1997 Formula One World Championship


The 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1997 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1997 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 9 March and ended on 26 October.
While Williams-Renault had beaten Ferrari to claim the Constructors' Championship, the Drivers' Championship however was won by Jacques Villeneuve under controversial circumstances: championship leader Michael Schumacher deliberately rammed him whilst trying to defend his race lead in the final race. Schumacher came to a halt in the gravel while Villeneuve finished third, giving him enough points to secure the drivers' championship. Schumacher was later deemed at fault for the accident by the FIA. He kept his five race wins, but was stripped of his 2nd place in the championship, promoting Villeneuve's Williams teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen to second in the championship.
As of 2025, this is the last championship for a non-European driver, the last Constructors' and Drivers' championships for Williams, and the last championship won on Goodyear tyres who having been sole supplier for the previous five seasons, faced new competition in the form of Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone, who competed in their first full season of F1. It was also the last championship for a Renault-powered driver, until Fernando Alonso's championship in. Engine supplier Renault ended its official involvement in the sport at the end of the 1997 season, its engines having won six consecutive World Constructors' titles from 1992 to 1997 and won five of the six F1 drivers' titles over the same period. Renault would subsequently return to F1 in an official capacity once more 2001, although its engines would continue to be used from 1998 to 2000 being maintained and prepared by both Mecachrome and Supertec for that intervening three-season period. This season was the last season for 12 years in which the cars would race on fully slick dry weather tyres.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship.
  • † All engines were 3.0-litre configuration.

    Team changes

  • Stewart Grand Prix made their Formula One debut. They entered with factory backing of the Ford Motor Company.
  • Lola also entered the sport. They had planned to debut in, but hurried through the design phase, under heavy commercial pressure from their title sponsor Mastercard. After both Lola drivers failed to qualify in the first race, sponsors left and the team had to withdraw from the championship at the Brazilian GP.
  • After twenty years in the sport, Ligier was sold from Flavio Briatore to Alain Prost and became Prost Grand Prix.
  • Footwork reverted to the "Arrows" name after a buy-out by Tom Walkinshaw and switched from Hart engines to Yamaha.
  • Tyrrell changed their engines as well, swapping from Yamaha to Ford.
  • Sauber engaged in a partnership with new sponsor Petronas and formed Sauber Petronas Engineering. They secured the licensing rights to engine and gearbox components from Ferrari, allowing them to build and run nearly identical units to those used in the Ferraris. The engines were branded as Petronas, in deference to the role the company played in their development. This marked the first season since that Ferrari supplied engines to more than one team in the sport.
  • Finally, on the front of tyre suppliers, Bridgestone entered into F1 and supplied tyres to Arrows, Prost, Minardi, Stewart and Lola.

    Driver changes

The biggest news at the beginning of the 1997 season was Damon Hill, 1996 champion, being dropped by Williams in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Hill was partnered at his new team, Arrows, with Brazilian Pedro Diniz, who was signed from Ligier. This was the only time in Arrows' history that the team had the number 1 on their car after signing the reigning World Champion.
Arrows' former drivers Jos Verstappen and Ricardo Rosset joined the Tyrrell and Lola team, respectively. Rosset was joined by Benetton's test driver Vincenzo Sospiri.
Reliant on their Japanese engine partners Mugen-Honda, Japanese driver Shinji Nakano joined Prost besides Olivier Panis, who was retained from.
Thanks in part to the technical deal between Sauber and Ferrari, Ferrari test driver Nicola Larini signed with Sauber. Larini replaced Frentzen, who had moved to Williams.
Jordan signed debutant Ralf Schumacher, Michael's younger brother. He was rumoured to be partnered with Nigel Mansell, but the 1992 champion rejected the offer. So the team went for Giancarlo Fisichella, who drove his first races for Minardi in.
Jordan's former driver Rubens Barrichello moved to newcomer Stewart Grand Prix, with his 1996 ex-teammate Martin Brundle unable to find a seat for 1997 and reluctantly leaving the sport as a driver. Stewart also signed Jan Magnussen, who had filled in at McLaren for an unwell Mika Häkkinen in and had raced in the CART series in 1996.
Verstappen, moving from Arrows to Tyrrell, replaced Ukyo Katayama, who found a place at Minardi. Katayama replaced Pedro Lamy, who moved into the FIA GT Championship. Alongside him, Italian rising star Jarno Trulli filled the final seat in the 1997 championship.
The Italian team Forti ceased to exist midway through, and neither of their drivers, Luca Badoer and Andrea Montermini, were able to find a Formula One racing seat for 1997. Badoer moved into FIA GT, while Montermini became a test driver for Lola. Badoer would eventually return to F1 in with Minardi.

