkkinen , who finished fourth for the McLaren team despite its new car proving to be uncompetitive in pre-season testing, and from Mika Salo , who drove strongly in the first half of the race to run third in his first Grand Prix for the Tyrrell team, only to suffer from a cramp and drop back to seventh place ...

The threat of a drivers' boycott over the terms of their 1995 FIA Super Licences , which allowed the FIA to demand promotional appearances and forbade the drivers from criticising the championship, was defused by the governing body prior to the race, ensuring full driver participation in the championship. [ 5 ] [ 9 ] Although the Super License issue was resolved with 14 teams and 28 drivers on the official 1995 entry list, the Larrousse team with drivers Éric Bernard and Christophe Bouchut did n...

The construction of some of the cars was only just completed prior to the beginning of the season; the Footwork FA16 and Simtek S951 chassis arrived at the event with virtually no testing, having been completed shortly beforehand. [ 9 ] [ 13 ] Of the initial 1995 drivers, Pedro Diniz was the only "complete" rookie , having not been officially entered in any other Formula One race meetings , while Andrea Montermini started his first race after failing to qualify for the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix du...

At the front of the field, Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill in the Benetton and Williams cars respectively were the favourites to battle for the Drivers' Championship , with Schumacher anticipating a "struggle" for the championship. [ 2 ] Bernard Dudot , Renault Sport's Chief Engineer, said that he believed Benetton was less well-prepared than Williams, as the former team had changed its engine supplier to Renault, whereas Williams had been in partnership with the company since 1989 . [ 14 ] Hi...

Heading into the new season, attention also focused on the McLaren team and its driver Nigel Mansell . He was initially announced as the partner of Mika Häkkinen ; however, a week before the first race, McLaren announced that Mansell would not compete in the first two races of the new season, as he could not fit into the MP4/10 car. [ 16 ] Mansell's arrival at McLaren was due to demand from the team's sponsors, including Philip Morris , whose brand, Marlboro , was on the car, who wanted to enjoy...

Controversy also surrounded the new Ligier JS41 car, with rival team owners comparing it to the Benetton B195 car because of their similar design, the only apparent difference being the engine in each car. [ 23 ] The Ligier team was being run in 1995 by Tom Walkinshaw , who had been Benetton's Engineering Director the previous season. [ 4 ] Commenting on the design similarities, Walkinshaw said:

In the first practice session, Hill was fastest with a time of 1:21.664, two thousands of a second ahead of teammate Coulthard. Schumacher was third, with the Ferrari cars of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger , who had been the leading two for most of the session, close behind. [ 27 ] Blundell in the McLaren was sixth, with teammate Häkkinen finishing the session in 14th position, the Finnish driver complaining of steering problems with the car. [ 1 ] [ 30 ] The two Ferrari drivers used different pe...

"Michael's done a good job to show that he can get over setbacks like that and I've learnt from last year never to underestimate the guy so, the only thing I could say is with reference to the grid is that at least we've got him surrounded as far as the British are concerned, we've got two behind him, one alongside and one ahead."

Hill set a provisional pole position time of 1:20.081 during the first qualifying session, ahead of Berger, Coulthard, Alesi, Häkkinen and Schumacher. [ 1 ] The session was disrupted after Schumacher crashed heavily into the tyre barrier at turn eight, a corner normally taken at a speed of 140 miles per hour (230 km/h). [ 32 ] [ 33 ] As a precaution, Benetton opted to keep Schumacher's teammate, Johnny Herbert , in the garage while the team found out what was wrong with the car. This meant that ...

The second practice session was held in wet but drying weather conditions. [ 1 ] During the session, Schumacher went off the track at the exit of turn five, damaging his car's front wing in the process. [ 32 ] [ 34 ] However, he still set the fastest time of the session (1:23.607) [ 1 ] after a change to his car's ride height proved beneficial to its performance. [ 4 ] The top six was completed by Berger, Hill, Häkkinen, Alesi, and Olivier Panis ' Ligier. [ 1 ]

Schumacher also set the fastest time in the second qualifying session with a lap of 1:20.382, but it was not good enough to beat Hill's fastest time overall set in the first session. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Hill made a set-up change that he turned out not to be happy with, but maintained his pole position, his first since the 1994 British Grand Prix . [ 13 ] The Williams and Benetton formation continued on the second row, as Coulthard was third, with Herbert qualifying fourth after a late flying lap , equal...

