1994 Italian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Schumacher leads the Drivers’ Championship; Hill closed the gap significantly after Belgium.

Previous race

At Belgium, Schumacher crossed the finish line first but was disqualified post-race: the wooden skid board beneath his car showed excessive wear beyond the permitted 1 mm. Hill was reclassified as the winner, his third of the season. Häkkinen was second, Verstappen third. Barrichello took Jordan’s first ever pole position. Schumacher’s two-race ban — upheld after Benetton’s appeal failed — means he misses Italy and Portugal.

Between-race developments

Schumacher is absent from this race, the first of his two-race suspension following the British Grand Prix disqualification. His place at Benetton is taken by JJ Lehto. Alessandro Zanardi returns to Lotus at Monza, replacing Philippe Adams. Yannick Dalmas, absent from Formula One for almost four years, joins Larrousse alongside Érik Comas.

The Italian Grand Prix was briefly threatened with cancellation on 12 August when local officials refused a demand to cut down 123 trees at the Lesmo corners, which lack adequate run-off. Cabinet under-secretary Gianni Letta travelled to Cannes to meet FIA president Max Mosley and Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger, the drivers’ representative; a compromise altering the curve shape was agreed and the race retained.