1994 Monaco Grand Prix

Championship standings

Schumacher has won all three opening rounds and holds a dominant lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

Previous race

The San Marino Grand Prix at Imola was the most tragic weekend in Formula One in a generation. Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger was killed in qualifying when a front wing failure sent his Simtek into the wall at the Villeneuve kink. On race day, Ayrton Senna, who had taken pole, lost control at Tamburello on lap 7 and struck the concrete retaining wall at high speed. He was airlifted to hospital and pronounced dead that evening. A stalled car on the formation lap triggered a multi-car accident that injured JJ Lehto and Pedro Lamy, and debris flew into the grandstand. Schumacher won; there were no podium celebrations.

Between-race developments

Both Williams and Simtek, the teams for whom Senna and Ratzenberger drove, run only one car this weekend in mourning. Eddie Irvine’s three-race suspension ends after this round, but Andrea de Cesaris again stands in at Jordan for Monaco. Sauber’s Karl Wendlinger is entered, though the team’s presence is cast in doubt by events in practice (see below).

Following the Imola accidents, Niki Lauda announced the reformation of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association on Friday morning, twelve years after it had previously disbanded. The FIA has announced a package of regulation changes to take effect from the Spanish Grand Prix onward: diffusers will be reduced in size, front wing end plates raised, and front wing area cut — reducing downforce by approximately 15%. Further measures including increased cockpit side protection and a 15 kg minimum weight increase are scheduled for Canada.

Olivier Beretta becomes the first Monégasque driver to race in his home Grand Prix since André Testut in 1959.

Practice

During the opening free practice session on Thursday morning, Karl Wendlinger suffered a severe accident at the Nouvelle Chicane. Travelling at close to 280 km/h, his car slid sideways into the water-filled barriers. Wendlinger was knocked unconscious, taken to hospital, and remains in a coma. Sauber withdrew both cars from the event in response.