The 1994 Japanese Grand Prix (officially the XX Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 6 November 1994 at the Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka. It was the fifteenth and penultimate race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship. In wet conditions, the 50-lap race was won by Damon Hill, driving a Williams-Renault, after he started from second position. Hill's Drivers' Championship rival Michael Schumacher finished second in his Benetton-Ford, having started from pole position, with Jean Alesi third in his Ferrari. The win left Hill just one point behind Schumacher in the Drivers' Championship with one race remaining. This also proved to be the last Grand Prix for Érik Comas. This was also the last time in Formula 1 history when the race was split in two parts due to race stoppage and final classification has been set by aggregate time.
Report
Going into the race, Benetton driver Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 86 points, five ahead of rival Damon Hill in the Williams on 81. Schumacher felt he was "very confident" about the race, and Hill similarly declared that he was "positive". This left 13 runners, and there were no further retirements for the remaining 23 laps.
As the rain eased, it was decided to run the remainder of the race, with around one hour to the time limit, on aggregate corrected time. Schumacher had been leading by 6.8 seconds when the red flag was shown, but Hill had a bigger lead (10.1 seconds) at the chequered flag, and thus took the win by 3.3 seconds on aggregate. This remains the last instance of aggregate race time being used in Formula One to determine the winner.
Hill subsequently stated that his driving was "on a different level from how I’d ever driven before", noting that he never would achieve that level of performance again in his career.
Classification
Qualifying
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Q1 Time !! Q2 Time !! Gap
|-
! 1
| 5
| Michael Schumacher
| Benetton-Ford
| 1:37.209
| 1:57.128
|
|-
! 2
| 0
| Damon Hill
| Williams-Renault
| 1:37.696
| 1:57.278
| +0.487
|-
! 3
| 30
| Heinz-Harald Frentzen
| Sauber-Mercedes
| 1:37.742
| 1:56.935
| +0.533
|-
! 4
| 2
| Nigel Mansell
| Williams-Renault
| 1:37.768
| 2:00.963
| +0.559
|-
! 5
| 6
| Johnny Herbert
| Benetton-Ford
| 1:37.828
| 1:59.729
| +0.619
|-
! 6
| 15
| Eddie Irvine
| Jordan-Hart
| 1:37.880
| 1:57.760
| +0.671
|-
! 7
| 27
| Jean Alesi
| Ferrari
| 1:37.907
| 1:58.610
| +0.698
|-
! 8
| 7
| Mika Häkkinen
| McLaren-Peugeot
| 1:37.998
| 1:58.204
| +0.789
|-
! 9
| 8
| Martin Brundle
| McLaren-Peugeot
| 1:38.076
| 1:56.876
| +0.877
|-
! 10
| 14
| Rubens Barrichello
| Jordan-Hart
| 1:38.533
| 2:01.905
| +1.324
|-
! 11
| 28
| Gerhard Berger
| Ferrari
| 1:38.570
| 1:58.926
| +1.361
|-
! 12
| 10
| Gianni Morbidelli
| Footwork-Ford
| 1:39.030
| 2:07.293
| +1.821
|-
! 13
| 4
| Mark Blundell
| Tyrrell-Yamaha
| 1:39.266
| 2:02.266
| +2.057
|-
! 14
| 3
| Ukyo Katayama
| Tyrrell-Yamaha
| 1:39.462
| 2:04.187
| +2.253
|-
! 15
| 29
| JJ Lehto
| Sauber-Mercedes
| 1:39.483
| 1:59.943
| +2.274
|-
! 16
| 23
| Pierluigi Martini
| Minardi-Ford
| 1:39.548
| 2:01.929
| +2.339
|-
! 17
| 12
| Alessandro Zanardi
| Lotus-Mugen-Honda
| 1:39.721
| 2:02.077
| +2.512
|-
! 18
| 9
| Christian Fittipaldi
| Footwork-Ford
| 1:39.868
| 2:00.084
| +2.659
|-
! 19
| 26
| Olivier Panis
| Ligier-Renault
| 1:40.042
| 2:00.575
| +2.833
|-
! 20
| 25
| Franck Lagorce
| Ligier-Renault
| 1:40.577
| 2:02.780
| +3.368
|-
! 21
| 24
| Michele Alboreto
| Minardi-Ford
| 1:40.652
| 2:02.219
| +3.443
|-
! 22
| 20
| Érik Comas
| Larrousse-Ford
| 1:40.978
| 2:01.035
| +3.769
|-
! 23
| 19
| Hideki Noda
| Larrousse-Ford
| 1:40.990
| 2:05.354
| +3.781
|-
! 24
| 31
| David Brabham
| Simtek-Ford
| 1:41.659
| 2:09.453
| +4.450
|-
! 25
| 11
| Mika Salo
| Lotus-Mugen-Honda
| 1:41.805
| 2:01.637
| +4.596
|-
! 26
| 32
| Taki Inoue
| Simtek-Ford
| 1:45.004
| no time
| +7.795
|-
!
