1995 Brazilian Grand Prix

Brazilian Grand Prix – Interlagos, 26 March 1995 – 71 laps of 2.687 mile circuit (190.825 miles)

1: Michael Schumacher – Benneton B195-Renault V10 – 1h 38m 34.154s
2: David Coulthard – Williams FW17-Renault V10 – 1h 38m 42.214s
3: Gerhard Berger – Ferrari 412 T2-Ferrari V12 – 70 laps (1h 38m 33.151s)
4: Mika Hakkinen – McLaren MP4-10-Mercedes V10 – 70 laps
5: Jean Alesi – Ferrari 412 T2-Ferarri V12 – 70 laps
6: Mark Blundell – Mclaren MP4/10-Mercedes V10 – 70 laps

Snippets

Damon Hill takes his fifth pole position of his Grand Prix career. He takes the lead of the race after the first round of pit stops, but retires afterwards with a rear suspension failure.

Despite the promise of pre-season testing, the Jordan-Peugeots fail to shine as the 195 chassis is ill-suited to the peculiarly bumpy Interlagos surface. Conversely the McLaren MP4/10s fare better than expected.

Pacific records its first ever Grand Prix finish, courtesy of Andrea Montermini in ninth place.

Larousse fails to be ready in time for the start of the season, so there are only 26 cars present.

Olivier Panis, the man who covered more racing mileage than any other driver in 1994, spins off at the very first corner and retires.

Suffering from cramp, Mika Salo spins out of third place, when running ahead of Gerhard Berger. But for that, the Finn would certainly have finished in the points in his first race for Tyrrell. During the race, Salo renews acquaintance with erstwhile F3 sparring partner, and compatriot, Mika Hakkinen.

Fuel valve problems blight Footwork’s weekend and cost Gianni Morbidelli a top six finish.

Forti Grand Prix achieves a finish in its very first F1 race, although Pedro Diniz comes home six laps adrift in 10th place.

Running as Ford’s works representative for the first time, the Saubers have a difficult weekend. Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger both succumb to electrical problems. It was Wendlinger’s first race since his accident at Monaco last May.

The initial disqualifications of Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard are not made public until five hours after the race. Coulthard hears the news at 35,000 feet, on his way back to Europe.

Although there are screams of ‘cheat’ levelled at Benetton and Williams, the FIA makes it clear that the fuel supplied by Elf does not contravene the regulations, per se. It is simply that it differs, chemically, from the samples submitted for analysis pre-season.

Despite completing only 70 of the 71 laps, Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari is declared winner of the Brazilian Grand Prix, pending appeals by the Benetton and Williams teams. These are heard on April 13, when both Schumacher and Coulthard are reinstated.