1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Germany
Grand Prix:Luxembourg
Date:28 September
Year:1997
Official Name:Grosser Preis von Luxemburg 1997
Race No:15
Season No:17
Location:Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:2.831
Course Km:4.556
Distance Laps:67
Distance Mi:between 189.663 and 189.665
Distance Km:between 305.233 and 305.236[1]
Weather:Partially cloudy, mild and dry
Pole Driver: Mika Häkkinen
Pole Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Pole Time:1:16.602
Fast Driver: Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Fast Team:Williams-Renault
Fast Time:1:18.805
Fast Lap:32
First Driver: Jacques Villeneuve
First Team:Williams-Renault
Second Driver: Jean Alesi
Second Team:Benetton-Renault
Third Driver: Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Third Team:Williams-Renault
Previous Round:1997 Austrian Grand Prix
Next Round:1997 Japanese Grand Prix

The 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix (formally the Grosser Preis von Luxemburg 1997)[2] was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany on 28 September 1997. It was the fifteenth race of the 1997 Formula One World Championship. The 67-lap race was won by Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, driving a Williams-Renault. Frenchman Jean Alesi finished second in a Benetton-Renault, with Villeneuve's German teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen third.

Although Villeneuve went on to win the 1997 Drivers' Championship, this turned out to be his 11th and final Formula One victory;, it is also the last win for a Canadian driver. It was the last victory for the Williams team until the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix, the last victory for a Renault engine until Fernando Alonso won the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race where all-Renault powered drivers stood on the podium together until 2010 Monaco Grand Prix, and the last win for a non-European Formula One driver until Rubens Barrichello won the .

Qualifying report

Qualifying saw Mika Häkkinen take pole position in the McLaren-Mercedes - the first-ever for the Finnish driver, the first for McLaren since the 1993 Australian Grand Prix, and the first for Mercedes (as an engine supplier or constructor) since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix.[3] Villeneuve was alongside on the front row, while his Williams teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen shared the second row with Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan. Michael Schumacher, leading Villeneuve in the Drivers' Championship by one point, was fifth in his Ferrari, sharing the third row with David Coulthard in the second McLaren. The top ten was completed by Gerhard Berger in the Benetton, Ralf Schumacher in the second Jordan, Rubens Barrichello in the Stewart, and Jean Alesi in the second Benetton.

Qualifying classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
19 Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Mercedes1:16.602
23 Jacques VilleneuveWilliams-Renault1:16.691+0.089
34 Heinz-Harald FrentzenWilliams-Renault1:16.741+0.139
412 Giancarlo FisichellaJordan-Peugeot1:17.289+0.687
55 Michael SchumacherFerrari1:17.385+0.783
610 David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes1:17.387+0.785
78 Gerhard BergerBenetton-Renault1:17.587+0.985
811 Ralf SchumacherJordan-Peugeot1:17.595+0.993
922 Rubens BarrichelloStewart-Ford1:17.614+1.012
107 Jean AlesiBenetton-Renault1:17.620+1.018
1114 Olivier PanisProst-Mugen-Honda1:17.650+1.048
1223 Jan MagnussenStewart-Ford1:17.722+1.120
131 Damon HillArrows-Yamaha1:17.795+1.193
146 Eddie IrvineFerrari1:17.855+1.253
152 Pedro DinizArrows-Yamaha1:18.128+1.526
1616 Johnny HerbertSauber-Petronas1:18.303+1.701
1715 Shinji NakanoProst-Mugen-Honda1:18.699+2.097
1821 Tarso MarquesMinardi-Hart1:19.347+2.745
1917 Gianni MorbidelliSauber-Petronas1:19.490+2.888
2019 Mika SaloTyrrell-Ford1:19.526+2.924
2118 Jos VerstappenTyrrell-Ford1:19.531+2.929
2220 Ukyo KatayamaMinardi-Hart1:20.615+4.013
107% time

1:21.964

Source:[4]

Race report

At the start, Häkkinen led away while teammate Coulthard jumped from sixth to second, ahead of Villeneuve. Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher moved alongside Fisichella, while Ralf Schumacher made a fast start to be alongside both cars going into the first corner. However, Ralf squeezed his Jordan teammate Fisichella for room, leaving the Italian driver with nowhere to go. The resultant collision saw Ralf's car launch into the air, and come down on top of Michael's Ferrari. Also involved was the Minardi of Ukyo Katayama, who was unsighted by the dust and ploughed into Fisichella's car. Ralf, Fisichella and Katayama all retired immediately, while Michael continued for two laps before pulling into the pits with suspension damage.

