Benetton B195

Overview

On 23 August 1994, Renault announced they would be a works engine supplier to the Benetton Formula team that included free engines and factory support. The B195 is similar to its predecessor, the B194, but a change of engine supplier from Ford to Renault resulted in a redesign of the engine installation, gearbox and rear suspension. The car was powered by the same factory Renault RS7 V10 engine used by Benetton's rivals, Williams, in their FW17. Being less stable than the FW17, the B195 was seen by most paddock insiders as inferior to its rival. The B195 was said to be very twitchy to drive and Michael Schumacher was quite critical of the car, saying it was only fast when driven on the edge. When Gerhard Berger came from Ferrari to Benetton in late 1995 during winter testing, he found the balance of the car very poor. Schumacher made the comment: "If he had driven the car at the beginning of the season, he would have spun in the pit-lane!"

The car was designed with the aerodynamic limitations the FIA imposed for the season including smaller wings, better crash protection and the reduction of engine size from 3.5 to 3.0 litres. The car underwent two major design changes during the season: the first concerned the airbox, which debuted with a 'hump' shape; by the time of the French Grand Prix, the shape had reverted to the familiar slope that was used by the rest of the teams; the other change concerned the front wing; at the start of the season, the wing had two 'notches' on either side; by the time of the German Grand Prix, the notches were gone, and the wing was flatter, in line with what the other top teams were running. As was the case in the previous season, Schumacher's car was adorned with a number of small red accents, the better to help distinguish his car from his teammates.

After an initial disqualification and subsequent re-instatement of victory in Brazil (although the constructor's points were not reinstated), Schumacher carried on from where he had left off in 1994, and battled Damon Hill for the world championship. The two drivers had several collisions and near misses just as in 1994, the most notable was at the British Grand Prix that year when Hill attempted to pass and took both him and Schumacher out of the race. Schumacher capitalised on further mistakes by Williams and Hill and took nine victories, easily retaining his championship, whilst Johnny Herbert took victory at Silverstone and Monza, another race where Hill and Schumacher had a crash.

By season's end, Herbert was openly accusing the team of favouring Schumacher and receiving inferior treatment and equipment.

Benetton team won its first (and only) Constructors' Championship that season, but most of their key technical staff defected to Ferrari when Schumacher signed for them for the 1996 season. Benetton B195 was the last Enstone-based Formula One car to win the world constructors' title until the Renault R25 in .

Sponsorship and livery

Benetton used the 'Mild Seven' logos, except at the French, British and German Grands Prix. In France, the Bitburger logo was replaced with "Drive Alkoholfrei".

In popular culture

The Benetton B195 was featured in the Codemasters F1 2020 video game as a DLC for the "Deluxe Schumacher Edition".

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

– Schumacher's win at the Brazilian Grand Prix did not count towards Constructors' Championship points as the FIA did not reinstate the constructor's points after the initial disqualification due to fuel irregularities was overturned.

References

References

1. "Benetton B195".
2. "Benetton-Renault B195 | Technik Museum Sinsheim | Germany".
3. (October 1994). "This Month in MOTOR SPORT". MotorsportMagazine.com.
4. ""The ugly duckling", the story of Benetton's B195 - Racing Comments Archive".
5. "History: Michael Schumacher Special: Part 4 - The second world title and a nightmare in Jerez".
6. "Brazilian GP, 1995".
7. "Benetton-Renault B195".
8. (8 September 1995). "Herbert berates Benetton".
9. (7 July 2020). "Codemasters.com Benetton B195 in F1 2020 Game".