1994 Formula One World Championship

Drivers and constructors

Team changes

• The Lola team had folded two races before the end of the 1993 season. Part of the assets were taken over by the Minardi team, leaving the name Lola behind and forming Minardi Scuderia Italia.
• Following a year with customer Ford V8 power and a brief flirtation testing the Lamborghini V12 engine, McLaren settled on works Peugeot V10 engines for 1994.
• Lotus obtained an engine deal with Mugen-Honda, making it their first time running Honda power since.
• Footwork, running with Mugen Honda engines in took over the Ford contract.
• Fulfulling their role of Sauber's technical partner, Mercedes-Benz further developed the 1993 Ilmor V10 and officially entered F1 for the first time since.
• Larrousse had collaborated with Lamborghini in 1993, but joined Footwork in using Ford engines. Lamborghini left the sport when the deal with McLaren fell through.
• Two new teams were welcomed onto the grid: Simtek and Pacific Racing.

  Driver changes

• After winning his fourth and final Drivers' Championship in, Alain Prost decided not to defend his title in 1994 despite testing for McLaren before the season began. Williams attracted three-time champion Ayrton Senna. Senna's seat at McLaren was given to Martin Brundle.
• Sauber replaced JJ Lehto with debutant Heinz-Harald Frentzen, the Finn finding a new home at Benetton, from where Riccardo Patrese had retired. However, he injured his neck in pre-season testing and Jos Verstappen, father of future four-time champion Max Verstappen, stepped up. Lehto ended up competing in just six races.
• Mark Blundell was hired by Tyrrell. Ex-driver Andrea de Cesaris acted as reserve driver at Jordan and Sauber in 1994.
• With Ligier losing both 1993 drivers to other teams, they started 1994 with Éric Bernard, returning to F1 after two years, and 1993 F3000 champion Olivier Panis.
• Minardi hired Michele Alboreto, after he had competed for the Benetton seat, instead of Jean-Marc Gounon, the Frenchman moving to Simtek on a part-time contract.
• Derek Warwick and Aguri Suzuki were let go by Footwork in favour of Christian Fittipaldi, 1993 Minardi driver, and Gianni Morbidelli, Minardi driver.
• Larrousse replaced Toshio Suzuki with Olivier Beretta, coming out of Formula 3000.
• Simtek entered the season with David Brabham, last seen in F1 in, and F3000 driver Roland Ratzenberger, while Pacific hired Paul Belmondo, returning after his drive for March in, and Bertrand Gachot, for his fifth season in F1.

  Mid-season changes

• Ayrton Senna fatally crashed during the San Marino Grand Prix, the third race of the season. Williams entered the next race with one car, before test driver David Coulthard made his debut in Spain. He shared his position with champion Nigel Mansell.
• Benetton test driver Jos Verstappen took the racing seat when driver JJ Lehto injured his neck during pre-season testing. After sitting out two races, Lehto was deemed fit enough to return. However, his performances disappointed, and the Dutchman was called back. He competed in eight races, until he was replaced with Lotus driver Johnny Herbert for the remaining two Grands Prix. Lehto did enter two more races with the team, when Michael Schumacher was disqualified from the British Grand Prix and handed a two-race ban, and finished the season at Sauber.
• Ferrari driver Jean Alesi injured his back during private testing at Mugello Circuit and was replaced by test driver Nicola Larini.
• Jordan driver Eddie Irvine was involved in a four-car crash, for which he received a one-race ban. He was replaced by ex-Footwork driver Aguri Suzuki. Irvine appealed to the FIA against the decision, but his plea was rejected and the penalty was increased to a three-race ban. His seat was filled by Aguri Suzuki for the following Pacific Grand Prix, and Andrea de Cesaris for the races in San Marino and Monaco. Andrea de Cesaris stepped in, having previously raced for the team in.
• Sauber driver Karl Wendlinger crashed during the first practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix and remained in a coma for several weeks. He did not return for the rest of the season. His seat was filled by De Cesaris, after driving for Jordan, and JJ Lehto, released from his contract at Benetton.
• Lotus driver Pedro Lamy suffered a heavy crash in a private test session at Silverstone, breaking both legs and wrists. He was replaced with test driver Alessandro Zanardi. Pay driver Philippe Adams also drove two races. With three races to go in the season, their other driver, Johnny Herbert, and Ligier driver Éric Bernard switched teams. However, Bernard was let go after one race in favour of Mika Salo, who had actually never before driven an F1 car. After one race with Ligier, Herbert was hired by Benetton, in anticipation of a full-time drive in.
• After employing Éric Bernard and Johnny Herbert, Ligier let test driver Franck Lagorce compete in the final two races of the season.
• Larrousse driver Philippe Alliot was test driver for McLaren in 1994 and filled in for Mika Häkkinen who had received a one-race ban for causing the crash on the first lap of the German Grand Prix. Alliot was loaned to his former employer for one race when Olivier Beretta's sponsorship money ran out and he left the team.
• After temporarily needing Alliot's services, Larrousse hired Yannick Dalmas, returning to F1 since, and F3000 driver Hideki Noda. Pay driver Jean-Denis Delétraz bought one race entry instead of the other Larrousse driver Érik Comas.
• Andrea Montermini debuted for Simtek after the death of Roland Ratzenberger. However, he crashed in his first practice session and broke his left heel and right foot. The seat was filled by ex-Minardi driver Jean-Marc Gounon, pay driver Domenico Schiattarella and F3000 driver Taki Inoue.

  Calendar

Grand Prix	Circuit	Original date
	|1868dts|16 October Calendar changes The South African Grand Prix was dropped months after the Kyalami circuit was sold to the South African Automobile Association in July 1993 which found running a Formula One event proved too costly. The European Grand Prix, originally scheduled for 17 April at Donington Park was cancelled and replaced by the Pacific Grand Prix which hosted its first Grand Prix in 1994. The race was held at the TI Circuit in Japan. The Spanish Grand Prix and Monaco Grand Prix swapped places on the calendar so that the Spanish round follows the Monaco Grand Prix. The Argentine Grand Prix had been originally scheduled for 16 October, but was cancelled on 1 June as the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez track, which was being modernized since 1991, was still undergoing work and the owners were not finished with the project. The European Grand Prix reappeared on the calendar as a replacement for the cancelled Argentine Grand Prix with the race being held on 16 October, the race was held at Circuito Permanente de Jerez. It was the first time since 1990 that a F1 race was held at Jerez.