The diary of disaster

January 14 Benetton poaches Dutchman Jos Verstappen for its test driver just as McLaren is poised to sign him to a multi-year deal 

January 21 JJ Lehto crashes at Silverstone in his first Benetton test and sustains damaged vertebrae. He will miss the first two GPs

February 24 FIA President Max Mosley (right) warns of ‘draconian penalties’ for any team contravening the ban on traction control

March 27 Jordan’s Eddie Irvine and Verstappen collide during the Brazilian GP. The Irishman is fined $10,000 and handed a one-race ban

March 31 Ferrari driver Jean Alesi suffers neck injuries in a big testing accident at Mugello. His temporary replacement is Nicola Larini

April 6 Irvine’s appeal to the FIA ends in fireworks: his ban is increased to three races. He’s replaced by Aguri Suzuki and then Andrea de Cesaris

April 16 Ferrari is accused of cheating. The FIA’s technical delegate alleges that its engine modulation system is traction control. But he’s overruled

April 29 Rubens Barrichello crashes heavily in practice for the San Marino GP. Amazingly, he suffers only a broken nose and bruising

April 30 Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger (right) becomes F1’s first fatality in eight years when he crashes his Simtek in final qualifying

May 1 Spectators are injured after debris flies into the Imola crowd following a startline shunt between Lehto and Pedro Lamy’s Lotus

May 1 After the safety car is brought in. Ayrton Senna’s Williams hits Tamburello’s concrete wall. The three-time champion is dead

May 1 Ferrari and Lotus mechanics are injured when Michele Alboreto’s Minardi sheds a wheel immediately after making a pitstop

May 12 Sauber’s Karl Wendlinger lapses into a coma after an accident during free practice at the Monaco GP. He is unconscious for 19 days

May 13 Drivers reform the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association and will henceforth be directly involved in discussing safety matters

May 13 FIA president Mosley brings forward 1995 plans to introduce a 10mm under-car ‘plank’. It will now be enforced from the German GP on

May 24 Lamy is hospitalised with serious leg injuries after his Lotus loses its rear wing and crashes into a pedestrian tunnel at Silverstone

May 27 The GPDA digs its heels in as the FIA and Spanish authorities refuse to install a chicane at the Circuit de Catalunya. The drivers win the argument

May 28 Italian Andrea Montermini breaks an ankle during free practice in Spain after his Simtek hits a concrete wall head-on (right)

June 12 Williams duo Damon Hill and David Coulthard fall out at Montreal: the former claims the latter held him up in the race’s early laps

July 3 Michael Schumacher’s storming second-row start at the French GP (right) arouses suspicions: his team denies using traction control

July 26 The FIA Imposes a two-race ban on Schumacher, and his team is fined $500,000, for ignoring a black flag at Silverstone

July 28 The FIA discloses that Benetton’s software taken at the San Marino GP has a facility for launch control. But it cannot prove it was used in races

July 31 Verstappen’s Benetton Is engulfed in flames during refuelling in Germany. Mika Hakkinen is banned for a race for his role in a startline shunt

August 10 The FIA reveals that Benetton had removed a mandatory filter from its refuelling rig, and blames this for the Hockenheim fire

August 12 Without publicity, Intertechnique, the designated supplier of F1’s refuelling rigs, issues all teams with revised couplings

August 28 Schumacher loses his Belgian GP win at Spa when post-race checks reveal that his under-car ‘plank’ has worn down too much

August 30 The appeal against Schumacher’s two-race ban is rejected: the series leader will miss the Italian and Portuguese grands prix

September 7 Benetton is absolved of blame for the German GP pit inferno: the appeal against its exclusion from the Belgian GP fails

September 30 Schumacher calls Hill “second-rate” and “a little man” because of his failure to support him during his recent troubles

October 12 Team Lotus sinks into financial administration and Johnny Herbert’s contract is sold to Ligier. He makes his team debut at Jerez

October 15 Hill and Schumacher shake hands for the cameras before the European GP (right) – but only after Bernie Ecclestone tells them to

October 28 Despite having three years of a four-year contract still to run. McLaren and Peugeot part company as Merc comes on board

November 6 Flak flies in all directions after a rain-lashed Japanese GP: Martin Brundle’s McLaren aquaplanes off the road and strikes a marshal

November 10 Schumacher wins the title by a point but only after colliding with Hill after a mistake of his own sees him hit the wall

November 30 Williams and McLaren go to arbitration over who owns the rights to Coulthard’s services for the1995 season

December 14 The Contract Recognition Board decides In Williams’ favour Coulthard (left) will stay there for the foreseeable future