It may have been away for three years, but the Japanese Grand Prix remains a firm fans’ favourite – which also includes the Autosport team. From iconic title deciders to the unique setting and culture Formula 1 embraces on its trip to the far east, the race is awash of history and famous moments from across the years.
While perhaps best remembered for the controversial clashes between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in 1989 and 1990, neither of those races make the shortlist for our favourite Japanese GPs. Instead, a mix of other F1 legends, stunning race action and unforgettable moments fill this latest selection.
1994, Hill drives out of his skin to beat Schumacher in the rain – James Newbold
Hill needed to overturn a 6.9s deficit to Schumacher over the final 37 laps
Photo by: Motorsport Images
The 1994 Japanese Grand Prix, which yielded a drive Damon Hill cites as the race of his life, probably should never have been started. The spray engulfing the pack behind Michael Schumacher’s Benetton as the field blasted towards Turn 1 was such that carnage was inevitable.
Johnny Herbert, running third in his first race for Benetton, Ukyo Katayama (Tyrrell) and Taki Inoue’s Simtek floated into the barriers on the pitstraight, and after the restart the Minardis and Ligier rookie Franck Lagorce did likewise. The red flags only came after Martin Brundle aquaplaned off just before the first Degner, his McLaren narrowly avoiding a mini-caterpillar truck before striking a marshal attending to Gianni Morbidelli’s wrecked Footwork, breaking his leg.
When the race was restarted, the race would become an aggregate affair with Williams driver Hill needing to overturn a 6.9s gap to his fierce title rival Schumacher over the final 37 tours. In his autobiography, Hill says he had been “driving out of my skin” in his attempts to keep up before the stoppage, “on the edge of my ability”. But Schumacher was running a two-stop strategy and pitted soon after the restart, getting stuck in the spray of slower cars behind Hill, who made his one and only pit visit seven laps later.
After Schumacher took his second stop, Hill cycled back to the lead, but Schumacher made the advantage of his fresher tyres pay and began to close the gap. Hill, whose mechanics had been unable to change his sticking right-rear wheel during his stop, had to summon everything in his power to retain his aggregate advantage and a chance at reducing his five-point deficit in the standings with…
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