1997 F1 World Championship

The 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship was contested across 17 Grand Prix, beginning on 9 March and concluding on 26 October.

Season

During the season, Williams emerged as the strongest team overall and secured the Constructors’ Championship, finishing ahead of Ferrari. The battle for the Drivers’ Championship, however, became one of the most controversial conclusions in F1 history.

The title fight came down to the final race of the season, where championship leader Michael Schumacher of Ferrari faced Jacques Villeneuve of Williams. During the race, Schumacher attempted to defend his position by colliding with Villeneuve in a dramatic incident. The contact forced Schumacher’s car into the gravel, immediately ending his race, while Villeneuve was able to continue. Despite damage to his car, Villeneuve finished third, scoring enough points to secure the World Drivers’ Championship.

Following the race, the FIA determined that Schumacher had deliberately caused the collision. As a result, Schumacher was stripped of his second-place finish in the Drivers’ Championship standings, although he was allowed to retain the five race victories he had earned during the season. The penalty promoted Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Villeneuve’s Williams teammate, to second place in the championship standings.

The 1997 season holds several notable historical distinctions. As of today, Jacques Villeneuve remains the most recent non-European driver to win the Formula One World Championship. The season also marked the last time that Williams won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships, making it the team’s most recent title-winning campaign.

The year also represented the final championship victory using Goodyear tyres, which had been the sole tyre supplier in Formula One for the previous five seasons. In 1997, however, Goodyear faced renewed competition from Bridgestone, the Japanese tyre manufacturer that entered its first full Formula One season.

The championship also marked the end of an era for Renault as an official engine supplier. Renault-powered cars dominated the sport throughout the early and mid-1990s, securing six consecutive Constructors’ Championships from 1992 to 1997 and winning five titles during that period. At the conclusion of the 1997 season, Renault withdrew from Formula One as a factory engine supplier. Although the engines continued to be used by teams from 1998 to 2000, they were maintained by Mecachrome and later Supertec during Renault’s absence before the manufacturer returned officially to the sport in 2001.

The season also marked the final year in which Formula One cars raced on fully slick dry-weather tyres for more than a decade. Beginning in 1998, the sport introduced grooved tyres as part of efforts to reduce cornering speeds, meaning that slick tyres would not return to Formula One competition until 2009.

1997 F1 Entries Drivers and Teams

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No.	Driver	Rounds
Danka Arrows Yamaha	Arrows-Yamaha	A18	Yamaha OX11C/D 3.0 V10	B	1	Damon Hill	All
					2	Pedro Diniz	All
Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams-Renault	FW19	Renault RS9 3.0 V10 Renault RS9B 3.0 V10	G	3	Jacques Villeneuve	All
					4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	All
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F310B	Ferrari Tipo 046/2 3.0 V10	G	5	Michael Schumacher	All
					6	Eddie Irvine	All
Mild Seven Benetton Renault	Benetton-Renault	B197	Renault RS9 3.0 V10 Renault RS9B 3.0 V10	G	7	Jean Alesi	All
					8	Gerhard Berger	1–6, 10–17
						Alexander Wurz	7–9
West McLaren Mercedes	McLaren-Mercedes	MP4/12	Mercedes FO110E 3.0 V10 Mercedes FO110F 3.0 V10	G	9	Mika Häkkinen	All
					10	David Coulthard	All
Benson & Hedges Jordan Peugeot	Jordan-Peugeot	197	Peugeot A14 3.0 V10	G	11	Ralf Schumacher	All
					12	Giancarlo Fisichella	All
Prost Gauloises Blondes	Prost-Mugen-Honda	JS45	Mugen-Honda MF-301HB 3.0 V10	B	14	Olivier Panis	1–7, 15–17
						Jarno Trulli	8–14
					15	Shinji Nakano	All
Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Sauber-Petronas	C16	Petronas SPE-01 3.0 V10	G	16	Johnny Herbert	All
					17	Nicola Larini	1–5
						Gianni Morbidelli	6–7, 11–16
						Norberto Fontana	8–10, 17
PIAA Tyrrell Ford	Tyrrell-Ford	025	Ford-Cosworth ED4 3.0 V8 Ford-Cosworth ED5 3.0 V8	G	18	Jos Verstappen	All
					19	Mika Salo	All
Minardi Team	Minardi-Hart	M197	Hart 830 3.0 V8	B	20	Ukyo Katayama	All
					21	Jarno Trulli	1–7
						Tarso Marques	8–17
HSBC Malaysia Stewart Ford	Stewart-Ford	SF01	Ford VJ Zetec-R 3.0 V10	B	22	Rubens Barrichello	All
					23	Jan Magnussen	All
MasterCard Lola Formula One Racing Team	Lola-Ford	T97/30	Ford ECA Zetec-R 3.0 V8	B	24	Vincenzo Sospiri	1
					25	Ricardo Rosset	1

1997 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1997 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit , Melbourne	9 March
2	1997 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace , São Paulo	30 March
3	1997 Argentine Grand Prix	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires	13 April
4	1997 San Marino Grand Prix	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola	27 April
5	1997 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	11 May
6	1997 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	25 May
7	1997 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve , Montreal	15 June
8	1997 French Grand Prix	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours	29 June
9	1997 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit , Silverstone	13 July
10	1997 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	27 July
11	1997 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring , Mogyoród	10 August
12	1997 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	24 August
13	1997 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	7 September
14	1997 Austrian Grand Prix	A1-Ring, Spielberg	21 September
15	1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	28 September
16	1997 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	12 October
17	1997 European Grand Prix	Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera	26 October

1997 Formula 1 Race Results

Grands Prix

Round	Grand Prix	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
1	1997 Australian Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
2	1997 Brazilian Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Jacques Villeneuve	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
3	1997 Argentine Grand Prix	David Coulthard	Gerhard Berger	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
4	1997 San Marino Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault	Report
5	1997 Monaco Grand Prix	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Michael Schumacher	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
6	1997 Spanish Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
7	1997 Canadian Grand Prix	Michael Schumacher	David Coulthard	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
8	1997 French Grand Prix	Michael Schumacher	Michael Schumacher	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
9	1997 British Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Michael Schumacher	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
10	1997 German Grand Prix	Gerhard Berger	Gerhard Berger	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	Report
11	1997 Hungarian Grand Prix	Michael Schumacher	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
12	1997 Belgian Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Jacques Villeneuve	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
13	1997 Italian Grand Prix	Jean Alesi	Mika Häkkinen	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
14	1997 Austrian Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Jacques Villeneuve	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
15	1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix	Mika Häkkinen	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Report
16	1997 Japanese Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Report
17	1997 European Grand Prix	Jacques Villeneuve	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	Report

1997 Formula 1 Standings

Driver standings

Team standings