5516 x 3820 px | 46,7 x 32,3 cm | 18,4 x 12,7 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
9 luglio 2023
Ubicazione:
Whiteways Technical Centre in Enstone, Oxfordshire, England, OX7 4EE
Altre informazioni:
Vintage promotional poster for the Mild Seven Benetton Ford Formula One team from the 1994 season, showing Finnish driver JJ Lehto, German driver Michael Schumacher and Dutch driver Jos Verstappen seated in front of the Benetton B194 racing car. The three drivers wear matching blue Benetton racing overalls covered with period sponsor branding, with their helmets positioned on the ground in front of them. The blue, green and white B194 carries prominent Mild Seven, Benetton Sportsystem, Ford, Elf, Goodyear and Sanyo logos, while a printed racetrack scene forms the background. The poster captures one of the most significant seasons in Benetton’s Formula One history. Schumacher drove the Ford-powered B194 to eight Grand Prix victories and secured his first Formula One Drivers’ World Championship in 1994, defeating Damon Hill by a single point. Benetton finished second in the Constructors’ Championship. Lehto had been signed as Schumacher’s regular teammate but suffered a neck injury during pre-season testing. Benetton test driver Jos Verstappen substituted for him and later returned to contest much of the campaign, earning two podium finishes. Jos Verstappen is also notable as the father of Max Verstappen, who followed him into Formula One and became a multiple Formula One World Champion. The image therefore links two generations of the Verstappen motor-racing family, from Jos’s Benetton career in the 1990s to Max’s later success. The printed poster is an example of 1990s Formula One promotional design and motorsport ephemera, reflecting the era’s tobacco sponsorship, team clothing, commercial branding and carefully staged publicity photography. Visible age, surface marks and wear reinforce its character as an original period collectable rather than a modern reproduction.
