The Benetton B194 was designed by Rory Byrne

Rory Byrne

Rory Byrne is a South African engineer and car designer, most famous for being the chief designer at the Benetton and Scuderia Ferrari Formula One teams....

 for the 1994 F1 season. The car was closely based on the previous Benetton B192/3 and powered by a Ford Zetec-RV8 engine (produced by Cosworth

Cosworth

Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...

 but badged as a Ford). The electronic driver aids that had had such an effect on F1 over the previous seasons were banned, so the car had to be redesigned with the new rules in mind. The B194 was a light and nimble car that handled well and was most competitive in the hands of Schumacher on twisty tracks unlike the early Williams FW16

Williams FW16

The Williams FW16 was a Formula One car used by the Williams team for the 1994 Formula One season. It was designed by Adrian Newey with the major regulation changes that the FIA had introduced in the off-season, banning the electronic devices that had been used by the front running cars during the...

 which proved difficult to drive thanks to Williams' dependence on electronic driving aids in the previous season. Michael Schumacher's

Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...

 B194 remained the most competitive driver/car combination until Williams introduced a B-spec car at the German Grand Prix

1994 German Grand Prix

The 1994 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 31, 1994 at the Hockenheimring, Hockenheim. It was the ninth race of the 1994 Formula One season....

.
The car was very competitive in the hands of Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...

, for which the B194 was specifically designed to suit his driving style. Schumacher won six of the first seven races of the season after his main rival, Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...

 was killed at the San Marino Grand Prix

1994 San Marino Grand Prix

The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 1, 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One season...

.
Other teams suspected the B194 was not legal, due to the high competitiveness of such a comparatively underpowered car. The FIA launched an investigation and a start sequence (launch control) system was discovered in the cars' onboard computer systems but no traction control. In the end, the governing body could not prove the systems had been used so the complaints were dropped. Schumacher himself was subject to controversy, after being disqualified from the British Grand Prix

1994 British Grand Prix

The 1994 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 July, 1994 at the Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone. It was the eighth race of the 1994 Formula One season. It marked the halfway stage of the season...

 and then the Belgian Grand Prix

1994 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1994 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on August 28, 1994 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa. It was the eleventh race of the 1994 Formula One season.-Background:...

 which allowed Damon Hill

Damon Hill

Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...

 to cut into the German's points lead and as they came to the final race in Australia, Hill and Schumacher were separated by one point. Schumacher commented years later that the B194 was actually quite a handful to drive, being twitchy at the rear end.

Schumacher had three team-mates—JJ Lehto, Jos Verstappen

Jos Verstappen

Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen nicknamed "Jos the Boss" is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races...

 and Johnny Herbert

Johnny Herbert

John Paul Herbert is a British racing driver from England. He competed in Formula One, winning three races, and also in sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B...

—during the course of the season. All found the B194 difficult to drive; Verstappen said in 1996 that "I must have a little the same driving style as Johnny because he said basically the same things about that car that I did and seems to have had the same feelings. It was a very difficult car. You could not feel the limit and so you were pushing and pushing and then suddenly it would have oversteer. Normally when you get oversteer you can control it but the Benetton would go very suddenly and so you ended up having a spin. I had big problems with that car."

A contentious collision between the two drivers ended the 1994 drivers' title in Schumacher's favour, and the B194 was retired at the end of the season with eight wins and second place in the constructors' championship. The car was replaced by the Benetton B195

Benetton B195

The Benetton B195 was a Formula One car designed by Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn for use by Benetton in the 1995 Formula One season. The B195 was almost identical to the Benetton B194 but a change of engine supplier from Ford to Renault caused a redesign of the engine installation, gearbox and rear...

 for 1995.

Complete Formula One results

(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Points	WCC
	Mild Seven Mild Seven Mild Seven is a brand of cigarettes produced by Japan Tobacco. Mild Seven cigarettes are the third widest smoked cigarette in the world, behind Marlboro and Camel. Manufactured originally in Tokyo, by Japanese Tobacco Inc. it has been a top seller since its creation in 1977...  Benetton Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for...	Ford EC Zetec-R V8 V8 engine A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....			BRA 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix The 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on March 27, 1994 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo. It was the first race of the 1994 Formula One season.- Pre-Race :...	PAC 1994 Pacific Grand Prix The 1994 Pacific Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on April 17, 1994 at the TI Circuit, Aida. It was the second race of the 1994 Formula One season. Ayrton Senna started the race from his 64th pole position, but was overtaken by Schumacher before the first corner and was hit by Mika...	SMR 1994 San Marino Grand Prix The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 1, 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One season...	MON 1994 Monaco Grand Prix The 1994 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 15, 1994 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. The race, which was the fourth race of the 1994 Formula One season, was won by Michael Schumacher and was the first race following the death of Ayrton Senna in San Marino.- Background...	ESP 1994 Spanish Grand Prix The 1994 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 29, 1994 at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. It was the 36th Spanish Grand Prix to be held since the first was held at Guadarrama in 1913. It was the fourth to be held at Circuit de Catalunya...	CAN 1994 Canadian Grand Prix The 1994 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 12, 1994 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal. It was the sixth round of the 1994 Formula One season.-Race:...	FRA 1994 French Grand Prix The 1994 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 3, 1994 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours. It was the seventh race of the 1994 Formula One season.-Race:...	GBR 1994 British Grand Prix The 1994 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 July, 1994 at the Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone. It was the eighth race of the 1994 Formula One season. It marked the halfway stage of the season...	GER 1994 German Grand Prix The 1994 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 31, 1994 at the Hockenheimring, Hockenheim. It was the ninth race of the 1994 Formula One season....	HUN 1994 Hungarian Grand Prix The 1994 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on August 14, 1994 at the Hungaroring, Budapest. It was the tenth race of the 1994 Formula One season....	BEL 1994 Belgian Grand Prix The 1994 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on August 28, 1994 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa. It was the eleventh race of the 1994 Formula One season.-Background:...	ITA 1994 Italian Grand Prix The 1994 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on September 11, 1994 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza. It was the twelfth race of the 1994 Formula One season....	POR 1994 Portuguese Grand Prix The 1994 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on September 25, 1994 at the Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril. It was the thirteenth race of the 1994 Formula One season.-Qualifying:-Race:- Notes :...	EUR 1994 European Grand Prix The 1994 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 16, 1994 at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Jerez, Spain. It was the fourteenth race of the 1994 Formula One season.- History :...	JPN 1994 Japanese Grand Prix The 1994 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on November 6, 1994 at the Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka. It was the fifteenth and penultimate race of the 1994 Formula One season....	AUS 1994 Australian Grand Prix The 1994 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on November 13, 1994 at the Adelaide Street Circuit. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1994 Formula One season. The race is remembered for an incident involving the two title contenders Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher which...	103	2nd
				Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	DSQ	Ret	1	DSQ	EX	EX	1	2	Ret
				Jos Verstappen Jos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen nicknamed "Jos the Boss" is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races...	Ret	Ret					Ret	8	Ret	3	3	Ret	5	Ret
				JJ Lehto			Ret	7	Ret	6						9	Ret
				Johnny Herbert Johnny Herbert John Paul Herbert is a British racing driver from England. He competed in Formula One, winning three races, and also in sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B...															Ret	Ret

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