| 34
| Bertrand Gachot
| Pacific-Ilmor
| 1:46.374
| no time
| +9.165
|-
!
| 33
| Paul Belmondo
| Pacific-Ilmor
| 1:46.629
| no time
| +9.420
|-
!colspan="7"| Sources:
|}
Race
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Laps !! Time/Retired !! Grid !! Points
|-
! 1
| 0
| Damon Hill
| Williams-Renault
| 50
| 1:55:53.532
| 2
| 10
|-
! 2
| 5
| Michael Schumacher
| Benetton-Ford
| 50
| + 3.365
| 1
| 6
|-
! 3
| 27
| Jean Alesi
| Ferrari
| 50
| + 52.045
| 7
| 4
|-
! 4
| 2
| Nigel Mansell
| Williams-Renault
| 50
| + 56.074
| 4
| 3
|-
! 5
| 15
| Eddie Irvine
| Jordan-Hart
| 50
| + 1:42.107
| 6
| 2
|-
! 6
| 30
| Heinz-Harald Frentzen
| Sauber-Mercedes
| 50
| + 1:59.863
| 3
| 1
|-
! 7
| 7
| Mika Häkkinen
| McLaren-Peugeot
| 50
| + 2:02.985
| 8
|
|-
! 8
| 9
| Christian Fittipaldi
| Footwork-Ford
| 49
| + 1 Lap
| 18
|
|-
! 9
| 20
| Érik Comas
| Larrousse-Ford
| 49
| + 1 Lap
| 22
|
|-
! 10
| 11
| Mika Salo
| Lotus-Mugen-Honda
| 49
| + 1 Lap
| 25
|
|-
! 11
| 26
| Olivier Panis
| Ligier-Renault
| 49
| + 1 Lap
| 19
|
|-
! 12
| 31
| David Brabham
| Simtek-Ford
| 48
| + 2 Laps
| 24
|
|-
! 13
| 12
| Alessandro Zanardi
| Lotus-Mugen-Honda
| 48
| + 2 Laps
| 17
|
|-
!
| 4
| Mark Blundell
| Tyrrell-Yamaha
| 26
| Engine
| 13
|
|-
!
| 14
| Rubens Barrichello
| Jordan-Hart
| 16
| Gearbox
| 10
|
|-
!
| 8
| Martin Brundle
| McLaren-Peugeot
| 13
| Spun Off
| 9
|
|-
!
| 10
| Gianni Morbidelli
| Footwork-Ford
| 13
| Spun Off
| 12
|
|-
!
| 28
| Gerhard Berger
| Ferrari
| 10
| Battery
| 11
|
|-
!
| 25
| Franck Lagorce
| Ligier-Renault
| 10
| Collision
| 20
|
|-
!
| 23
| Pierluigi Martini
| Minardi-Ford
| 10
| Collision
| 16
|
|-
!
| 24
| Michele Alboreto
| Minardi-Ford
| 10
| Spun Off
| 21
|
|-
!
| 6
| Johnny Herbert
| Benetton-Ford
| 3
| Spun Off
| 5
|
|-
!
| 3
| Ukyo Katayama
| Tyrrell-Yamaha
| 3
| Spun Off
| 14
|
|-
!
| 32
| Taki Inoue
| Simtek-Ford
| 3
| Spun Off
| 26
|
|-
!
| 29
| JJ Lehto
| Sauber-Mercedes
| 0
| Engine
| 15
|
|-
!
| 19
| Hideki Noda
| Larrousse-Ford
| 0
| Spun Off
| PL
|
|-
! colspan="8" |Source:
|}
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
!Pos
!Driver
!Points
|-
| 1
| Michael Schumacher
| align="right"| 92
|-
| 2
| Damon Hill
| align="right"| 91
|-
| 3
| Gerhard Berger
| align="right"| 35
|-
| 4
| Mika Häkkinen
| align="right"| 26
|-
| 5
| Jean Alesi
| align="right"| 23
|-
!colspan=4|Source:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
| 1
| Williams-Renault
| align="right"|108
|-
| 2
| Benetton-Ford
| align="right"|103
|-
| 3
| Ferrari
| align="right"|64
|-
| 4
| McLaren-Peugeot
| align="right"|38
|-
| 5
| Jordan-Hart
| align="right"|25
|-
!colspan=4|Source: