1997 French Grand Prix

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1997 French Grand Prix
Race 8 of 17 in the 1997 Formula One World Championship
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Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (1992-2002).svg
Race details
Date29 June 1997
Official name LXXXIII French Grand Prix
Location Circuit de Nevers
Magny-Cours, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.250 [1] km (2.641 miles)
Distance 72 laps, 305.814 [2] km (190.024 miles)
Weather Dry at first, rain in closing stages
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:14.548
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Time 1:17.910 on lap 37
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Williams-Renault
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders
  • 1997 French Grand Prix

The 1997 French Grand Prix (formally the LXXXIII French Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours, France on 29 June 1997. It was the eighth race of the 1997 Formula One World Championship.

Contents

The 72-lap race was won from pole position by Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, with teammate Eddie Irvine finishing third, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen achieving second in a Williams-Renault. This was Schumacher's third win of the season and second in succession. As a result, Schumacher had a 14-point lead in the Drivers' Championship over Jacques Villeneuve, who finished fourth in the other Williams-Renault.

Qualifying

Qualifying report

Michael Schumacher achieved his second pole position in a row, meanwhile Jacques Villeneuve managed to take his worst qualifying position in the season so far. Jarno Trulli took his best qualifying position ever on his first race for Prost, Alexander Wurz outqualified teammate Jean Alesi on his only second start for Benetton and Pedro Diniz outqualified teammate 1996 World Champion Damon Hill for the first time in the season. Norberto Fontana made his first appearance for Sauber, becoming the first Argentine driver to star a Formula One race since Oscar Larrauri in 1988 Australian Grand Prix. On last spot Tarso Marques came back to the grid for Minardi.

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
15 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:14.548
24 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 1:14.749+0.201
311 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 1:14.755+0.207
43 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:14.800+0.252
56 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:14.860+0.312
614 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:14.957+0.409
78 Flag of Austria.svg Alexander Wurz Benetton-Renault 1:14.986+0.438
87 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:15.228+0.680
910 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.270+0.722
109 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.339+0.791
1112 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 1:15.453+0.905
1215 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:15.857+1.309
1322 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:15.876+1.328
1416 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:16.018+1.470
1523 Flag of Denmark.svg Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 1:16.149+1.601
162 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 1:16.536+1.988
171 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 1:16.729+2.181
1818 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 1:16.941+2.393
1919 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 1:17.256+2.708
2017 Flag of Argentina.svg Norberto Fontana Sauber-Petronas 1:17.538+2.990
2120 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 1:17.563+3.015
2221 Flag of Brazil.svg Tarso Marques Minardi-Hart 1:18.280+3.732
107% time: 1:19.766
Source: [3]

Race

Race report

At the beginning of the race, Michael Schumacher started from the pole position, followed closely by Frentzen in a Williams car. Damon Hill experienced difficulty from the outset, as he lost his wing at the first corner due to going off the track. Both McLaren drivers jumped from the fifth row to 6th (David Coulthard) and 7th (Mika Häkkinen), passing the Benetton drivers and Jarno Trulli. On lap 5 Tarso Marques ended his comeback race at Minardi with an engine failure on the finishing line. A tough weekend continued at Arrows, as Diniz tangled with Jos Verstappen at the Adelaide Hairpin and lost his front wing, spending more than twenty seconds in the pits and dropping to the back of the field.

The race proceeded without significant incident until the latter stages when a nearby thunderstorm brought rain to the circuit. Some drivers opted to pit for wet tyres, while others remained on their dry tyres. Under these challenging conditions, multiple drivers, including Michael Schumacher, experienced spins. Despite his spin, Schumacher was able to maintain his lead.

Ultimately, Michael Schumacher finished ahead of Frentzen by a considerable margin. During the race's conclusion, an intense battle took place among Ralf Schumacher, David Coulthard, and Jean Alesi. Concurrently, Jacques Villeneuve was striving to overtake Eddie Irvine for the final spot on the podium.

Ralf Schumacher encountered a spin, which cost him sixth place. However, as noted in the race records, Michael Schumacher (having lapped his brother) permitted Ralf to pass him at the final corner. Commentator Murray Walker deemed this move unwise at the time. On the last lap, Alesi forced Coulthard off the track, resulting in Coulthard losing fifth place. Consequently, Ralf Schumacher secured the final point, as he had managed to unlap himself.

In the race's closing moments, Villeneuve caught up to Irvine. Attempting an ambitious maneuver at the final corner, Villeneuve spun off the track but managed to rejoin the race and fend off Alesi at the finish line.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
15 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 721:38:50.492110
24 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 72+23.53726
36 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine Ferrari 72+1:14.80154
43 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 72+1:21.78443
57 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 72+1:22.73582
611 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 72+1:29.87131
710 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 71Collision9 
816 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 71+1 lap14 
912 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 71+1 lap11 
1014 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Prost-Mugen-Honda 70+2 laps6 
1120 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 70+2 laps21 
121 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 69+3 laps17 
Ret19 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 61Electrical19 
Ret8 Flag of Austria.svg Alexander Wurz Benetton-Renault 60Spun off7 
Ret2 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 58Spun off16 
Ret17 Flag of Argentina.svg Norberto Fontana Sauber-Petronas 40Spun off20 
Ret22 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 36Engine13 
Ret23 Flag of Denmark.svg Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 33Brakes15 
Ret9 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 18Engine10 
Ret18 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 15Spun off18 
Ret15 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 7Spun off12 
Ret21 Flag of Brazil.svg Tarso Marques Minardi-Hart 5Engine22 
Source: [4]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. Derived based on the identical race distance and number of laps in 1998 French Grand Prix
  2. Calculated based on the race classification shown during TV broadcast
  3. F1, STATS. "France 1997 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 October 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. "1997 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 "France 1997 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
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1997 Canadian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
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1997 British Grand Prix
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1996 French Grand Prix
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1998 French Grand Prix