1995
SEASON

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Goodyear .

Background

There was a threat of a drivers' strike over the terms of the 1995 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Super Licences , which allowed the FIA to demand promotional appearances and forbade the drivers from criticising the championship. This was resolved by the governing body prior to the race, ensuring full driver participation.

Team changes

Mechanically it [the JS41] is totally different [from the B195] and structurally it is quite different as well. Aerodynamically, it's as close as we can make it to being the same. I don't know how you would end up with anything else if you take a core of engineers who have been working on the Benetton. Of course the damn thing looks the same. But if you go into the detail of the car, there is nothing interchangeable.

Regulations from 1994

In the aftermath of the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna , during the weekend of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix , a number of regulation were implemented as of the 1994 German Grand Prix , intended to increase safety of the cars and to limit their performance. These regulations were formalised going into 1995:

Power

The allowed engine capacity was reduced to 3 litres (down from 3.5 litres) and the description for the type of fuel that was allowed was stringently specified, to reach an approximate 100 BHP reduction in power. Just like in Monaco, Hill started on pole position in France , but lost out to second-starting Schumacher during the pit stops. His teammate Coulthard started and finished in third. During the British Grand Prix , championship rivals Hill and Schumacher clashed for the first time. Hill had started from pole, while Schumacher fell behind third-starting Alesi. As happened regularly this season, Schumacher took the lead by only needing one pit stop, compared to Hill's two. But when the Williams tried to repass the Benetton, the two collided and retired. This promoted their teammates Johnny Herbert and David Coulthard to the front. Coulthard took the... Two weeks later, Michael Schumacher won his home race, the German Grand Prix . Damon Hill had achieved pole position once again, but this time, spun off on the second lap as a result of driveshaft failure. David Coulthard finished second, Gerhard Berger was third, recovering from a 10-second stop-go penalty for jumping the start . The 1995 Hungarian Grand Prix was a grand slam for Damon Hill: he won from pole position and set the fastest lap. Coulthard finished second and Berger third. Michael Schumacher was classified three laps down, suffering from fuel pump issues. During the race, Taki Inoue had his second coming together with the safety car. This time, he himself was hit by the Tatra 623 when running over to his Footwork with a fire extinguisher. He suffered minor injuries to his leg. In the Drivers' Championship , Michael Schumacher was leading with 56 points, ahead of Damon Hill with 45 and Jean Alesi with 32. It was closer at the front of the Constructors' Championship , with Benetton and Williams separated by just six points (74 and 68, respectively), followed by Ferrari with 57.

Aerodynamics

All aerodynamic changes summed up were expected by reduce downforce by 30-40%.

Other changes

Due to the demise of the Lotus team following the end of the 1994 season, the grid was reduced to 13 teams and 26 cars at the start of season - the same number as the maximum number of cars permitted to start a race. Therefore, every driver entered for a Grand Prix would be guaranteed a slot on the grid, with any withdrawals classed as non-starts rather than non-qualifications.

Pre-season

The cars were still in various stages of development heading into the new season; the Footwork FA16 and Simtek S951 chassis arrived at the event with virtually no testing, having been completed shortly beforehand. Luckily for them and other teams that were expected to be fighting over last places, the withdrawal of teams Larrousse and Lotus dropped the number of participating cars to 26, guaranteeing all entrants of a race start, without the threat of failing to qualify, for the first time since the 1994 Canadian Grand Prix . At the front of the field, Michael Schumacher for Benetton and Damon Hill for Williams were the favourites to battle for the Drivers' Championship , with Schumacher anticipating a "struggle" for the championship. Bernard Dudot , Renault's Chief Engineer, said that he believed Benetton was less well-prepared than Williams, as the former team had just changed its engine supplier to Renault, whereas Williams had been in partnership with the company since 1989 . McLaren were concerned about the standard refuelling equipment provided for 1995 by suppliers Intertechnique , having suffered a major leak in a test of the new rig outside of its factory. Intertechnique had redesigned the fuel equipment, which was used by all of the teams, in the wake of the pit lane fire suffered by driver Jos Verstappen during the previous year's German Grand Prix . The new fuel rigs, in addition to being half the size of the 1994, also featured longer nozzles, and were...