1997 Formula One season

1997 FIA Formula One World Championship season
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Index: Races by country | Races by season

The 1997 Formula One season was the 48th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 9, 1997, and ended on October 26 after seventeen races.

Season summary

The 24 drivers line up for the pre-season photograph, at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix.

The season started in Australia, with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve taking the fourth pole position of his F1 career. The moment was short-lived, however, as Villeneuve was out at the first corner after colliding with Johnny Herbert. McLaren's David Coulthard went on to win the race, the second of his career, with Michael Schumacher finishing second and Mika Häkkinen finishing in third place.

Villeneuve once again took pole position in Brazil, and once again he was off at the first corner. The Canadian recovered from his first corner mistake to take the lead on lap 49 from Gerhard Berger. The Austrian finished second and Olivier Panis continued his impressive form from 1996 with third place.

For the third time in a row, Jacques Villeneuve was again on pole position for Argentina. However, he was spared another first corner collision, and instead it was Michael Schumacher who collided with Rubens Barrichello. With Schumacher out, Eddie Irvine went on to challenge Villeneuve for the lead, and he made several attempts to pass the Canadian's Williams but failed on all his attempts and had to settle for second. Ralf Schumacher, in his first full season, managed to get onto the podium after he finished third.

Villeneuve continued his run of consecutive pole positions in San Marino. Villeneuve's German team-mate, Frentzen, won his first and only, Grand Prix for Williams after he finished just over a second ahead of Michael Schumacher, with Eddie Irvine coming third.

Frentzen managed to end Villeneuve's run of pole positions in Monaco. For the second time in successive seasons, the Monaco Grand Prix was raced under very wet conditions. Michael Schumacher won his first race of the season with his future Ferrari team-mate, Rubens Barrichello finishing in second and earning Stewart's first podium finish; Irvine took the final step on the podium for the second time in a row.

In Spain, Williams continued to dominate the qualifying session, as Villeneuve, for the fifth time this season, took pole and Frentzen made sure Williams occupied both slots on the front row. Villeneuve went on to win the Grand Prix, with fellow French-speaking drivers, Olivier Panis and Jean Alesi, coming second and third respectively.

Williams' run of consecutive pole positions was broken in Canada where Michael Schumacher took pole; Rubens Barrichello's Stewart split the two Williams in third place. Schumacher went on to win the Grand Prix, with ex-Ferrari driver Jean Alesi finishing second and Giancarlo Fisichella coming in third. Schumacher earned his second pole of the season in France; he was accompanied by Frentzen on the front row. The two would stay in their respective positions at the end of the race, with Eddie Irvine in third.

Villeneuve earned his sixth pole of the season in Britain, with team-mate Frentzen partnering him on the front row. Villeneuve went on to win the race with Alesi and young Alexander Wurz coming third to make it an all Renault-powered podium. Michael Schumacher failed to complete the race after he retired with a wheel bearing problem.

Gerhard Berger, who hadn't competed at the previous Grand Prix because of the illness and the death of his father, managed to get pole position with Giancarlo Fisichella completing the front row. Berger went on to win the Grand Prix, which would ultimately be Benetton's final win. Michael Schumacher came second and Mika Häkkinen came third.

The next race, in Hungary, was one of the most memorable races in the 1997 season. Michael Schumacher took pole with Villeneuve partnering him on the front row. Damon Hill, in an Arrows which hadn't qualified as high as ninth before the Hungarian Grand Prix, qualified up in third place. The start of the race saw Hill overtake Villeneuve's Williams and on lap ten, the Brit overtook Schumacher to take the lead. Hill kept the lead for the final rounds of pit stops, but coming into the finale of the race, Hill reported that his Arrows was having problems, and in the end, Jacques Villeneuve took the lead on the final lap of the race and went on to win the race, achieving the milestone 100th Grand Prix victory for Williams.

After two very exciting Grands Prix, fans were hoping that Belgium would prove to be an exciting one as well. Villeneuve took pole position with Alesi's Benetton completing the front row. Villeneuve dropped down to fifth place, while his championship rival, Michael Schumacher, won the race with Fisichella coming second and Frentzen coming third.

