1997 Canadian Grand Prix

1997 Canadian Grand Prix
Race 7 of 17 in the 1997 Formula One World Championship ←  Previous race Next race  →
Race details
Date	15 June 1997
Official name	XXXV Grand Prix Players du Canada
Location	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Course	Temporary street circuit
Course length	4.421 km (2.747 miles)
Distance	54 laps, 238.734 km (148.342 miles)
Scheduled distance	69 laps, 305.049 km (189.549 miles)
Weather	Clear and mild with temperatures approaching 22.7 °C (72.9 °F) Wind speeds up to 4.1 km/h (2.5 mph) [1]
Pole position
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:18.095
Fastest lap
Driver	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:19.635 on lap 37
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault
Third	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Peugeot
Lap leaders

Barrichello on his way to third on the grid, but would retire in the race.

The 1997 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on 15 June 1997. The race was stopped early on lap 54 after a big crash involving Olivier Panis, who broke his legs and would be unable to start the next seven Grands Prix. Michael Schumacher won ahead of Jean Alesi in the Benetton and Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan. David Coulthard had been leading, but was delayed for over a lap by a clutch problem during his second pit stop, shortly before Panis's crash. On lap 2, local driver Jacques Villeneuve crashed into the wall on the exit of the final corner. This wall would later be known as the 'Wall of Champions', after three former World Champions, including Villeneuve, crashed into it separately in the 1999 race.

It also marked the debut of Alexander Wurz, driving for Benetton in place of his compatriot Gerhard Berger. Berger had been suffering from a sinus illness for some time and during his time off his father was killed in a light aircraft accident. ^[2]

Classification

Qualifying

The biggest surprise was Rubens Barrichello qualifying his Stewart on third spot, best position to the new team at that point. During the weekend the team tried a F-3000 rear wing to improve their downforce balance. The Brazilian was the best Bridgestone tyre supplied car qualifier; the second best was Frenchman Olivier Panis, only 10th.

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:18.095
2	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1:18.108	+0.013
3	22	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	1:18.388	+0.293
4	4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault	1:18.464	+0.369
5	10	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:18.466	+0.371
6	12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Peugeot	1:18.750	+0.655
7	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Peugeot	1:18.869	+0.774
8	7	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1:18.899	+0.804
9	9	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:18.916	+0.821
10	14	Olivier Panis	Prost-Mugen-Honda	1:19.034	+0.939
11	8	Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Renault	1:19.286	+1.191
12	6	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:19.503	+1.408
13	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	1:19.622	+1.527
14	18	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell-Ford	1:20.102	+2.007
15	1	Damon Hill	Arrows-Yamaha	1:20.129	+2.034
16	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows-Yamaha	1:20.175	+2.080
17	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Ford	1:20.336	+2.241
18	17	Gianni Morbidelli	Sauber-Petronas	1:20.357	+2.262
19	15	Shinji Nakano	Prost-Mugen-Honda	1:20.370	+2.275
20	21	Jarno Trulli	Minardi-Hart	1:20.370	+2.275
21	23	Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	1:20.491	+2.396
22	20	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi-Hart	1:21.034	+2.939
107% time: 1:23.562
Source: [3]

Race

At the start, Eddie Irvine and Mika Häkkinen tangled at turn 2 and collected Jan Magnussen, with all three drivers immediately retiring. Rubens Barrichello made a bad start and dropped from third to seventh. On lap 2, local hero Jacques Villeneuve crashed out at the final chicane. Four laps later Ukyo Katayama retired and the Safety Car was deployed. The race resumed with both Tyrrell's drivers Jos Verstappen and Mika Salo passing Rubens Barrichello, running heavy on fuel on a one-stop strategy. When Ralf Schumacher retired, Jos Verstappen climbed to sixth place. The dream of the Dutchman to score his first point of the season faded away on lap 42; four laps later the same happened to his teammate.

At the front, Michael Schumacher established a gap around ten seconds to David Coulthard until his first stop. Then the McLaren driver took the lead until his only stop, dropping again to second, and coming back to the field around eight seconds behind the German. As the Ferrari driver needed a second stop to refueling, the lead would come back to Coulthard on lap 44. Schumacher exited the pit behind Olivier Panis and soon lapped the Frenchman, seventh at the time. However the German struggled on his new set of tyres and was unlapped by Panis, giving an even more comfortable lead to Coulthard.

Enjoying a reasonable gap to second spot and concerning about blistering on his left rear tyre, David Coulthard pitted for the second time, but his clutch failed and the car stalled on box. Thus, the lead came back to Michael Schumacher, at the same time that Olivier Panis crashed heavily on tyre barrier at turn 5, bringing out the Safety Car for the second time as well as the Medical Car.

The Frenchman was rapidly extracted from his Prost car and laid down with pain in his legs, leaving the track on an ambulance. Three laps later the race was red flagged and finished, giving Michael Schumacher the Championship lead, Giancarlo Fisichella his very first podium and Shinji Nakano his first Formula One career point.

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	54	1:17:40.646	1	10
2	7	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	54	+2.565	8	6
3	12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Peugeot	54	+3.219	6	4
4	4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault	54	+3.768	4	3
5	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	54	+4.716	13	2
6	15	Shinji Nakano	Prost-Mugen-Honda	54	+36.701	19	1
7	10	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	54	+37.753	5
8	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows-Yamaha	53	+1 lap	16
9	1	Damon Hill	Arrows-Yamaha	53	+1 lap	15
10	17	Gianni Morbidelli	Sauber-Petronas	53	+1 lap	18
11	14	Olivier Panis	Prost-Mugen-Honda	51	Accident	10
Ret	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Ford	46	Engine	17
Ret	18	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell-Ford	42	Gearbox	14
Ret	8	Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Renault	35	Transmission	11
Ret	22	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	33	Gearbox	3
Ret	21	Jarno Trulli	Minardi-Hart	32	Engine	20
Ret	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Peugeot	14	Accident	7
Ret	20	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi-Hart	5	Throttle	22
Ret	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1	Accident	2
Ret	9	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	0	Collision	9
Ret	6	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	0	Collision	12
Ret	23	Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	0	Accident	21
Source: [4]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 37 2 Jacques Villeneuve 30 3 Olivier Panis 15 4 Eddie Irvine 14 5 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 13 Source: [5]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 51 2 Williams-Renault 43 3 Benetton-Renault 23 4 McLaren-Mercedes 21 5 Prost-Mugen-Honda 16 Source: [5]

As the consequence of Olivier Panis injuries, Italian Minardi driver Jarno Trulli was called to replace him at Prost Grand Prix, meanwhile Brazilian driver Tarso Marques, who had raced for Minardi in 1996, took Trulli seat at the Italian team.

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. "Weather information for the "1997 Canadian Grand Prix"". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
2. "McLaren's 50 Greatest Drivers". Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
3. F1, STATS. "Canada 1997 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
4. "1997 Canadian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
5. "Canada 1997 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.

• "GRAND PRIX RESULTS: CANADIAN GP, 1997". www.grandprix.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2007.

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