1994 Formula One season

The 1994 Formula One season was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on 27 March 1994, and ended on 13 November after sixteen races. The season is remembered as one of the most tragic and controversial seasons in the sport's history. 1994 was one of the closest championships in history as Michael Schumacher won the Drivers' title by a single point from Damon Hill after the two controversially collided at the final round in Adelaide. Schumacher had built up a huge championship lead, winning six of the first seven races, before two disqualifications and a race ban allowed Hill to close the gap. British constructor Williams-Renault won the Constructors' Championship. However, the 1994 season will also be remembered for the deaths of three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna and Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix. Forty-six drivers competed in the 1994 World Championship, including fourteen who made their F1 debut and numerous pay drivers. Mercedes-Benz also returned to the sport for the first time since 1955 as an engine supplier to Swiss team, Sauber. The season also saw the first win for Ferrari since four years back – whilst McLaren failed to win a single race following the departure of Senna, before embarking on a long-term partnership with Mercedes.

Grand Prix

Grand Prix (French pronunciation: ​[ɡʁɑ̃pʁi], meaning Grand Prize; plural Grands Prix) may refer to:

Sports competitions

Formula One

Formula One (also Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of single-seat auto racing that is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been the premier form of racing since the inaugural season in 1950, although other Formula One races were regularly held until 1983. The "formula", designated in the name, refers to a set of rules, to which all participants' cars must conform. The F1 season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix (from French, originally meaning great prizes), held throughout the world on purpose-built F1 circuits and public roads.

The results of each race are evaluated using a points system to determine two annual World Championships, one for drivers, one for constructors. The racing drivers are required to be holders of valid Super Licences, the highest class of racing licence issued by the FIA. The races are required to be held on tracks graded 1 (formerly A), the highest grade a track can receive by the FIA. Most events are held in rural locations on purpose-built tracks, but there are several events in city centres throughout the world, with the Monaco Grand Prix being the most obvious and famous example.

San Marino

San Marino (ⁱ/sæn məˈriːnoʊ/; Italian: [sam maˈriːno]), officially the Republic of San Marino (Italian: Repubblica di San Marino), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino (Italian: Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino), is an enclaved microstate surrounded by Italy, situated on the Italian Peninsula on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains. Its size is just over 61 km² (24 sq mi) and has an estimated population of about 32,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino and its largest city is Dogana. San Marino has the smallest population of all the members of the Council of Europe.

San Marino claims to be the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world, as the continuation of the monastic community founded on 3 September 301, by stonecutter Marinus of Arba. Legend has it that Marinus left Rab, then the Roman colony of Arba, in 257 when the future emperor Diocletian issued a decree calling for the reconstruction of the city walls of Rimini, which had been destroyed by Liburnian pirates.

San Marino Grand Prix

The San Marino Grand Prix (Italian: Gran Premio di San Marino) was a Formula One championship race which was run at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, near the Apennine mountains in Italy, between 1981 and 2006. It was named after nearby San Marino because there already was an Italian Grand Prix held at Monza. In 1980, when Monza was under refurbishment, the Imola track was used for the 51st Italian Grand Prix.

History

Origins

The area around Imola is home to several racing car manufacturers – namely Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Minardi (later Toro Rosso), Dallara and Stanguellini. Following the Second World War, the town launched a program to try to improve the local economy. Four local motor racing enthusiasts proposed the construction of a new road linking existing public roads, which was used by the local car manufacturers to test their prototypes. Construction began in March 1950. The first test run took place two years later when Enzo Ferrari sent a car to the track and Alberto Ascari ran some demonstrative laps.