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Historics

1994 Japanese Grand Prix

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While the race is paused, the order is currently:
1. Schumacher, 2. Hill, 3. Alesi, 4. Mansell, 5. Frentzen, 6. Hakkinen, 7. Blundell, 8. Irvine, 9. Barrichello, 10. Panis, 11. Salo, 12. Fittipaldi, 13. Zanardi, 14. Comas, 15. Brabham
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Brundle's crash was a nasty one, as he looked to be careening towards the service truck picking up Morbidelli's car. A marshal appears to be hurt, with a medical car tending to them.
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Eddie Jordanr reports that both his drivers reported conditions were undriveable, and he went to the stewards to report that. His drivers currently sit eighth and ninth.
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Schumacher is brought to a stop on the grid, alongside Hill.
Red flag
And the race has, mercifully, been stopped.
Crash
And that's Brundle! Brundle is out of the race just a stone's throw away from Morbidelli.
Morbidelli lost that before the first Degner, and the truck has come to pick his car up.
Crash
That looks like a big accident for Morbidelli! The Footwork lost its footing and Morbidelli's nose has been swiped clean off.
Hill is 5s behind Schumacher now, but even then, Hill gets a faceful of spray into 130R.
Stopwatch
Schumacher sets a fastest lap of, well, it's a lap of over 2 minutes. That's only to be expected when you're reduced to essentially powerboating around a circuit.
Crash
Berger's out too! The Ferrari driver is out of the car - and that's the end of his day too.
Crash
And that's Lagorce! Lagorce has hit la wall - as we've also got Alboreto and Martini out!
But Schumacher's lead is still too great, and the Brit opts to hang back and avoid the spray.
Green flag
And the safety car is in, and Hill goes with Schumacher at the restart!
Will Hill have a nibble at Schumacher at the restart? Can Alesi factor in the battle for his first F1 win? What can Mansell do? We'll see very shortly...
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The safety car lights are off! We'll have one more lap behind the safety car before we get back underway.
Ferrari principal Jean Todt is spotted wandering down the pitlane, off to talk to Benetton's Flavio Briatore. Presumably, Todt feels that driving is unsafe - and he's off to do something about it.
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We're on the ninth lap of the race. We think. We're not entirely sure, but it's definitely less than 10. At this rate, we'll be lucky to get to half-distance...
You can see the safety car's headlights. Unfortunately, F1 cars are not equipped with such luxuries - and drivers are relying on the brake lights of the car in front.
We're still behind the safety car, and the conditions don't show much in the way of getting better. Visibility is still very poor here at Suzuka.
Rookie Salo lines up on the grid for the Mugen Honda-powered Lotus team. He's the fifth driver to have raced the #11 car this year after Lamy, Zanardi, Adams and Bernard.

Rookie Salo lines up on the grid for the Mugen Honda-powered Lotus team. He's the fifth driver to have raced the #11 car this year after Lamy, Zanardi, Adams and Bernard.

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So as the pace car neutralises the race, let's go through the order.
1. Schumacher, 2. Hill, 3. Alesi, 4. Mansell, 5. Frentzen, 6. Brundle, 7. Hakkinen, 8. Morbidelli, 9. Berger, 10. Blundell, 11. Irvine, 12. Barrichello, 13. Panis, 14. Fittipaldi, 15. Zanardi, 16. Salo, 17. Lagorce, 18. Comas, 19. Martini, 20. Brabham, 21. Alboreto
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Herbert: "Just as I started spinning, they came on the radio that the pace car was out. I hit a puddle and it shot round. Really disappointing."
The drivers follow the safety car, as the conditions become even more treacherous.

The drivers follow the safety car, as the conditions become even more treacherous.

Crash
Inoue has done almost the same thing as Katayama! A torrid few moments for all of the home drivers - and Katayama looks very hurt as he heads down the pitlane.
Crash
Katayama has also hit the wall! The Tyrrell driver's day is over.
Crash
It's Herbert! The British driver, in his first race for Benetton, has hit the wall on the start-finish line.
Yellow flag
Common sense has prevailed and we now have a safety car.
Rain
The rain has intensified even further! You can barely see the cars on the screen...
It's Schumacher, Hill, Herbert, Alesi, Mansell and Frentzen in the points-paying positions - but there's a long way to go.
Hill's really caught up to Schumacher there, and he'll be looking to - somehow - transcend the wall of water left by Schumacher and pass his championship rival.
And Noda in the Larrousse peels off, and his home GP barely lasts a lap.
Crash
And Frentzen goes off! Frentzen loses third and goes too deep into turn 1.
Schumacher completes the first lap, with a good couple seconds' advantage over Hill and Frentzen.
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Schumacher chops Hill off straight away, with Frentzen feeding into third - as Mansell drops behind Herbert and the Ferraris.
Lights green
And we're away! The 1994 Japanese GP is go!
Behind Schumacher and Hill, we have the rookie Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Sauber. Clearly, he's aiming to demonstrate his class as one of the bright young F1 stars.
Schumacher backs right off at the Casio Triangle, waiting to back the pack up.
There's an awful lot of spray out there, and the drivers surely can't see a great deal.
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Both Pacifics failed to qualify, with neither Gachot nor Belmondo making the cut. That's ironic, given the circuit's so wet the Pacific is basically on the grid anyway.

By: Jake Boxall-Legge

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