With Frentzen dropping back after banging wheels with Villeneuve and knocking off his ignition switch, and Berger cutting the first corner to avoid the aforementioned collision,[3] Barrichello and Alesi moved into fourth and fifth respectively, followed by Jan Magnussen in the second Stewart. The top six remained unchanged until the first round of pit stops, during which Alesi was leapfrogged by Magnussen and Damon Hill in the Arrows.

At half-distance, Häkkinen led Coulthard by around 12 seconds, with Villeneuve four seconds behind the Scottish driver. Then, at the start of lap 43, Coulthard's engine blew. Häkkinen suffered the same failure moments later, putting Villeneuve in the lead. Both Stewarts also retired at around this time, Magnussen suffering a driveshaft failure and Barrichello's gearbox breaking, while Hill had stalled during his pit stop. This left all four Renault-powered cars in the top four, with Alesi second, Frentzen third and Berger fourth, while Pedro Diniz moved into fifth in the second Arrows, just ahead of the Prost of Olivier Panis, in his first race back after breaking his legs in Canada.

Villeneuve eventually took the chequered flag 11.7 seconds ahead of Alesi, with Frentzen a further 1.7 seconds back. Berger finished three seconds behind Frentzen, but 27 seconds ahead of Diniz. The Brazilian driver held off Panis, who in turn held off Johnny Herbert in the Sauber and Hill for the final point. The win gave Villeneuve a nine-point lead over Michael Schumacher in the Drivers' Championship with two races left to run, while Williams extended their lead over Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship to 26 points, needing just six more for their ninth title.

Race classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
13 Jacques VilleneuveWilliams-Renault671:31:27.843210
27 Jean AlesiBenetton-Renault67+11.770106
34 Heinz-Harald FrentzenWilliams-Renault67+13.48034
48 Gerhard BergerBenetton-Renault67+16.41673
52 Pedro DinizArrows-Yamaha67+43.147152
614 Olivier PanisProst-Mugen-Honda67+43.750111
716 Johnny HerbertSauber-Petronas67+44.35416 
81 Damon HillArrows-Yamaha67+44.77713 
917 Gianni MorbidelliSauber-Petronas66+1 lap19 
1019 Mika SaloTyrrell-Ford66+1 lap20 
Ret18 Jos VerstappenTyrrell-Ford50Spun off21 
Ret9 Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Mercedes43Engine1 
Ret22 Rubens BarrichelloStewart-Ford43Gearbox9 
Ret10 David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes42Engine6 
Ret23 Jan MagnussenStewart-Ford40Halfshaft12 
Ret6 Eddie IrvineFerrari22Engine14 
Ret15 Shinji NakanoProst-Mugen-Honda16Engine17 
Ret5 Michael SchumacherFerrari2Suspension/collision damage5 
Ret21 Tarso MarquesMinardi-Hart1Engine18 
Ret20 Ukyo KatayamaMinardi-Hart1Collision22 
Ret12 Giancarlo FisichellaJordan-Peugeot0Collision4 
Ret11 Ralf SchumacherJordan-Peugeot0Collision8 

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Jacques Villeneuve77
2 Michael Schumacher68
3 Heinz-Harald Frentzen35
4 Jean Alesi34
5 David Coulthard30
Source: [5]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Williams-Renault112
2 Ferrari86
3 Benetton-Renault62
4 McLaren-Mercedes44
5 Jordan-Peugeot33
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Based on the time/speed of the winner and the 2nd place finisher, as shown during the official TV broadcast (1:31:27.843 / 200.232 km/h, and +11.770 / 199.804 km/h, respectively), which by bracketing the speed rounded to 3 decimal places by +/- 0.001 km/h gets this range for the official race distance. (Note that bracketing by -0/+0.001 km/h, which is consistent with the usual practice for officially provided timing to always round down the calculated average speeds, gives an even tighter range of "between 305.235 and 305.236".)
  2. Web site: Luxembourg. Formula1.com. 20 November 2021.
  3. Web site: Grand Prix Results: Luxembourg GP, 1997 . Grandprix.com . 11 December 2013.
  4. Web site: Luxembourg 1997 - Qualifications . StatsF1 . 27 March 2016.
  5. Web site: Luxembourg 1997 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 19 March 2019.