Alesi got his first, and only, pole position of the season in Italy with Frentzen coming second. David Coulthard won the race; his second of the season, pole sitter Alesi came second and Frentzen came third.

In Austria, Villeneuve managed to get his seventh pole position of the 1997 season; the Canadian was partnered on the front row by Finnish driver, Mika Häkkinen. Villeneuve went onto win the Grand Prix with Coulthard and Frentzen joining him on the podium in second and third respectively.

The next race was the so-called "Luxembourg Grand Prix", actually staged at the Nürburgring in Germany. Mika Häkkinen, who had qualified second at the previous Grand Prix, managed to earn pole. Villeneuve, Alesi and Frentzen finished on the podium, making it, for the second time in the 1997 season, an all Renault-powered podium.

Japan saw Villeneuve, for the eighth time that season, take pole position. Villeneuve was disqualified from the race, after failing to slow down under yellow flags during qualifying. He raced under appeal, but finished only fifth. Michael Schumacher won the race, while Frentzen came second and Irvine came third. Villeneuve's Williams team dropped his appeal after the race, leaving Schumacher one point ahead of Villeneuve in the Drivers' championship, meaning that the title would be decided at the season finale in Jerez.

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Some commentators recalled the 1994 finale, which saw a title deciding collision between Schumacher and Damon Hill. At Jerez, the qualifying session was noteworthy, as three drivers, Villeneuve, Schumacher, and Frentzen, all registered the same fastest qualifying time; Villeneuve was awarded pole position since he had set the time first; this would be the final pole of his F1 career. At the start of the race, Schumacher had a good start, overtaking Villeneuve to take the lead. By lap 48 Villeneuve was catching up to Schumacher and attempted to overtake. Braking later than the German at the Dry Sac corner, Villeneuve had the inside line and was slightly ahead when Schumacher turned into him, his front right wheel connecting with the sidepod of the Williams car. Schumacher retired on the spot and Villeneuve went to take third place and earn four points, enough to take the 1997 title. Schumacher was later punished by the FIA for causing an avoidable accident and was disqualified from the Championship, although his race results (grid position, finishing position, points) still counted towards his official statistics.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No	Driver	Test driver(s)
Danka Arrows Yamaha	Arrows	A18	Yamaha OX11A 3.0 V10	B	1	Damon Hill	Jörg Müller
					2	Pedro Diniz
Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams	FW19	Renault RS9 3.0 V10	G	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Jean-Christophe Boullion Juan Pablo Montoya
					4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F310B	Ferrari 046/2 3.0 V10	G	5	Michael Schumacher	Gianni Morbidelli
					6	Eddie Irvine
Mild Seven Benetton Renault	Benetton	B197	Renault RS9 3.0 V10	G	7	Jean Alesi	Alexander Wurz
					8	Gerhard Berger
						Alexander Wurz
West McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4/12	Mercedes FO110E 3.0 V10 Mercedes FO110F 3.0 V10	G	9	Mika Häkkinen	n/a
					10	David Coulthard
B&H Total Jordan Peugeot	Jordan	197	Peugeot A14 3.0 V10	G	11	Ralf Schumacher	n/a
					12	Giancarlo Fisichella
Prost Gauloises Blondes	Prost	JS45	Mugen-Honda MF-301HB 3.0 V10	B	14	Olivier Panis	Emmanuel Collard
						Jarno Trulli
					15	Shinji Nakano
Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Sauber	C16	Petronas SPE-01 3.0 V10	G	16	Johnny Herbert	Norberto Fontana
					17	Nicola Larini
						Gianni Morbidelli
						Norberto Fontana
Tyrrell	Tyrrell	025	Ford ED4 3.0 V8 Ford ED5 3.0 V8	G	18	Jos Verstappen	n/a
					19	Mika Salo
Minardi Team	Minardi	M197	Hart 830 AV7 3.0 V8	B	20	Ukyo Katayama	Tarso Marques
					21	Jarno Trulli
						Tarso Marques
Stewart Ford	Stewart	SF01	Ford VJ Zetec-R 3.0 V10	B	22	Rubens Barrichello	n/a
					23	Jan Magnussen
MasterCard Lola F1 Team	Lola	T97/30	Ford ECA Zetec-R 3.0 V8	B	24	Ricardo Rosset	n/a
					25	Vincenzo Sospiri