Mid-season changes

  • The Lola team folded after the Australian Grand Prix, leaving Ricardo Rosset and Vincenzo Sospiri out of a drive. Rosset returned to F1 in with Tyrrell, while Sospiri saw out the 1997 season in IndyCar with Team Scandia.
  • A series of disagreements with Peter Sauber saw Nicola Larini leave Sauber after the Monaco Grand Prix. He was replaced by Gianni Morbidelli, who had last raced in F1 with Footwork in and had spent testing for Jordan.
  • Gerhard Berger fell ill before the Canadian Grand Prix and was unable to race for Benetton. He was replaced by countryman Alexander Wurz. Berger ultimately missed three races as he recovered from the illness and the death of his father, before returning at the German Grand Prix. Wurz would get a full-time drive with the team in, as Berger retired at the end of this season.
  • During the Canadian Grand Prix, Prost's Olivier Panis crashed heavily and broke his leg. He was replaced by Minardi driver Jarno Trulli, who in turn was replaced by Tarso Marques. Marques who had also made some appearances for the Minardi team the previous year. Panis missed seven races before returning at the Luxembourg Grand Prix. Trulli would join him as a full-time Prost driver in.
  • Between the Canadian and French Grands Prix, Gianni Morbidelli had an accident in testing and broke his arm, meaning Sauber had to make their second substitution of the year. They brought in test driver Norberto Fontana, who completed the next three races before Morbidelli's return at the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix. Morbidelli suffered another testing accident following the Japanese Grand Prix, so Fontana competed again at the season-ending European Grand Prix.

    Calendar

The following seventeen Grands Prix took place in 1997.

Calendar changes

  • The Austrian Grand Prix returned to the calendar for the first time since 1987. The race would be held on shortened and redeveloped version of the old Österreichring referred to the A1 Ring in honour of the circuit's sponsor.
  • The Portuguese Grand Prix was originally scheduled as the final round of the season, to be held at the Estoril circuit on 26 October. It was cancelled and replaced by the European Grand Prix at Circuito de Jerez in neighbouring Spain after the owners of the Estoril circuit failed to make requested changes to it. The Portuguese government had also proposed that the Estoril round be rescheduled for the 9th of November to enable upgrades to the circuit to be completed in time for a race but this was rejected by the FIA and the teams.
  • The Luxembourg Grand Prix was added to the World Championship for the first time, after being held as a non-championship race from 1949 until 1952. Despite the race title, this race would actually be held not in Luxembourg itself but instead at the Nürburgring in nearby Germany, which had hosted a race under the European Grand Prix title in the two seasons preceding this one. The title of German Grand Prix was already assigned to the race in Hockenheim and the European Grand Prix was already hosted in Jerez. For 1997 the Nürburgring race was moved back to the autumn and held in late September in contrast to the spring early season April date given to the 1996 Nürburgring race.

    Regulation changes

Technical regulations

Except for a more detailed description of the impact absorbing structures at the front and rear of the car, there were no changes for the 1997 season.

Sporting and event regulations

A revised Concorde agreement, laying out the rules for the 1997 to seasons, was signed by the FIA and eight of the eleven F1 teams that participated in the season. These were some of the changes made to the sporting regulations:
  • The maximum number of races per year was increased to 17, up from 16.
  • Friday free practice was abolished. The Saturday practice sessions were extended to one hour each. The number of practice laps allowed was no longer limited.
  • Two tyre choices were permitted in practice, but one had to be selected to use in qualifying and race.
From this season on, the regulations gave room for starts behind the Safety Car if the track was wet.

Season summary

Rounds 1 to 4

The season started in Australia, with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve taking the first pole position of the season. The moment was short-lived, however, as Villeneuve was out of the race at the first corner, when he collided 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. Luckily for him, the race was restarted, and the Canadian took 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 took pole position in Argentina. This time, it was Michael Schumacher who was out at the first turn, when he collided with Rubens Barrichello. Schumacher's teammate Eddie Irvine went on to challenge Villeneuve for the lead and he made several attempts to pass, but failed and had to settle for second. Debutant Ralf Schumacher managed to get onto the podium in third place.
Villeneuve continued his run of consecutive pole positions in San Marino, but it was his German teammate Frentzen that won his first and only Grand Prix for Williams. After Villeneuve retired with a gearbox failure, Frentzen was joined on the podium by the Ferraris of Schumacher and Irvine.
At this point, Villeneuve was on top of the standings with 20 points. He was followed by Schumacher with 14 and five drivers in a shared third place, all with 10 points.