The 1995 Italian Grand Prix

Johnny claims his second win

This is the Autosport race report on Johnny's second Grand Prix victory at Monza in September 1995. Many thanks to the magazine, writer Nigel Roebuck, photographer Martin Elford, and to fan Harry Lythgoe for sending us this from his collection of old Autosports.

You get proper tracks, you get proper racing. At Monza as at Spa, there was a huge amount of drama, the Italian Grand Prix seeming to belong firstly to Coulthard then to Berger, then to Alesi. Remarkably neither Schumacher or Hill led at any stage, and shortly before half distance they were eliminated in yet another controversial coming together.

For a time the Tifosi looked set to celebrate a Ferrari 1-2, but by the time the chequered flag fell, the red cars were gone, and the circuit exit roads were busy. None of the pre-race favourites were around in the late laps, and thus it was that Johnny Herbert scored his second unexpected win of the season, the Benetton Renault followed over the line by Mika Häkkinen's McLaren Mercedes.

Jean Alesi was not in the best of spirits after qualifying, vastly disappointed to be only 5th on the grid, but his mood improved on Sunday morning, when he set fastest time in the warm up, followed by poleman Coulthard and teammate Berger. Both Ferrari drivers were optimistic about their race chances, but unsure about which engines they would run, Alesi having set his time with the older evolution 2 version of the V12, Berger the evolution 3. Ultimately, it was decided to run the latest version engine in both cars.

If Gerhard and Jean were in positive frames of mind, so also were both Williams drivers, but Schumacher, 4th fastest in practice, was less then happy with the balance of his Benetton.

The traditional start time at Monza is 3PM, an hour later then the norm these days, and it seemed an eternity until the engines were fired up anew. At 2.30 they came out for their warm up laps, however, and half an hour later, Coulthard lead the field away on the parade lap. He was not to finish it. In some disbelief we watched as the Williams went out of control at the exit of the Ascari chicane, spinning to a halt on the grass, tail into the fence.

Eventually Coulthard made his way back to the pits, but by now the race had started without him. Almost at once the Williams was pushed into the garage, and David's day appeared to be done. "I went off on oil or something like that," he said, and perhaps this was a legacy of a Renault Clio race held between the warm up and the race.

Coulthard's absence from the grid essentially elevated Schumacher to pole position, but at the green fight both Berger and Alesi got away superbly, and on the run down to the first chicane, Gerhard got almost alongside the Benetton, before wisely deciding he did not want to be edged off the road. Schumacher led into the chicane, the two Ferraris slotting in behind, with Herbert fourth after a sensational start. Hill ran fifth, with Hakkinen and Irvine next up.

Berger, wanting to show the fans something on his last appearance in a Ferrari at Monza, and perhaps displeased by Schumacher's moving over on him after the start, was clearly intent on separating his favourite colleague from the lead as soon as possible. Out of Parabolica, he was perfectly placed to tow past the Benetton into the first chicane, and this he duly pulled off.

All for nothing, however At the Ascari chicane - where Coulthard had earlier gone off - there were cars all over the place, and the track was completely blocked.

Out came the red flag.

The accident had been started by Papis, who spun in front of Badoer. Although the Minardi. got through unscathed, Montermini's Pacific then spun, and soon Moreno, Diniz and Boullion were all involved. No one was hurt, but it took 35 minutes to clear away all the mess, and only 22 cars reassembled on the grid, for Montermini and Moreno were without T-cars.

All of this, of course, was manna for Coulthard, who now got a second bite of the cherry, for this was now a brand new race, and he was entitled to begin it from pole position. There was lot of pressure involved here, for David was now in the spare Williams, which he had not driven at all in the practice days. It didn't show. From the start Coulthard led, while Berger assertively got by Schumacher before the first corner. At the end of the first lap it was the Williams, then the Ferrari, then the Benetton, and for a while it was all nip-and-tuck, as Coulthard inched away, extending his lead by a tenth here and there.