Team Changes

Three new teams came into Formula One in 1997: Prost, who replaced Ligier; Stewart and Lola, the latter of which only entered the 1997 Australian Grand Prix after the team's dismal performance in the Grand Prix which saw a lack of sponsorship for the next Grand Prix in Brazil. Footwork changed their name to "Arrows" and switched from the Hart engines used the previous year to Yamaha engines. Tyrrell changed their engines as well, swapping the Yamaha engines in preference to the Ford engines. Jordan-Peugeot signed up highly-rated British engineer, Dr. John Davis. He helped the team with its new windtunnel facility at Brackley, the tunnel itself was funded by Ferrari inexchange for Eddie Irvine who moved to Ferrari the previous year.

Driver Changes

Notable changes

• Arrows: The biggest news at the beginning of the 1997 season was Damon Hill, 1996 champion, being dropped by Williams in preference to Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Hill was partnered with Brazilian Pedro Diniz, whose sponsorship money helped pay the World Champion's wages.
• Williams: The Champion team dismissed the 1996 World Champion, Hill, employed Heinz-Harald Frentzen, the German who the team wanted in last years since the death of Ayrton Senna.
• Prost (ex-Ligier): Reliant on their Japanese engine partners Mugen-Honda, Shinji Nakano, a Japanese driver, joined Prost to partner Olivier Panis for the season; Nakano replaced Diniz who went to Arrows.
• Sauber: Sauber beat Ferrari to the signing of Nicola Larini; the Italian was linked with the vacant test driver's seat at Ferrari.
• Jordan: The Irish team changed their driver line-up for 1997. Ralf Schumacher, Michael's younger brother, was given the team leader's seat; he was rumoured to be partnered with Nigel Mansell, but the 1992 champion rejected the offer. Instead, Jordan went for Giancarlo Fisichella, who had raced for the Alfa Romeo factory team in the International Touring Car Championship the previous year. Rubens Barrichello went to a new team, Stewart Grand Prix.
• Minardi: Minardi ran Italian rising star Jarno Trulli alongside Ukyo Katayama for the 1997 season. The announcement filled the final seat in the 1997 Formula 1 World Championship. The decision was made after Minardi released promising Italian Giancarlo Fisichella from his contract so that he could join Jordan. Having signed Ukyo Katayama, and his Mild Seven sponsorship, for one seat, owner Giancarlo Minardi felt that his team needed a young Italian and Trulli was the obvious choice for Minardi.

Keep

• Ferrari: Schumacher and Irvine
• Benetton: Berger and Alesi. And, with Austria signing a new five-year deal to host a Grand Prix, the country needed a new driver to cheer, as Karl Wendlinger was no longer fit to drive a Formula One car and Gerhard Berger planning to retire at the end of the season, Benetton came up with an answer, Alexander Wurz; the young Austrian would become Benetton's test driver.
• McLaren: Häkkinen and Coulthard

Season review

Grands Prix

Rnd	Race	Date	Location	Winning Driver	Constructor	Report
1	Australian Grand Prix	March 9	Melbourne	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
2	Brazilian Grand Prix	March 30	Interlagos	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
3	Argentine Grand Prix	April 13	Oscar Gálvez	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
4	San Marino Grand Prix	April 27	Imola	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault	Report
5	Monaco Grand Prix	May 11	Monaco	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
6	Spanish Grand Prix	May 25	Catalunya	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
7	Canadian Grand Prix	June 15	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
8	French Grand Prix	June 29	Magny-Cours	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
9	British Grand Prix	July 13	Silverstone	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
10	German Grand Prix	July 27	Hockenheimring	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	Report
11	Hungarian Grand Prix	August 10	Hungaroring	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
12	Belgian Grand Prix	August 24	Spa-Francorchamps	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
13	Italian Grand Prix	September 7	Monza	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
14	Austrian Grand Prix	September 21	A1-Ring	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
15	Luxembourg Grand Prix	September 28	Nürburgring	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
16	Japanese Grand Prix	October 12	Suzuka	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
17	European Grand Prix	October 26	Jerez	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	Report

