.After reading a lot of the online careers on here, in particular Aerond's excellent journey of Chris Dagnall, i've decided to embark on my own little journey. GP2 is my game of choice, but to be honest I can't be arsed stuffing around with mods yet so the 1994 season it'll be, plus being a bit of a GP history buff, i've decided to stick as close as possible to the season that defined my love of F1 during my childhood.
Remembering that the classic black Sauber-Mercedes C13 was arguably the coolest looking car of the era, even in the polka dot livery
and that Heinz-Harald Frentzen debuted to much fanfare that year, i've decided to take the reigns of car # 30 for the year.Also being able to rewrite history, both Senna and Ratzenberger do not compete in this season at all. In my universe, Senna is injured in a road accident in early 1994 and after returning to testing duties, finds his fitness isn't up to his usual levels, so he elects to take a sabbatical for 1994 pending a possible return later in the year, to prepare for an assault on the title in 1995. In the meantime, he takes a mentor role at the Williams team, assisting his replacement David Coulthard. Ratzenberger's story is a little more simple, Simtek is already short of cash and Ratzenberger's sponsorship $ fals through, so they elect to take pay driver Jean-Marc Gounon, whilst Roland returns to race F3000 in Japan.
In other changes, JJ Lehto's pre season injury is more severe than predicted, so Jos Verstappen will replace him for the entire season at the wheel of Benetton-Ford # 6, whilst his former teammate Karl Wendlinger leaves Sauber to take the test role at McLaren, hoping to do what Mika Hakkinen did in 1993 and improve his prospects for the future, his seat being filled by the ever reliable Andrea de Cesaris.
After a tumultuous off season, the season proper kicked off at Interlagos. To no one's suprise it was Michael Schumacher's Benetton was the pace setter, however behind him was a rather odd looking grid. Coulthard on debut out qualified team leader Hill, who had to be content with the inside of the second row alongside the debuting Frentzen, who was right on the pace from Friday practice. Other surprises included Ukyo Katayama qualifying a career best 6th for Tyrell, both Jordan's who locked out 9th and 10th respectively and the distinct lack of pace shown by former Ligier team mates Blundell and Brundle, who were not only thrashed by their new team mates, but in 19th and 20th, behind the Minardi's and amongst the minnows of the field.
Come race start, both Williams' were slow to get away, Coulthard falling to 5th, while a fast starting Alesi shot through to 2nd and Frentzen picked off Hill halfway round the opening lap to be 3rd. Schumacher was unable to get away from his pursuers, as Hill retook 3rd on lap 4 and the opening eased out just over 2 seconds on the battle between debutants Frentzen and Coulthard for 4th, with Katayama and co rapidly falling behind. On lap 10, Alesi barged past Schumacher for the lead, Hill following suit, however in the collision Alesi sustained damage and had to pit at the end of the lap. In the confusion Frentzen and Coulthard had closed up to the leading duo, until the former made an over ambitious move on Schumacher for 2nd on lap 16, spinning of the road and into the fence and retirement on his debut.
From there it was a battle of Schumacher vs the Williams' duo, both the Benetton and Coutlhard passing Hill through the stops. Coulthard moved into the lead, setting the fastest lap and building a small gap, looking to cap off a memorable debut when his transmission failed at 2/3 distance. Mika Hakkinen had moved into 3rd place when his Peugeot engine failed, allowing Rubens Barrichello into 3rd at his home GP, where he stayed to trail home Schumacher and Hill. Berger had a quiet race to finish 4th, ahead of the recovering Alesi and Eddie Irvine's Jordan which rounded out the points.
Results:
1. Schumacher
2. Hill + 20.2
3. Barrichello + 1.15.8
4. Berger + 1 lap
5. Alesi + 1 lap
6. Irvine + 1 lap
Fastest lap: David Coutlhard: 1.19.04
