page_title: 1995 Monaco Grand Prix
section_title: Practice and qualifying
hierarchical_section_title: 1995 Monaco Grand Prix / Report / Practice and qualifying
caption_attribution_description: Taki Inoue's Footwork being taken back to the pits following an accident with a course car after a practice session for the 1995 Monaco Grand Prix.
context_page_description: The 1995 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 28 May 1995 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was the fifth round of the 1995 Formula One season. The 78-lap race was won by Michael Schumacher for the Benetton team after starting from second position. Damon Hill finished second for Williams after starting from pole position and leading the first 23 laps of the race, ahead of Gerhard Berger in a Ferrari car. The remaining points-scoring positions were filled by Johnny Herbert in the second Benetton, Mark Blundell and Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Schumacher's win was his third of the season thus far and extended his lead in the World Drivers' Championship over Hill to five points. It was also Renault's first win in the Monaco Grand Prix, as Benetton's engine supplier.
  Schumacher won the race comfortably, over 30 seconds ahead of Hill. Hill's speed advantage in qualifying, in which he had set a lap time almost one second faster than Schumacher, vanished in the race, enabling Schumacher to follow him closely from the start, despite carrying a heavier fuel load for a one-stop pit strategy, as opposed to Hill's two.
context_section_description: Two practice sessions were held before the race; the first was held from 09:30 to 11:15 local time on Thursday, and an identically timed session was also held on Saturday. Each driver was limited to 23 laps of free practice per day. The qualifying period was split into two one-hour sessions; the first was held on Thursday afternoon from 13:00 to 14:00 local time, with the second held on Saturday afternoon at the same time. The fastest time set by each driver from either session counted towards his final grid position. Each driver was limited to twelve laps per qualifying session.
  Alesi set the pace in Thursday free practice, which took place in bright and sunny weather conditions, with a time of 1:25.457. Schumacher and Hill were second and third, separated from their teammates by the two improved McLarens, with Häkkinen ahead of the returning Blundell. Berger was over two seconds slower than Alesi with the ninth-fastest lap time. Schumacher was unhappy with the handling of his car, and so the rear end of the B195 was stripped down for a precautionary check before qualifying. Further back, Frentzen set the eighteenth-fastest time after his Sauber shed its engine cover during the session. Boullion fared even worse, as he crashed at the Nouvelle Chicane in a manner reminiscent of Wendlinger's accident the year before, but he was unhurt. Simtek's shortage of gearboxes was also apparent: lead driver Jos Verstappen's unit only allowed him to complete five laps before developing problems, but teammate Domenico Schiattarella set an encouraging 14th-fastest time.
  Thursday qualifying was held in similar weather conditions to practice, but was interrupted by a brief shower of rain close to the end of the session. Alesi carried his form over from free practice, nudging the crash barriers lining the circuit on more than one occasion to set a provisional pole position time of 1:23.754. Berger was also impressive, power-sliding through Casino Square, to the delight of the crowd, on his way to the third-fastest time, although he complained that Alesi had held him up on what he thought would have been his quickest lap of the session. The form of the Ferraris came as something of a surprise, as the 41T2's unique V12 engine configuration theoretically produced less torque than its rivals, a disadvantage on a circuit as tight as Monaco. Alesi said that he believed the results of the session were due to the extreme effort that he and Berger were putting into their driving overcoming any deficiencies with the car. The Ferraris were split by Schumacher, who felt that the rain shower had prevented him from fulfilling his potential, as he did not complete his full quota of 12 laps as a result of the track conditions becoming slower. His teammate, Herbert, took provisional sixth place. Of the Williams drivers, Hill was fourth, but Coulthard admitted that he was still learning the track on his way to 11th, 2.8 seconds slower than Alesi's best. Häkkinen continued McLaren's promising form with a provisional fifth place, but was fined $10,000 for ignoring yellow flags during the season. Blundell was back in eighth after crashing into the barriers in the closing minutes of the session.
  Frentzen impressed by setting the seventh-fastest time in his first Monaco qualifying session, despite having to take to the escape road at the Nouvelle Chicane after encountering the rain shower whilst on a flying lap. After his morning accident, Boullion drove steadily to take a provisional 21st position, complaining of a dire lack of grip from the C14 chassis. Another Monaco rookie, Eddie Irvine, out-paced his more experienced Jordan teammate, Rubens Barrichello, as the pair set the ninth and 13th-fastest times respectively. They were split by Coulthard and the Ligier drivers, with Martin Brundle ahead of Olivier Panis, despite the former crashing at La Rascasse and removing his rear wing as the rain fell. Gianni Morbidelli, who took 14th place, was another driver to crash during the sudden change to wet conditions, as did Footwork teammate Taki Inoue on his way to 
caption: Taki Inoue's Footwork is transported back to the pit lane having been hit by the safety car after Saturday morning practice.
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