By lap six, however, strange car or not, he was starting to look like the man he had been in qualifying putting in a series of new fastest laps, and pulling a couple seconds clear of Berger. No question about it, the combination of Coulthard and a Williams-Renault was the fastest thing at Monza this year. If his car kept going, there seemed no likelihood that anyone would challenge David.

If. On lap 14, he skated off the road at the entry to the second chicane, but it was not the consequence of any driving error. The Williams proceeded through, and out of, the gravel trap, then made its way to the pits, where David was quickly given the signal to climb out.

"It was a front wheel bearing," he said. "I'm terribly disappointed, because I was able to pull away, even though I still had something in reserve. Suddenly I noticed a vibration from the front of the car, and then the right front wheel grabbed, and spun me off."

If there was mortification in the Williams pit, predictably there was ecstasy in the grandstands, for now Berger led, and there seemed little that those behind him, led by Schumacher, could do about it indeed Michael's second place was coming under increasing threat from Hill, with Alesi, after a quiet opening phase, beginning to close on the pair of them. For Ferrari, the day was looking better all the time.

It was not so, though, for the unfortunate Brundle, whose Ligier picked up a slow puncture, which graduated into a flailing left rear tyre. To bring a car back to the pits on three wheels is not a relaxing thing at a place as quick as Monza, but Martin struggled in, only to be handed an official reprimand from the stewards for driving a car in a dangerous condition.

On lap 17, the leaders encountered Katayama's Tyrrell, the Japanese driver contriving to baulk first Berger, and then Hill, which must have maddened Damon, because Schumacher had been granted a free passage through, just as the Williams had closed up on him.

Berger put the hammer down now, extending his lead by virtue of a string of new fastest laps, which suggested that he had the measure of the two World Championship protagonists behind him. And on lap 24, Schumacher and Hill ceased to be of concern to him. At the second chicane the Benetton and the Williams tangled, both cars spinning into retirement in the gravel trap.

This latest controversial incident between the two occurred as they lapped Inoue's Footwork, and when it came to apportioning blame there were, predictably opinions at variance. What happened was that Hill's Williams hit the back of Schumacher's Benetton. Did Damon brake late, or Michael early?

Schumacher saw it this way: "I don't know what happened. I turned into the corner, not expecting anything, and suddenly felt a big bang. It wasn't a small touch - Damon really crashed into me. I'm very upset, because it's the second time this has happened now, and he's taken away more points from me, which I could have gained by finishing in front of him."

Michael added that, what was more, he had been braking very late for the corner, but this contention was not exactly borne out by study of the video evidence, for not only did Hill close swiftly on the Benetton into the corner, but so also did Inoue, and closing on another car under braking is not something for which the Japanese rent-a-drive man is renowned.

Habitually, Schumacher is brilliant through traffic, and one of his greatest skills the ability to time the passing of a slower car so as to place it between him and his pursuer through a corner. There were many at Monza who believed him to be trying just this manoeuvre with Inoue, trying to slow up the pace into the chicane, so as to prevent Hill from getting by the Footwork until after it.

Whatever, Damon's anger was directed primarily at the driver he was trying to lap. 

"It was ridiculous. Twice Inoue changed lines in front of me. He let Schumacher by, then he blocked me, and then he moved out of the way again. People like this just don't know what they're doing. Obviously, Michael was very upset, and so was I. I would never ever want to tangle with someone deliberately, and it just ruined what would have been a great race for both of us. I was sure I would be able to pull away if I could just get by him, and I was hoping we could do that on the stops."

There was no suggestion, from Hill or anyone else, that Inoue had acted out of bloody-mindedness indeed that might have been less worrying, in some respects, than his assertion afterwards that he had simply not seen Damon.

At all events, following a protest from Benetton, it was Hill who was hauled before the stewards after the race, and sentenced to a one race ban, suspended for one race.

At the time of the accident, Alesi was almost up with Schumacher and Hill, so that he now found himself in second place, seven seconds behind team mate Berger. Ferraris were running first and second, and the Italian Grand Prix appeared to be on a plate for them, for all their major opposition had taken care of itself. Joy among the tifosi was briefly unconfined.

