The 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix (formally the XXIV Grande Prémio de Portugal) was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

motor race held on 24 September 1995 at the

Autódromo do Estoril The Circuito do Estoril or Autódromo do Estoril (Estoril Circuit), officially known as Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, is a motorsport race track on the Portuguese Riviera, outside of Lisbon, owned by state-run holding management company P ...

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has h ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. It was the thirteenth race of the

1995 Formula One season The 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 49th season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1995 Formula One World Cham ...

. The 71-lap race was the first Formula One win for

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...

of the Williams team after starting from pole position.

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

was second in a Benetton, with

Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill, (born 17 September 1960) is a British former professional racing driver from England and the 1996 Formula One World Champion. He is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of two sons of a Formula ...

third in the latter Williams car. After several controversial incidents previously involving Schumacher and Hill in the 1995 season, including collisions at Silverstone, Spa and Monza (the latter two of which saw confrontations between the two drivers respectively on the podium and at track-side), Schumacher and Hill shook hands with each other at the podium presentation following this race.

Report

Background

To optimise their chances of winning at the

, Williams brought an upgraded chassis to the race, a "B" specification of their FW17 car. The upgraded chassis would be used throughout the remainder of the season.

Practice and qualifying

Two practice sessions were held before the race; the first was held on Friday morning and the second on Saturday morning. Both sessions lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes with weather conditions dry throughout. Häkkinen set the fastest time in the first session, posting a lap of 1:23.073, one-tenth of a second quicker than Hill and Schumacher, in second and third places respectively. Coulthard was fourth, with the Ferrari cars fifth and sixth fastest;

Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger (born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. He competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing 3rd overall in the championship ( and ), both times driving for Ferrari. He won ten Grands Prix, ach ...

ahead of

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...

. Häkkinen was eleventh in the second practice session, two seconds slower than Hill, who was fastest with a time of 1:21.443. Coulthard was second in the Williams, eight-tenths of a second behind Hill. Schumacher was third, with Alesi fourth, both over a second behind Hill.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen (born 18 May 1967) is a German former racing driver. He competed in multiple disciplines including Sportscars, Formula One and DTM. He had his most success in Formula One, entering over 150 Grands Prix and winning three. ...

in a

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it un ...

was fifth with

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver, best known as a Formula One driver and as a commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011, and Sky Sports since 2012. Brundle contested the 1 ...

in the

Ligier Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champ ...

Eddie Irvine Edmund Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2002, and finished runner-up in the 1999 World Drivers' Championship, driving for Scuderia Ferrari. He b ...

in a

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

and Berger rounding out the top eight positions.

Race

As the race began from its

standing start A standing start is a type of start in auto racing events, in which cars are stationary when the race begins (different to the rolling start, where cars are paced). Procedure In a standing start, cars are completely still but with their engines ...

Ukyo Katayama is a Japanese former racing driver and team manager, most notable for competing for six years in Formula One. He participated in 97 Grands Prix, debuting on 1 March 1992. He scored a total of five championship points, all of them for the Tyrre ...

who qualified in 16th moved into the racing path of

Luca Badoer Luca Badoer (born 25 January 1971) is an Italian former racing driver. Badoer has raced for the Scuderia Italia, Minardi, Forti and most recently, Ferrari teams. In addition to his racing duties, Badoer was one of the active test and reserve driv ...

, whose Minardi began in 18th. The contact caused Katayama's Tyrrell to launch airborne and spin several times upside down along the start/finish straight. Katayama was extracted from the car and hospitalized for two days with what was later diagnosed with a strained neck and bruising in the crash.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

;Notes * – Katayama started the original race but was involved in the first lap collision that resulted in a red flag. He did not take the restart but is listed as 'Retired' in the official results

Championship standings after the race

*Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion. ;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

{{F1GP 90-99

Portuguese Grand Prix The Portuguese Grand Prix (''Grande Prémio de Portugal'') is a motorsports event that was first held in 1951 as a sportscar event, and then intermittently disappearing for many years before being revived again. In 1964 event was held as a spo ...

Portuguese Grand Prix