Hill had a bad start from pole position, allowing Schumacher to overtake him into turn one. [ 34 ] Panis, who started from tenth position in a Ligier, spun at the first corner after a nudge from Katayama, hitting the wall in the process and retiring from the race. [ 42 ] Herbert, racing the spare Benetton chassis, dropped three places by the end of lap one, dropping behind Häkkinen and the two Ferrari cars. [ 1 ] [ 42 ] Blundell also made a poor start, dropping to fourteenth position after his g...

The Benetton and Williams teams were employing different pit stop strategies – the Benetton team were planning a three stop strategy whereas the Williams team were only planning for two stops. [ 34 ] Schumacher made a pit stop on lap 18, but was momentarily baulked by the slowing Jordan car of Barrichello as he was entering the pitlane. [ 45 ] Schumacher exited the stop behind Berger, but overtook the Austrian driver at the beginning of the next lap. [ 1 ] Hill, who had remained close behind Sch...

Once in front of Schumacher, Hill was able to gradually extend his lead to 3.4 seconds by lap 30 despite carrying a heavier fuel load for one fewer planned pit stop. [ 42 ] However, he lost second gear during the course of that lap, and then spun off at turn two on lap 31, retiring from the race with a suspected gearbox seizure. [ 7 ] [ 42 ] On the same lap, Herbert also retired from the race after suffering damage in a collision with Suzuki, who himself had to make an unscheduled pit stop to re...

"It's difficult to believe what has happened this weekend and in no way would I have imagined this race. I was settled already for second or third position, I would have been very happy with it, but winning that race is just great."

Moments after his spin, Hill was interviewed by the BBC , revealing that his spin was due to a gearbox problem; the Williams car losing second gear before apparently seizing completely. Hill also said that he was "very, very disappointed" with the result, and that "we could have beaten him [Schumacher] today". [ 6 ] [ 54 ] Further post-race analysis conducted by the Williams team, however, found that the problem was actually a broken left-rear suspension pushrod . [ 42 ]

After the Grand Prix, Schumacher's Benetton and Coulthard's Williams cars were excluded from the race classification as a result of the illegal fuel sample "fingerprints", and Berger declared the new victor. [ 7 ] [ 22 ] [ 26 ] Further samples of both cars' fuel were taken after the race; these also did not match the specified sample. [ 9 ] Patrick Head was surprised by this outcome as he believed that "there was no question of disqualification until the fuel samples had been returned to Europe ...

I cannot separate car and driver completely. If this is a new rule, you can build an illegal car and let the team pay for victory. The whole thing is only commercial and has nothing to do with sport any more. It's like scoring a half-goal in soccer – it is not possible. Either you score a goal or not. The decision for me is the biggest defeat for the FIA, who cannot govern the sport any longer. [ 2 ]

Berger also commented on the situation, saying "I no longer understand anything. Formula One has become a joke." [ 2 ] In the lead-up to the San Marino Grand Prix, Schumacher was quoted saying that Berger should "concentrate on racing instead of thinking how he can criticise me. I have never understood how someone can celebrate a victory like that [Brazil] one lap down and winning after someone else has been disqualified." Berger responded to Schumacher's comments by saying:

I never criticised Schumacher. I only criticised the decision [to reinstate him]. I can live with Schumacher being angry. I was declared the winner by the FIA Stewards so I have every reason to open the champagne. [ 2 ]

Max Mosley , the president of the FIA, also responded to Schumacher's comments saying that his comments "reflect poorly on the sport and show a lack of adult attitude". Mosley also commented on the weight issue surrounding Schumacher saying that "it is a pity that it became a matter for public discussion, whether he drank a huge amount of water, didn't go to the loo or had a heavy helmet. It is just a pity he didn't take care that it didn't happen". [ 2 ] Elf was also unhappy with the way in whi...