The pit stops, however, were coming up, all teams save Tyrrell going for one only at Monza. On lap 28 Berger came in, but his stop was not a good one, a problem with the clutch leading to a slow getaway. The loss of time was enough to allow Alesi, who stopped on the following lap, to rejoin the race ahead of Gerhard, but soon the two of them were running in close company again, at the head of the field.

Prior to the stops, Barrichello had been running third, ahead of Hakkinen, Herbert, Irvine, Blundell and Frentzen, but excellent work by the McLaren mechanics enabled Mika to get ahead of Rubens. When these two came in, Herbert went into the lead for the first time, and he was the last of the significant runners to stop, on lap 30.

"It was the team's decision to stop late," Johnny said, "and I was happy to go along with that, because the longer I stayed out, the less time the refuelling would take when I eventually stopped. Knowing my position, relative to Mika and Rubens, I knew that if I could push when they made their stops, I ought to be able to make a short stop myself, and get in front of them. And that's exactly what happened."

Herbert's stop was only 12.5 seconds, two or three fewer than his rivals', and when he rejoined, only the Ferraris were ahead of him. There seemed, however, little possibility of his making any inroads into their lead, and what seemed to lie in prospect for the crowds was a battle to the flag between Alesi and Berger. It didn't get any better than that.

Sadly, though, it didn't come to that, either, for on lap 33 a horrifying incident removed Berger from the Italian Grand Prix. As he shadowed Alesi, an on-board camera, mounted on the rear wing of Jean's car, became detached. Bouncing down the road, it hit the left front suspension of Berger's car, breaking the steering arm, after which a wishbone broke. Gerhard brought the crippled car to a safe halt, but the incident had given him a severe fright.

"It was terrifying," he said. "I just saw this thing coming towards me at 180mph, and obviously at that speed I couldn't swerve. I'm just glad it hit the car, and not me. It's very disappointing, though, because this was the best car I've had all season - on the level of the Benetton, and close to the Williams."

Italian hopes now rested solely with Alesi, and it was quite obvious that no one was going to catch jean, that only some sort of mechanical failure could prevent a Ferrari victory. For lap after lap, he howled past in the lead, and they cheered him on, willing the car to make it to the finish.

All was well until lap 45, when suddenly Herbert cut Alesi's lead by more than a second. On the radio, Jean was telling the team that he thought his car had a puncture. 

"The car began to feel as though it was on three wheels," he said, "but it wasn't a puncture. It was a wheel bearing failure."

On lap 46, there was fire from the back of the car, and Alesi brought it into the pits, and climbed out. Unlike last year, when he also retired from the lead at Monza, there were no histrionics, instead, Jean walked slowly away, then sat down near the pit wall, head in hands. Seven laps from the end, therefore, both Ferraris were gone. 

"In all my long professional career," said Jean Todt, "I have never known such bitter disappointment." 

The tifosi felt the same way.

All Herbert had to do now, therefore, was to cruise home, for Hakkinen and Frentzen were too far back to be a worry. 

"I was coming out of the Lesmos when I saw this piece of smoking debris on the track," Johnny said. "Then Jean began to slow down, and it was a pleasant surprise to be given the lead like that."

There were no mistakes. For the second time this year, Herbert had saved the day for Benetton, but probably he was no more delighted with his victory than Hakkinen was with second place. Frentzen, a very fine third, was almost light-headed with pleasure at making the podium for the first time, and Blundell took a good fourth, ahead of Salo, scoring his, and Tyrrell's, first points of the season, with Boullion taking the last one for Sauber.

Afterwards, Herbert announced that he was wearing the same underpants he had worn at Silverstone. There was no suggestion that this had contributed to his victory either there or here, but he planned to go on wearing them on race days, he said. You couldn't blame him.

Many thanks to Autosport and the writer for the above report. All rights reserved.
The series of historic reports comes to you from the archives of fan Harry Lythgoe
This page prepared 6th August 2000.