1994 Monaco Grand Prix

This is the complete race as broadcast on LIVE TV.

There were two tragic deaths at the previous race in Imola two weeks earlier, and the loss of drivers
Roland Ratzenberger and the great Ayrton Senna cast a shadow over the Monaco Grand Prix. The media
descended on Monaco wanting to know how F1 drivers were going to cope with this tragedy, while others
wanted to know if the sport had become too dangerous. Things went from bad to worse on Thursday
morning when Karl Wendlinger had a serious accident at the chicane, sliding sideways into the barriers at
high speed. Wendlinger suffered head injuries that would force him to sit out the rest of the season, and
the Sauber-Mercedes team went back to Switzerland. In the mid-afternoon the FIA president Max
Mosley turned F1 on its head by announcing sweeping rule changes.

On Saturday afternoon Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen fought for pole. Schumacher and his
Benetton won the battle with Hakkinen second in his McLaren, followed by Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari, and
then Damon Hill in the Williams. Out of respect for Ayrton Senna, the Williams team did not field a second
driver. Jean Alesi was fifth fastest ahead of the Arrows of Christian Fittipaldi and Gianni Morbidelli.

During the pre-race, the drivers gathered at the pole position, left empty in honor of Ayrton Senna, a
driver who had captured more pole positions than any F1 driver in history. There was a long silence as the
drivers bowed their heads, and the crowd went silent.

As for the race, Michael Schumacher made his customary good start, pulling clear of any danger from
Mika Hakkinen. Behind these two, Damon Hill had made a good start and got ahead of Gerhard Berger. As
they went into Ste Devote, Damon Hill went for a gap to Mika Hakkinen’s left, and both cars were out.
This left Michael Schumacher by himself, and he dominated the race. Gerhard Berger ran second, pulling
clear of Jean Alesi and Christian Fittipaldi. Martin Brundle pitted early, and when the other front runners
stopped, he was able to get up to third.

There was some excitement in the mid-race when Mark Blundell spread oil at Ste Devote. Michael
Schumacher slid and nearly hit the barrier while Berger spun off. This put Martin Brundle second, and he
was not planning to stop again. Unfortunately, he was forced to pit when debris got into his radiators and
his engine temperatures skyrocketed. The stop dropped him to third behind Berger. When Gerhard and
Michael stopped again, Brundle moved to second. A lap down, Andrea de Cesaris (standing in for Eddie
Irvine at Jordan) moved into fourth, Jean Alesi was fifth, and Michele Alboreto was sixth.

This is an original live Eurosport broadcast with commentator John Watson.