1997 Constructors Championship final standings

Pos	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Points	Wins	Podiums	Poles
1	Williams-Renault	FW19	Renault	G	123	8	15	11
2	Ferrari	F310B	Ferrari	G	102	5	13	3
3	Benetton-Renault	B197	Renault	G	67	1	8	2
4	McLaren-Mercedes	MP4-12	Mercedes	G	63	3	7	1
5	Jordan-Peugeot	197	Peugeot	G	33		3
6	Prost-Mugen-Honda	JS45	Mugen-Honda	B	21		2
7	Sauber-Petronas	C16	Petronas	G	16		1
8	Arrows-Yamaha	A18	Yamaha	B	9		1
9	Stewart-Ford	SF01	Ford Zetec-R	B	6		1
10	Tyrrell-Ford	025	Ford	G	2
11	Minardi-Hart	M197	Hart/Ford	B
12	MasterCard Lola-Ford	T97/30	Ford EC4	B

All engines are V10 apart from Minardi's and Tyrrell's V8 engines.

1997 Drivers Championship final standings

Pos Driver AUS BRA ARG SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA AUT LUX JPN EUR Points 1 Villeneuve Ret 1 1 Ret Ret 1 Ret 4 1 Ret 1 5 5 1 1 DSQ 3 81 DSQ M.Schumacher 2 5 Ret 2 1 4 1 1 Ret 2 4 1 6 6 Ret 1 Ret 78 2 Frentzen 8 9 Ret 1 Ret 8 4 2 Ret Ret Ret 3 3 3 3 2 6 42 3 Coulthard 1 10 Ret Ret Ret 6 7 7 4 Ret Ret Ret 1 2 Ret 10 2 36 4 Alesi Ret 6 7 5 Ret 3 2 5 2 6 11 8 2 Ret 2 5 13 36 5 Berger 4 2 6 Ret 9 10 1 8 6 7 10 4 8 4 27 6 Häkkinen 3 4 5 6 Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret 3 Ret DSQ 9 Ret Ret 4 1 27 7 Irvine Ret 16 2 3 3 12 Ret 3 Ret Ret 9 10 8 Ret Ret 3 5 24 8 Fisichella Ret 8 Ret 4 6 9 3 9 7 11 Ret 2 4 4 Ret 7 11 20 9 Panis 5 3 Ret 8 4 2 11 6 Ret 7 16 10 Herbert Ret 7 4 Ret Ret 5 5 8 Ret Ret 3 4 Ret 8 7 6 8 15 11 R.Schumacher Ret Ret 3 Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 5 5 5 Ret Ret 5 Ret 9 Ret 13 12 Hill DNS 17 Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 12 6 8 2 13 Ret 7 8 11 Ret 7 13 Barrichello Ret Ret Ret Ret 2 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 14 Ret Ret Ret 6 14 Wurz Ret Ret 3 4 15 Trulli 9 12 9 Ret Ret 15 Ret 10 8 4 7 15 10 Ret 3 16 Diniz 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 Ret 13 5 12 Ret 2 17 Salo Ret 13 8 9 5 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 11 Ret Ret 10 Ret 12 2 18 Nakano 7 14 Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 Ret 11 7 6 Ret 11 Ret Ret Ret 10 2 19 Larini 6 11 Ret 7 Ret 1 20 Magnussen Ret Ret 10 Ret 7 13 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 0 21 Verstappen Ret 15 Ret 10 8 11 Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 13 16 0 22 Morbidelli 14 10 Ret 9 12 9 9 Ret 0 23 Fontana Ret 9 9 14 0 24 Katayama Ret 18 Ret 11 10 Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret 10 14 Ret 11 Ret Ret 17 0 25 Marques Ret 10 Ret 12 Ret 14 EXC Ret Ret 15 0 — Sospiri DNQ DNP 0 — Rosset DNQ DNP 0 Pos Driver AUS BRA ARG SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA AUT LUX JPN EUR Points

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate Blank Injured (INJ) Blank Excluded (EX)

• Michael Schumacher was disqualified due to dangerous driving in the European GP, where he caused an avoidable collision with Villeneuve. Thus, he was excluded from the championship standings