This would also prove to be the last Grand Prix for Mark Blundell, Bertrand Gachot, Roberto Moreno, Taki Inoue, and Karl Wendlinger.

Ligier-Mugen-Honda driver Olivier Panis was second, with Gianni Morbidelli achieving his best-ever F1 result with third in a Footwork-Hart.

[8] Benetton had claimed the Constructors' Championship at the previous event, the Japanese Grand Prix, with Williams too many points behind to be able to catch them.

[8][10] In the Friday afternoon qualifying session, Mika Häkkinen in his McLaren car suffered a puncture in his left rear tyre heading towards Brewery Bend.

Unable to establish an airway, the doctors performed an emergency tracheotomy before taking him to the nearby Royal Adelaide Hospital.

[11] The Williams cars dominated qualifying, with Damon Hill in pole position and David Coulthard alongside him.

[6] A few laps later, Forti's Roberto Moreno had spun and caused terminal damage to his suspension in the same place where Coulthard had crashed earlier.

[6] Schumacher's Benetton team-mate, Johnny Herbert took second place briefly before coming in for his first stop later than many of the other drivers, while surviving a potential accident in which he missed the pit entry and rejoined the track.

In a last gasp effort, Pacific tried to have their test driver Oliver Gavin in the seat, but he was not granted an FIA Super License and shareholder Bertrand Gachot raced instead.

Although he failed to finish, by competing in the race Gerhard Berger became the only driver to have driven in all 11 Formula One Grands Prix held in Adelaide.

The post-race concert was headlined by American rock band Bon Jovi, who performed at the Victoria Park Racecourse as part of their These Days Tour.