Lotus driver Alessandro Zanardi was withdrawn from the meeting following a huge crash in Friday practice, which ultimately ended his season.

[2] In the race itself, his team-mate Johnny Herbert scored the final points ever for Team Lotus with his 5th position.

Once again, Alain Prost took pole position in his Williams-Renault with teammate Damon Hill alongside him on the front row of the grid, the two separated on this occasion by nearly nine-tenths of a second.

Hill was third with 48, Schumacher was fourth with 42, Patrese was fifth with 18, Brundle was sixth with 11, Herbert was seventh with 11 and Blundell was eighth with 10.

In the Constructors Championship, Williams were World Champions with 129 points ahead of Benetton who were second with 60, McLaren close behind in third with 56 and Ligier fourth with 21 – their best performance in some years.